Fredrik Pacius (, ); in German and in Estonian 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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He was appointed music teacher 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 ...

in 1834. In

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 ...

he founded a musical society, the student choir Akademiska Sångföreningen and an orchestra. In 1848, Pacius wrote the music to the poem "" by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, which was to become commonly accepted as 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 European ...

. The same melody was also used for the

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

n national anthem "

Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm "" is the national anthem of Estonia, originally adopted in 1920 (readopted 1990). The lyrics were written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and are contrafactum, set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik Pacius, which is also that of the Finland, Fi ...

" and the

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

n ethnic anthem " Min izāmō, min sindimō". In 1852, he composed '' Kung Karls jakt'' (English: ''King Charles' Hunt''; Finnish: ''Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys''), which was the first Finnish opera, with a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

in the style of

Romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

, like the national anthem designed to convince Finland's

grand duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

(i.e. the

Russian Emperor The emperor and autocrat of all Russia (, ), also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, was the official title of the Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917. The title originated in connection with Russia's victory in the Great Nor ...

Nicholas I) of the total loyalty of his subjects in Finland. The libretto was written by the author and historian Zacharias Topelius in close collaboration with Pacius. His compositions also include a violin concerto, a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

, a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

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 A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

(1860) ** ''Die Loreley'', opera (1862–87) ** Cantatas ** Choruses ** Lieder *

Chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art 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'', 11, 2009, 36–44.

References

External links

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