Järnefelt, (Edvard) Armas

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Järnefelt, (Edvard) Armas

Järnefelt, (Edvard) Armas, distinguished Finnish-born Swedish conductor and composer; b. Vyborg, Aug. 14, 1869; d. Stockholm, June 23, 1958. He studied with Wegelius and Busoni at the Helsinki Cons. (1887–90), with Becker in Berlin (1890), and with Massenet in Paris (1893–94). He then was conductor of the Vyborg Municipal Orch. (1898–1903) and director of the Helsinki Music Inst. (1906–07). He became a conductor at the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1907. He was named court conductor in 1910, the same year he became a naturalized Swedish citizen; later was chief conductor of the Royal Opera (1923–32). He subsequently was chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera (1932–36) and the Helsinki Phil. (1942–3). He married the soprano Maikki Pakarinen (b. Joensuu, Aug. 26, 1871; d. Turku, July 4, 1929) in 1893; they were divorced in 1908; in 1910 he married the soprano Liva Edström (b. Vänersborg, March 18, 1876; d. Stockholm, June 24, 1971). Jarnefelt was the brother-in-law of Sibelius. His compositions, which included the symphonic poem Korsholma (1894), a Symphonic Fantasy for Orch. (1895), and Berceuse for Small Orch. (1904), were written in the Finnish national style.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire