Kaj Oskar Chydenius (16 October 1939 – 20 April 2024) was a Finnish musician and composer, probably best known for his

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political songs interpreted by various artists.

Biography

Chydenius studied at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

, 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 ...

and the

Helsinki School of Economics The Aalto University School of Business (; ), is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of the oldest business schools in the Nordic countries. The school became part of ...

, starting his career with

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...

, instrumental theatre, and the aesthetics of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

. Some of the best-known works by Chydenius are ''Lapualaisooppera'' (1966) and such songs as 'Sinua, sinua rakastan', 'Nuoruustango' and the children's song 'Magdaleena', which are all evergreens in Finland. Chydenius was one of the founding members of KOM-teatteri in 1971, together with Kaisa Korhonen who was his wife then. The younger son of Kaj Chydenius, Jussi Chydenius is a member of the vocal ensemble

Rajaton Rajaton is a Finnish a cappella ensemble, founded in Helsinki in 1997. The Finnish word ''rajaton'' means "boundless", to indicate the breadth of their repertoire, from sacred classical to near Europop. Rajaton performs primarily in Finland bu ...

. Many works by Chydenius are released on Love Records. Kaj Chydenius was related to Anders Chydenius (1729–1803), a Finnish Lutheran priest and a member of the Swedish

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

; this was his great-great-uncle in the fifth generation. Chydenius died 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 ...

on 20 April 2024, at the age of 84. His former wife Kaisa Korhonen died only five days later.

Selected discography

*''Lauluja'' (1966) *''Kauneimmat rakkauslaulut'' (1977) *''Unet palaavat Helsinkiin'' (1996)

References

External links

* * 1939 births 2024 deaths Finnish composers Finnish male composers Finnish male musicians Finnish male singers Finnish singer-songwriters People from Kuusankoski {{finland-composer-stub