The Finnish church concert 1850–1917 and Middle-European positions: one aspect of the foundational period of Finnish music culture and an overview of the organ repertoire performed

Abstract

During the time of autonomy, the spiritual concerts were an important part of building up Finnish music culture. How does the organ repertoire from the period 1850–1917 differ from the repertoire in current time, and which were the reasons behind this progress? The author examines the research topics through the spiritual ideas of the time. The research material consists of the concert programmes, concert commentaries and other writing in newspapers, which refer to the attitudes and events that took place during the time of autonomy. 

Besides the education of organ playing at cantor-organist schools, the German conservatory model in Helsingin musiikkiopisto ["Helsinki music school"] made it possible for Finnish organist to get basic music education in Finland. The European academic network of Richard Faltin and Oskar Merikanto helped their organ students to study abroad.

The article visualises the academic network and the transnationality of European musicians, which made it possible for the new European influences to spread fast to Finland. Besides the narrow-minded concept of church music, influenced by German idealism and Pietism, the new symphonic organ style at the end of the nineteenth century emancipated the organ from being only a cult instrument to becoming a concert solo instrument.