Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music". Pacius was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He was appointed music teacher at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 1834. In

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

he founded a musical society, the student choir

Akademiska Sångföreningen The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki ( sv, Akademiska Sångföreningen, lit=The Academic Song Association, ), abbreviated AS, colloquially also known as , but without lexical meaning. (), is a Finland-Swedish academic male-voice choir in H ...

and an orchestra. In 1848, Pacius wrote the music to the poem " Vårt land" by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, which was to become Finland's

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

. Pacius's music was also used for the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n national anthem "

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm "" (; "My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy") is the national anthem of Estonia. It was adopted as the national anthem () in 1920. The lyrics were written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and are set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik (Friedri ...

" and the

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

n ethnic anthem " Min izāmō, min sindimō". In 1852, he composed '' Kung Karls jakt'' (''The Hunt of King Charles''), which was the first Finnish opera, with a libretto in the style of Romantic nationalism, like the national anthem designed to convince Finland's grand duke (i.e. the

Russian Emperor The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in connection with Russia' ...

Nicholas I) of the total loyalty of his subjects in Finland. The libretto was written by the author and historian

Zacharias Topelius Zachris Topelius (, ; 14 January 181812 March 1898) was a Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and rector of the University of Helsinki who wrote novels related to Finnish history. Given name Zacharias is his baptismal name, and this ...

in close collaboration with the composer. His compositions also include a

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, a symphony, a string quartet and several other operas. Pacius died in Helsinki, aged 81.

Works

* Orchestral ** Symphony in D minor (1850) ** Overture in E-flat major (1826) ** Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor (1845) * Vocal music ** '' Kung Karls jakt'' (''Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys'', "King Carl's Hunt"), opera (1852) ** '' Prinsessan av Cypern'', Singspiel (1860) ** ''Die Loreley'', opera (1862–87) ** Cantatas ** Choruses ** Lieder * Chamber music ** String Quartet in E-flat major (1826)

Literature

* Tomi Mäkelä, ''Friedrich Pacius – ein deutscher Komponist in Finnland: mit einer Edition der Tagebücher, Briefe und Arbeitsmaterialien von Silke Bruns'', Hildesheim; Zürich tc. Olms; Helsinki: Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland, 2014, * Tomi Mäkelä, ''Fredrik Pacius, kompositör i Finland'', Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsinki 2009; * Tomi Mäkelä, Der Pionier. Fredrik Pacius, ''

Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...

'', 11, 2009, 36–44.

References

External links

*
Finnish Music Information Center page on Pacius' Vocal Works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pacius, Fredrik 1809 births 1891 deaths Musicians from Hamburg Finnish classical composers German emigrants to Finland Male opera composers National anthem writers 19th-century classical composers Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery 19th-century male musicians Academic personnel of the University of Helsinki Finnish opera composers