"The mighty spring tide of Finnish music" : nationalism and internationalism in the music of Leevi Madetoja
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Music, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Mahlberg, Daniel Sakari
issued: 2018-10-22T23:02:48Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Finnish nationalists struggled to define their country’s national identity while simultaneously navigating two foreign infractions: Swedish rule, which remained influential even after Finland was annexed by Russia in 1809, and Russian colonization, which continued until Finland’s independence in 1917. Inspired by Herder, they justified claims for cultural and political legitimacy by disseminating a written form of the incipient Finnish language, manufacturing a national epic, the Kalevala, and reinforcing the myth of Finland as a homogenous national entity rooted in the natural world. Meanwhile, Finnish musicians sought to advance their nation’s international standing by producing works aimed at the elevation of Finland’s artistic canon. Jean Sibelius was only one of several influential artistic figures active in early twentieth-century Finland. Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947), who lived and worked in Sibelius’s shadow, composed a number of weighty, melancholic works, many of which include national associations. For example, Madetoja’s Second Symphony (1918) was inspired by the events of Finland’s civil war, while his first opera Pohjalaisia (1924) explores a narrative of self-determination and freedom from oppression. As there is little information available on Madetoja outside Finland, this project aims to bring an awareness of his life and work to a wider audience. It begins by situating Madetoja in the larger political and artistic nationalist movements of the time. Madetoja’s incorporation of a sense of place in his output, through the integration of folk idioms and references to the Finnish landscape, is explored through an assessment of his contemporaneous critical reception. This in turn reveals how Finnish audiences received his work with respect to Finland’s nationalist undertakings. Further, through a detailed analysis of the Second Symphony, this study discusses Madetoja’s style through a demonstration of his t…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/67663
note: “THE MIGHTY SPRING TIDE OF FINNISH MUSIC”: NATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONALISM IN THE MUSIC OF LEEVI MADETOJA by Daniel Sakari Mahlberg B.F.A., Simon Fraser University, 1999 M.A., California State University, 2007 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Music) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2018 © Daniel Sakari Mahlberg, 2018 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: “The Mighty Spring Tide of Finnish Music”: Nationalism and Internationalism in the Music of Leevi Madetoja submitted by Daniel Sakari Mahlberg in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music Examining Committee: Vera Georgia Micznik Co-supervisor David J. Metzer Co-supervisor Alan Dodson Supervisory Committee Member Alexander Fisher University Examiner Herbert Rosengarten University Examiner Daniel M. Grimley External Examiner iii Abstract In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Finnish nationalists struggled to define their country’s national identity while simultaneously navigating two foreign infractions: Swedish rule, which remained influential even after Finland was annexed by Russia in 1809, and Russian colonization, which continued until Finland’s independence in 1917. Inspired by Herder, they justified claims for cultural and political legitimacy by disseminating a written form of the incipient Finnish language, manufacturing a national epic, the Kalevala, and reinforcing the myth of Finland as a homogenous national entity rooted in the natural world. Meanwhile, Finnish musicians sought to advance their nation’s international standing by producing works aimed at the elevation of Finland’s artistic canon. Jean Sibelius was only one of several influential artistic figures active in early twe…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0372970
language: eng
degree discipline: Music - Musicology
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/67663