Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947) was a Finnish composer and music critic of the early 20th century, one of several contemporaries whose works were overshadowed by Madetoja's teacher Jean Sibelius. For more on Madetoja, see my score video of his "Okon Fuoko" ballet suite: youtube.com/watch?v=f0rtl4OEXeM
Perhaps one of the reasons Madetoja never received due recognition was that, unlike other Finnish composers of the National Romantic movement, he practically never drew inspiration from the national epic Kalevala. The sole exception was "Kullervo", written in 1913, representing the fourth symphonic depiction (after the little-known Finnish composer Johan von Schantz, Robert Kajanus, and Sibelius) of the titular tragic hero; I have included a brief summary of Kullervo's story at the end of this description, courtesy of Wikipedia.
A continuation of the late Romantic tradition of symphonic poems, Madetoja's "Kullervo" is a masterful depiction of this tragic tale, imbued with dramatic foreboding and uncertainty. The composer spent significant periods of time in both France and the German-speaking world, with Germany having a particularly strong hold on Finnish music of the period, and both of these influences can be seen in "Kullervo"— a typically Austro-German compactness allied to flourishes of orchestration distinctly French.
The story of Kullervo:
"Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, Kullervo comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, the tribe of Untamo, were also the ones who had slain his family. As a child, he is sold into slavery and mocked and tormented further. When he finally runs away from his masters, he discovers surviving members of his family, only to lose them again. He seduces a girl who turns out to be his own sister, having thought his sister dead. When she finds out it was her own brother who seduced her, she commits suicide. Kullervo becomes mad with rage, returns to Untamo and his tribe, destroys them using his magical powers, and commits suicide."
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947) was a Finnish composer and music critic of the early 20th century, one of several contemporaries whose works were overshadowed by Madetoja's teacher Jean Sibelius. For more on Madetoja, see my score video of his "Okon Fuoko" ballet suite: youtube.com/watch?v=f0rtl4OEXeM
Perhaps one of the reasons Madetoja never received due recognition was that, unlike other Finnish composers of the National Romantic movement, he practically never drew inspiration from the national epic Kalevala. The sole exception was "Kullervo", written in 1913, representing the fourth symphonic depiction (after the little-known Finnish composer Johan von Schantz, Robert Kajanus, and Sibelius) of the titular tragic hero; I have included a brief summary of Kullervo's story at the end of this description, courtesy of Wikipedia.
A continuation of the late Romantic tradition of symphonic poems, Madetoja's "Kullervo" is a masterful depiction of this tragic tale, imbued with dramatic foreboding and uncertainty. The composer spent significant periods of time in both France and the German-speaking world, with Germany having a particularly strong hold on Finnish music of the period, and both of these influences can be seen in "Kullervo"— a typically Austro-German compactness allied to flourishes of orchestration distinctly French.
The story of Kullervo:
"Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, Kullervo comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, the tribe of Untamo, were also the ones who had slain his family. As a child, he is sold into slavery and mocked and tormented further. When he finally runs away from his masters, he discovers surviving members of his family, only to lose them again. He seduces a girl who turns out to be his own sister, having thought his sister dead. When she finds out it was her own brother who seduced her, she commits suicide. Kullervo becomes mad with rage, returns to Untamo and his tribe, destroys them using his magical powers, and commits suicide."
