Karl Emil Moritz Genetz (October 24, 1852 – May 1, 1930) was a Finnish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

works. Genetz was born in

Impilahti Impilahti (; ; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finnish border, about west of Petrozavodsk, the capital city of the R ...

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now in the

Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia, or simply Karelia or Karjala (; ) is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the Northwest Russia, northwest of the country. The republic is a part of the Northwestern Federal District, and covers an area of ...

). He became professionally employed as a language teacher, but gained prominence for his choral compositions. After studying chemistry and law at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, he became a singer in the Finnish Opera, and traveled on a state grant to study at the Dresden Conservatory from 1875 to 1877. He spent time in various cities of Finland, including

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and

Hamina Hamina (; , , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, region, and formerly ...

, working as a

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

teacher, composing patriotic works, and conducting choirs. He died in Helsinki in 1930. Many of his works are still well known in modern Finland. James Fuld in his ''The Book of World-Famous Music'' points out that the first two measures of Genetz' ''Herää Suomi! (Arise Finland!)'' for male chorus, published in 1882, are almost identical with the main tune of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

' ''

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the R ...

'' of 1900, during which time the

was part of the

, which makes one consider how blatantly revolutionary against the Czarist regime Sibelius' wordless orchestral piece was.

References

* 1852 births 1930 deaths Musicians from the Grand Duchy of Finland Composers from the Russian Empire People from Pitkyarantsky District People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish composers Finnish male composers {{finland-composer-stub