Leevi Madetoja

Leevi Madetoja

(b Oulu, 17 Feb 1887; d Helsinki, 6 Oct 1947). Finnish composer. He matriculated in Oulu in 1906 and then studied in Helsinki at the university (MA 1910) and at the music institute under Sibelius (1906–10); his studies were continued with d’Indy in Paris (1910–11), with Fuchs in Vienna, and in Berlin (1911–12).

He conducted the orchestra of the Helsinki Philharmonic Society (1912–14) and the orchestra of Viipuri (1914–16), where he was also director of the orchestra school. In Helsinki he taught at the music institute (later academy) (1916–39) and was music critic of the Helsingin sanomat (1916–32). During the 1920s and 30s he spent some time in France. Madetoja was a leading member of the Finnish national Romantic school which followed Sibelius. He made use of the folktunes of Ostrobothnia, dark and heavy melodies tinged by church modes; at the same time he was influenced by contemporary French music. His orchestration was particularly skilful, approaching the clarity and balance of chamber music. In harmony and rhythm his means were more limited. His opera Pohjalaisia (‘The Ostrobothnians’) kept its status as the ‘national’ opera until the arrival of Joonas Kokkonen’s The Last Temptations in 1975.