Einar Englund - 100 Years, 1. Life, concertos, concert suite, piano and brass

He was one of a group of soldiers guarding a lighthouse on a small island near the border. A Soviet landing party, mistaken by the watchman for Finns, got close enough to launch a mortar attack, and Englund had to leap from the top to avoid slaughter or capture. In the escape he broke the little finger of his left hand and knew that his career as a concert pianist was over. A little later, when he discovered the bullet holes through his beret, he realized he had been luckier than he first imagined.⁽¹⁾

It was the emergence of Englund immediately after the Second World War that irrefutably stamped the arrival of the 20th century on Finnish music.⁽¹⁾

Einar Englund (1916 - 1999) was a Finnish composer, music critic and teacher at the Sibelius Academy. He was a native Swedish speaker, born on the Island of Gotland in Sweden, who became part of the Swedish-speaking community in Helsinki. ⁽²⁾

As told above his career as a concert pianist was cut short by an injury in the Continuation War.  In the post-war years Englund turned his efforts to composition and played piano in jazz nightclubs.

Englund studied composition with Bengt Carlson and Selim Palmgren in Helsinki, composers who lived in the long shadow of Sibelius, and orchestration with Leo Funtek whom he continued to credit in later life. ⁽³⁾

In a 1948 visit to the Soviet Union he became influenced by the 'dramatic power' and 'grim humour' of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, qualities Englund easily identified with--Englund could be quite ironic in conversation. His music was further influenced by the neoclassical, middle-period Stravinsky and by Bartok. ⁽¹⁾

In 1949 he studied with Aaron Copland in Tanglewood on a grant and played jazz with Bernstein. The former according to Copland was more a discussion about music and composition since Englund was already very well-versed in the subject.

In his catalog of works seven symphonies stand out.  They make Englund a worthy successor to Sibelius with a distinct 20-century voice. The first two symphonies were written in quick succession in the late 1940s. There would not be third symphony for another 23 years. Serialism, referred to as "internationalism" in Finland, had become all the rage.  Englund found the style too mechanical and preferred to shut up.  He resumed with the Barbarossa symphony in 1971 and would write four more during the 1970s and 80s. ⁽¹⁾

He nevertheless still composed a series of large-scale works, 20 films, and choral works in the 1950s. Late in the decade he became a music critic for the Swedish-language Hufvudstadsbladet and started teaching at the Sibelius Academy, activities he would continue until 1976 and 1982 respectively. In the 1960s he only composed three film scores and a couple of piano works. ⁽⁴⁾

We will hear Englund's symphonies in my next post. For now let's listen to a few other works.

The Great Wall of China (1949) is a concert suite arranged from incidental music to a play. With movements entitled Ouvertura, Masquerade in a Chinese Garden, Inquisition, Rumba, Green table Tango, March à la Shostakovich, Jazz-Intermezzo, and Finale - Polonaise, this work has a strong Shostakovich flavor and borrows from jazz and other popular styles.



Introduzione & Toccata (1950) is a powerful piece for piano solo.



Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (1954) is a lyrical and thoughtful work.  It reminds of the cello concertos of Elgar and Myaskovsky, but above all of Bartok in style.



In the Piano Concerto No. 1 (1955) Englund showcases his thorough familiarity with the instruments and creates a unique soundscape inspired by the music from Lapland.

Not only does it have a Bartók feel to it, it has a nice tip of the hat to folklore that Bartók would appreciate: Hermans says its themes are derived from the "yoik," a vocal technique of the Sami people of Lapland.⁽⁵⁾

De Profundis for 14 Brass Instruments (four horns, trumpets and trombones each, and two tubas) (1980), an ideal 20-century piece for a good brass band or brass section of an orchestra.



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⁽¹⁾ Martin Anderson, "Obituary: Einar Englund." Obituary, Independent, 07/08/1999. (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-einar-englund-1105147.html (06/28/2016))
⁽²⁾ Helsinki was settled by Swedes and maintained a large Swedish-speaking community until the twentieth century when many Swedish speakers returned to Sweden and others more and more entered into marriages with Finnish speakers.  There was at times conflict and strife between the two populations. Englund later reflected that his career had suffered because of his minority status.
⁽³⁾ Jouni Kaipainen, "Selim Palmgren, Lyricist." Composer profile, Music Finland website, 1997, originally published in Finnish Music Quarterly 4/1997, translation William Moore and Susan Sinisalo, 1997, edited by AT/Fimic, 1999. (http://composers.musicfinland.fi/musicfinland/fimic.nsf/0/D850CFFE898FCEA3C225753700261D61?opendocument (07/02/2016))
⁽⁴⁾"Einar Englund." Wikipedia entry. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Englund (07/02/2016))
⁽⁵⁾ Lance Nixon, "Einar ENGLUND (1916-1999)." CD review, MusicWeb International website, 3/04/2004. (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2004/Mar04/Englund2.htm#ixzz4Cpw2fKjY (07/02/2016))