MELARTIN, ERKKI (, Käkisalmi–, Pukinmäki), versatile composer, conductor, director of the Helsinki Music Institute for twenty-five years, artist, author of a book of aphorisms.
Melartin reflected the vivacious personality of Karelia, in southeastern Finland. His childhood impressions of the folk music of that area influenced him throughout his life. He learned to sing before he could speak and knew the names of the notes before he could read. A frail child, at...