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Kajanus: Kullervo, Aino
Vesa Matteo Piludu,
Kalevala Suite
17.10.2011
Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Arts
Musicology
University of Helsinki
Robert Kajanus (1856 - 1933)
 Finnish
 mother language: Swedish of Finland
 Good family from Helsinki
 Studies in Leipzig and Paris
 Return in Helsinki in 1882
 Has founded the Finnish Philharmonic
Orchestra: the first professional
orchestra of the Nordic countries.
 He conducted it for all his life
 Friend of Sibelius
 Same restaurants in Helsinki: Kämp
and König
Symposium, Axel Gallén-Kallella
 The giants of the National
Romantic generation
 Axel Gallén-Kallella
(painter)
 Oskar Merikanto (composer)
 Robert Kajanus (composer)
 Jean Sibelius (composer)
Kajanus and Lönnrot: 1874
 ”After bidding us welcome, he apologized to us, obvioulsly abshed,
that he was barefoot”
 “Being in his presence was restful for the soul, for the mental
atmosphere around him was uncommonly pure”
 The 17-year-od Kajanus met the great man living in a humble
wooden house in Sammatti
 Kajanus was requested to tune Lönnrot’s kantele
 Lönnrot wasn’t able to read or write music, but he have noted runo
tunes by numbering the strings of the kantele
Kajanus: Hymni (1874)
 In the same year, Kajanus wrote his first Kalevala composition:
Hymni (Hymn)
 Text by Frans Tamminen
 Kaiu Wäinö’s kansan kieli, kaiu vielä kunniaan! Woita wierahankin
mieli, säveletäs kuulemaan.”
 “Ring out, O language of Wäinö’s people, ring out with honor! Win
over the soul of strangers too, that they might listen to your music”
 National – international
 Focus on language
Kajanus
 Studied in Leipzig and Paris
 The idea of using folk tunes in classical music came probably from
the Norvegian Svensen and Grieg
 Kajanus didn’t use Kalevala poetry or Kalevala tune in his
compositions
 Use of contemporary poetry inspired by Kalevala
Kalevala’s Kullervo – Kajanus’ Kullervo
 The long saga of Kullervo is one of the most relevant differences
between Old Kalevala (1835) and the New Kalevala (1849)
 Kajanus: The Funeral March of Kullervo (1880)
Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872)
Kullervo (1860)
 Aleksis Kivi ’s drama
Kullervo (1860)
Aleksis Kivi’s Kullervo
In Finnish
http://www.finlit.fi/
kirjasto/digi/view.
php?set=2773&it
em=1&r=1&size=
100
Robert Kajanus:
The funeral march of Kullervo (1880)
 Robert Kajanus
 Kullervon surumarssi Op. 3 (1880, The funeral march of Kullervo)
 Or Kullervon kuolema (The Death of Kullervo)
 According to the composer Kalevi Aho the music is clearly influenced
by German romanticism
 Theme: tragic-heroic, strong rhythm
Kullervo’s tragedy
 "Of the youth am I the poorest,
Hapless lad and full of trouble,
Evil luck to me befallen!
I alas! must idly wander
O'er the hills and through the valleys,
As a watch-dog for the cattle!“
 http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune33.htm
Kullervo’s saga
 Songs (Runo) 31-36 of Kalevala
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War between Kalervo (il padre di Kullervo) and Untamo
Kullervo is a natural born warrior (and killer)
His family seems to be slaughtered by Untamo
He is a slave, but he knows that he is a (tragic) hero
Kullervo destroy all the thing he touches
Untamo “gives” Kullervo to Ilmarinen and his wife (Daughter of Pohjola)
The wife mistreats Kullervo
Kullervo summons bears and wolves and kills Ilmarinen’s wife
Kullervo wanders
Kullervo seduces, without knowing, his own sister
When the sister knows the truth, she commits suicide
Kullervo meets the lost family (parents)
Kullervo goes to war against Untamo.
He destroy the enemies, but his family is killed and his village destroyed
Kullervo kills itself with his sword
Akseli Gallen-Kallela: Kullervo’s kirous, 1899.
 Malta, malta, hiien huora!
Jos itken isoni veistä,
vielä itkenet itseki,
itket lypsylehmiäsi.
 ” —Kullervon kirous, Kalevala
33:125–128
 Thereupon the wizard answered,
These the words of Kullerwoinen:
"Wait, yea wait, thou bride of Hisi!
Do I mourn my mother's relic,
Mourn the keep-sake thou hast
broken?
Thou thyself shalt mourn as sorely
When thy, cows come home at
evening!“
 Kalevala 33:125–128
 http://www.sacredtexts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune33.htm
Carl Eneas Sjöstrand (1828-1906)
The death of Kullervo (sculpure), 1858.
 Kullerwoinen, wicked wizard,
Grasps the handle of his broadsword,
Asks the blade this simple question:
"Tell me, O my blade of honor,
Dost thou wish to drink my life-blood,
Drink the blood of Kullerwoinen?"
 Thus his trusty sword makes answer,
Well divining his intentions:
Why should I not drink thy life-blood,
Blood of guilty Kullerwoinen,
Since I feast upon the worthy,
Drink the life-blood of the righteous?"
RUNE XXXV. KULLERVO'S EVIL DEEDS
The sister
 Straightway wicked Kullerwoinen,
Evil wizard and magician,
Opens all his treasure-boxes,
Shows the maiden gold and silver,
Shows her silken wraps of beauty,
Silken hose with golden borders,
Golden belts with silver buckles,
Jewelry that dims the vision,
Blunts the conscience of the virgin.
Silver leads one to destruction,
Gold entices from uprightness.
Kullerwoinen, wicked wizard,
Flatters lovingly the maiden,
One hand on the reins of leather,
One upon the maiden's shoulder;
Thus they journey through the
evening,
Pass the night in merry-making.
 http://www.sacredtexts.com/neu/kveng/kvrune35.htm
Robert Kajanus
 Cd: Finnish Rhapsody, track 2
 Kullervon surumarssi – Kullervo’s Funeral March
The funeral march of Kullervo (1880)
 Clear influence: Wagner
 Kajanus listened several times Siegfried Funeral March
 Similarities with the Heroic symphony of Beethoven
 Sigfried and Kullervo are similar: obscure origins, heroic hybris,
violence, unhappy loves, tragic destiny
 Premiére in Leipzig in May 1880, played in Finland in the years
1883-6
 Adaptation of a Finnish folk tune: Äiti parkka ja raukka (Poor and
unfortunate mother of mine)
 Quotation of the folk tune Velisurmaaja (The brother-Slayer)
 Kajanus worked on printed (folk) literature
Death of Lönnrot (1884)
 Kajanus composed the Funeral March for organ
Robert Kajanus: Aino (1885)
 Aino (1885): symphonic poem for the aniversary of Old Kaleval
(1835): 50 years
 The history of Aino is tragic and comical at the same time
 The old Väinämöinen won Joukahainen in the battle of charms
 Joukahainen promised the hand of the sister Aino to save his life
 The mother of Aino is happy, the girl is desperate
 Aino disappeared in the waters
 Aino’s metamorphosis into a salmon, fished by Väinämöinen
 Aino-Salmon taunted Väinämöinen: “Don’t you recognize your
beloved one?”
 After that she jumped in the waters and disappeared
Akseli Gallén-Kallela: trittico di Aino
Aino-taru triptyykki, 1889/91
Kajanus: Aino
 CD: Kajanus: Orchestral Music
 Track: 7
Kajanus’ Aino: influences
 Evident influence: Wagner
 Orcestration, harmony
 The harps imitate the sound of Väinämöinen’s kantele
 Prémiere in Helsinki
 Berlin philarmonic orchestra in 1890
Aino’s final part
 Final chorus: not from Kalevala
 Romantic
 Verses written (probably) by P.J. Hannikainen:
 Soi, soi nyt kannel, mun murhe jo murtanee
Soi! Se mun sydäntäni virvoittaa.
Hellästi soios, ja katkerasti kai'u,
Siitä mun rintani lohtua saa!
 Väinämöinen
 Play, my kantele, that I’m broken with sorrow;
 Play! It shall refresh my hearth.
 Aino was relevant for Sibelius, who become interested in Kalevala
 Sibelius inherited Lönnrot’s kantele