Who was Yrjö Kilpinen?

(1892-1959)

Yrjö Kilpinen was a Finnish composer whose works total over 800 solo songs to Finnish, Swedish, and German poems. In addition, he composed choral songs, chamber music, and works for solo piano. Kilpinen’s style is marked by clarity and austerity – sometimes very directly rugged – but at the same time extremely expressive.

In Germany and England, Kilpinen achieved great success in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1948 he was named to the Academy of Finland representing musical composition. The title of Professor was awarded to him in 1942. During the Second World War, his success began to fade, although some of his songs, such as Laululle (to Song), Kesäyö (Summer Night), Tunturilaulu (Song of Fells), and Illalle (In the Evening), has achieved folk-song status.