Thoughts on the Finnish Music Scene

 

Last fall, conductor Nils Schweckendiek, born in Germany, won the Pacius Prize for his outstanding contribution to the Finnish music scene (more specifically, his interpretation of modern music). In his interview with HBL, I was deeply saddened to learn that his teacher from the Sibelius Academy encouraged him to go home after graduation, stating matter-of-factly that ¨Finland is for Finnish conductors.¨ That was fifteen years ago, and thankfully, Nils didn't listen to that advice, but has instead continued to make music both here in Finland and abroad. 

 

This term, I had the pleasure of attending my colleague¨s course on Finnish Music History and to my surprise, the Helsinki he described in the early 1900s was bustling with musicians from Russia and Sweden, as well as other parts of Europe. At the same time, a newly independent Finland (Finland gained independence in 1918) was intent on strengthening her national identity, and this was naturally best expressed in the form of culture -- for example, we have quite a few Finnish operas, and they are distinctly Finnish in scope.

 

I've been pondering over Nils' experience and thankful that he dared to share so openly. I find it natural that Finns are happy to hear of the successes of Finnish musicians working all over the world, but at the same time, somewhat disconcerting that these same people would even feel the need to comment on the number of musicians from abroad who are working in our orchestras locally. Music by nature transcends language and nationalistic boundaries -- one look at Western music history should be enough to remind us of this (Handel the German, who studied in Italy and went to England to produce Italian opera, is but one well-known example of this).

 

Attitudes towards those who are ¨foreign¨ or ¨different¨ often run in our subconscious, and are much harder to address than blatant discrimination. Not too long ago, I myself was recommended for a church music gig in Finnish, and when I contacted the person in question (in Finnish), I was politely told that since all the music was in Finnish, they would find someone else. Thankfully, these kinds of things haven't happened very often and in fact, I have been welcomed in Finnish speaking churches in many parts of the country, but it was a stark reminder that we have a long way to go in this area.