Edvard Armas Järnefelt (14 August 1869 – 23 June 1958) was a Finnish and Swedish conductor and composer, who achieved some minor success with his orchestral worksBerceuse (1904) andPraeludium (1900). He spent much of his conducting career at theRoyal Swedish Opera inStockholm,Sweden.
Armas Järnefelt was born inVyborg, in theGrand Duchy of Finland, the son of GeneralAugust Aleksander Järnefelt andElisabeth Järnefelt (néeClodt von Jürgensburg).
Järnefelt studied withFerruccio Busoni inHelsinki and withJules Massenet inParis. Both Järnefelt and Busoni enjoyed a close relationship withJean Sibelius, who was married to Järnefelt's sisterAino. From 1905 Järnefelt had a long career as conductor at theRoyal Swedish Opera inStockholm, beginning as repetiteur from 1905 to 1911 (he became aSwedish citizen in 1909); conductor 1911-1923 and chief conductor 1923–1933.[1]
Between 1932 and 1936 Järnefelt was the artistic director and conductor of theFinnish National Opera. He presented, among others,Siegfried andGötterdämmerung fromWagner'sRing cycle, andParsifal. He was the principal conductor of theHelsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 1942–1943, and also returned to the Royal Swedish Opera as chief conductor from 1938 to 1946.[2] He died inStockholm.
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 You may hear Armas Järnefelt's compositionsPraeludiem andBerceuse as conducted byHans Kindler with hisNational Symphony Orchestra in 1947Here on archive.org |
Järnefelt's musical works include:
In addition, he composed more than 70 solo songs, 21 pieces for male chorus, 12 part-songs for mixed chorus, and 13 cantatas. HisBerceuse (1904) arranged for violin and piano is included in the Royal Conservatory of Music grade 7 violin repertoire (Canada).[3]
Järnefelt also wrote stage and film music, e.g. for the filmSong of the Scarlet Flower (1919), directed byMauritz Stiller, possibly the first original film music by a Nordic composer.[4]
His siblings wereKasper Järnefelt [Fi], a critic and translator of Russian literature; the writerArvid Järnefelt (the incidental music for his playKuolema was written byJean Sibelius); the painterEero Järnefelt (Erik); Ellida; Ellen,Aino (who married Sibelius); Hilja; and Sigrid.
He was married twice: firstly to the sopranoMaikki Järnefelt (née Pakarinen) from 1893 to 1908 (she subsequently marriedSelim Palmgren), and secondly in 1910 to the opera singerLiva Edström.
In June 2012 a display of Järnefelt paraphernalia was opened in the entrance of the Sibelius Academy situated in theHelsinki Music Center.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)| Preceded by | Principal conductors, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 1942–1943 | Succeeded by |
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