Armas Launis (April 22, 1884 – August 7, 1959), was a Finnish composer as well as an

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, a professor, a writer and a journalist. He was born in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of ...

Composer

Armas Launis was mainly an opera composer. He wrote ten operas (both libretto and music). Several were performed: *In Finland: "The Seven Brothers" (1913), the first Finnish opera comique, and "Kullervo" (1917), both in full stage performance, and a concert performance of "Aslak Hetta" in 2004 at Finlandia Hall,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, directed by Sakari Oramo. *In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

: stage performance of Kullervo (1940, Nice, Palais de la Méditerranée) with radio broadcasts on Paris-Inter and Radio Monte-Carlo (1938–1940). A short version of "Jehudith" was also broadcast in 1954 (Paris-Inter) Armas Launis also wrote chamber music pieces, cantatas, choruses, suites for orchestra, and the music of the first Finnish ethnographic film "A Wedding in Karelia, the Land of Poetry" (1921).

Ethnomusicologist

Launis was one of the first scholars to research and collect folk music. He was very open-minded; passionately fond of travels, which he undertook alone; and eager to meet other people. He travelled to

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

(1904, 1905, 1922), Kainuu (1902),

Ingria Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with E ...

(1903, 1906),

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

(1902, 1905), and

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, and t ...

(1930). Everywhere, he was happy to meet local people and had long conversations with them, jotting down popular melodies. Launis also recorded famous singers, hired mourners, and kantele players. He understood the richness and vitality of sung poetry together with the importance of folklore. His numerous publications and the corpus he collected are still recognized and used; they are valuable additions to the common inheritance of the Finnish nation. Later, Launis travelled in North Africa and became interested in Arabic, Berber, and Bedouin music. This influence can be felt in later works, especially the operas ''Théodora'' and ''Jéhudith''.

Professor

Launis earned a Ph.D. (1911) and was full professor at the University of Helsinki where he taught musical analysis and composition. He completed his studies in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

with Wilhelm Klatte and in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

with Waldemar von Baußnern. Deeply concerned with the availability of musical education for everyone, Launis founded and until 1930 directed the first popular conservatories in Finland, which still exist. As early as 1920, Launis received a life pension from the Finnish State, with the permission to live abroad.

Journalist

Anxious to maintain contact with his homeland, Launis regularly contributed to various Finnish newspapers including Helsingin Sanomat, Uusi Suomi, and Suomen Kuvalehti. He co-founded and was an active member of the Sociéte de la presse étrangère de la Côte d'Azur (Association of Foreign Press of the French Riviera), and he was a journalist for the Association française d'expansion et d'échanges artistiques (French Association for the Development of Artistic Exchanges). In 1930 Launis settled permanently in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, France, and lived there the remainder of his life. He took an active part in musical and cultural exchanges between France and Finland.

Works

Operas

*''The Seven Brothers'' (1913) *''Kullervo'' (1917) *''Aslak Hetta'' (1922) *''The Witch's Song'' (1934) *''The Karelian Magic Scarf'' (1937) *''The summer that never came'' (unfinished) (1936) *''Jehudith'' (1937–1940) *''Once upon a time...'' (unfinished) (1939) *''Theodora'' (unfinished) (1939) *''The Frozen Flames'' (1957)

Books

*Über Art, Entstehung und Verbreitung des estnisch – finnischen Runenmelodien (1910) *Ooppera ja puhenäytelmä:muutamia vertailevia piirteitä (1915) *Esivanhempieni muisto 1500–1900 (1921) *Aslak Hetta: 3-näytöksinen ooppera (libretto 1921) *Kaipaukseni maa. Lapinkävijän muistoja (1922) *Murjaanien maassa (1927) *Suomen maaseutukaupunkien kansankonservatoriot (1927) *Erään turunmaalaisen saaristolaisuvun vaiheita (1929) *Tunturisävelmia etsimässä. Lapissa 1904 ja 1905. (Minna-Riikka Järvinen 2004)

Corpus of melodies

*Lappische Juoigos-Melodien (1908) (Lappish melodies) *Suomen Kansan sävelmiä IV: Inkerin runosävelmät (1910) *Suomen partioväen laulukirja (1917) *Suomen Kansan sävelmiä IV: II Karjalan runosävelmät 1930 *Eesti runoviisid (Tartto 1930)

Articles

*Runosävelmistä (Kalevalanseuran vuosikirja I, 1921) *Kullervo-oopperan esihistoriaa (Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 1, 1921) *Saamein säveleitä etsimässä (Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 2, 1922) *Muuan karjalainen kanteleensoittaja (Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 1923)

Sources

*Ahmajärvi, Jouni 2003" Se maa on taikamaa, on maa mun kaipauksen" Armas Launiksen kuva Lapista ja saamelaisista. Julkaisematon pro gradu-tutkielma Oulun yliopisto,Historian laitos. *Fantapié, Henri-Claude 2000: Armas Launis(1884–1959): un compositeur finlandais dans le contexte niçois et français. Boréales 2000: 78/81, p. 213–230. http://www.solistesdeparis.com *Fantapié, Henri-Claude 2003: Quand un compositeur du Nord croise un collègue venu du Sud.... Boréales 2003 86/89, p. 249–263. *Hako, Pekka 1982: Armas Launis 1884-1959-Felix Krohn, Armas Launis, Ernst Linko.Hämeen läänin taidetoimikunta, Hämeenlinna. *Hako, Pekka 2004:Armas Launis:opera composer. Finnish music quarterly 2004:2, s. 42–47. *Heinonen, Kati 2005: Armas Launiksen fonogrammit Soikkolasta: laulutavan, runon ja laulutilanteen välisiä yhteyksiä kalevalamittaisessa runoudessa. Pro gradu-tutkielma http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/hum/kultt/pg/heinonen/. *Jouste, Marko 2004: Armas Launiksen vuoden 1904 Lapin matkan joikusävelmien keräys ja soiva vertailuaineisto. Musiikin suunta 2004:2,s.58-81. *Järvinen, Minna Riikka 2004: Ummikkona Pohjan perille. – Launis, Armas: Tunturisävelmiä. Lapissa 1904 ja 1905. Toim. Minna Riikka Järvinen. Helsinki: SKS, 341–351. *Tomasi, Henri 1940: Armas Launis. Notes biographiques. Kullervo. Autres oeuvres. Préface H.Holma. London. *Väisänen, A.O. 1960: Armas Launis 1884–1959. Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 40, s. 345–349. *Tarasti, Eero, Muotokuvia, Imatran Kansainvälisen Semiotiikka-instituutin julkaisuja, nr.3

External links

*On the Website of Finland's Musical Information Center, keyword: "Armas Launis" *Numerous relevant data will be found http://www.fimic.fi {{DEFAULTSORT:Launis, Armas Finnish musicologists Ethnomusicologists Finnish classical composers 1884 births 1959 deaths People from Hämeenlinna Finnish opera composers Male opera composers 20th-century classical composers Finnish male classical composers Finnish expatriates in France 20th-century Finnish male musicians 20th-century Finnish male writers 20th-century Finnish educators 20th-century musicologists 20th-century Finnish composers