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Flodin (c. 1900)

Karl Teodor Flodin (10 July 1858, Vaasa – 29 November 1925, Helsinki) was a Finnish music critic, newspaper editor, author, composer, and pianist.

As a journalist based in Helsinki, Flodin wrote for the Swedish-language press: primarily Nya Pressen and, after the Imperial Russian censor shuttered the newspaper in 1900, its various short-lived successors. Flodin was the city's most influential critic from the mid-1880s to the early-1900s, and with his verbose, erudite, and musically-conservative reviews (signed "K."), he wielded appreciable power over the then-developing Finnish music scene, shaping both the opinions of the public and the decisions of domestic composers. For example, two 1897 reviews by Flodin—his 21 October praise for Ernst Mielck's Symphony in F minor and his 2 November excoriation of Jean Sibelius's "positively pathological" The Lemminkäinen Suite—may have prodded Sibelius to tackle "the majestic edifice of the symphony", rather than to 'squander' his talent "turn[ing] out rhapsodies, symphonic poems, and suites".

Flodin gave up composing early in his career in order to focus on his music criticism, perhaps recognizing that more gifted Finnish composers—especially Sibelius—were emerging and that he could be of greater service promoting an understanding of their music. His œuvre, which consists of about 80 piano pieces, 30 songs, 20 choral works, several cantatas, and incidental music, is largely insignificant and remains in manuscript.

Life

He was born on 10 July 1858 in Vaasa.

Starting in 1877, Flodin attended the Imperial Alexander's University of Finland (now the University of Helsinki), where he studied composition, piano, and music theory under the Finnish composer Richard Faltin, who held one of the most prestigious professorships in Finland. After obtaining his degree a bachelors in 1883 and a masters in 1886, he moved to Imperial Germany; from 1890 to 1892, was a post-graduate student at the prestigious Leipzig Conservatory, at which he studied with the German composers Salomon Jadassohn and Karl Piutti.

In 1900, Flodin married the Finnish operatic soprano Adée Leander-Flodin.

In 1908, Flodin and his wife, the Finnish soprano Adée Leander-Flodin, moved to Buenos Aires. There he accompanied Leander-Flodin on the piano in concert and worked as a music critic for the German-language newspaper Deutsche La Plata Zeitung. He also wrote a biography of the Finnish composer and founder of the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy), Martin Wegelius; this was a commission by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, which published the book in 1922. In 1921, the flodins left Argentina and resettled in Helsinki, where Flodin died four years later of a terminal illness. His biography of Richard Faltin was published posthumously (written with and completed by Otto Ehrström) in 1934.

Literary works

• Finnish Musicians and Other Essays on Music (Finska musiker och andra uppsatser i musik). Söderström, 1900.
• Rydberg's Poems in Music (Om musiken till Runeberg's dikter). Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1904.
• Albert Edelfelt: A Popular Memoir (Albert Edelfelt: En folkelig minneskrift). Helsinki: Svenska Folkskolans Vänner, 1905.
• Martin Wegelius: A Life (Martin Wegelius: Levnadsteckning). Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1922.
• Memories of Music and Travel (Musikliv och reseminnen). Helsinki: Söderström & Co, 1931.
• Richard Faltin and His Times (Richard Faltin och hans samtid). Helsinki: Schildt, 1934.

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Helsingfors-Posten was a Swedish-language newspaper published in Helsinki between 1902 and 1905.[1]

The newspaper was founded to fill the gap left in the pro-Swedish newspaper field when the Nya Pressen and Aftonposten newspapers were closed in 1900 and Dagligt Allehanda in 1901. The editor in charge of the newspaper was Karl Flodin. The newspaper announced that it was advocating for the rights of the Swedish-speaking part of the population, but also supported cooperation with the Finnish-speaking constitutionalists. [1]

In 1905, Helsingfors-Posten got a competitor when Nya Pressen started to be published again, and at the beginning of 1906 it was decided to merge the paper with Nya Pressen. [1]

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Nya Pressen was a Swedish-language newspaper published in Helsinki between 1906 and 1914.

After the abolition of the first Nya Pressen and Aftonposten in 1900, the Swedish party was left without a supporter from Helsinki. In their place, Dagligt Allehanda was founded, which was also closed in September 1901. In 1902, a publication license was obtained for the more moderate Helsingfors-Posten, which at the beginning of 1906 was decided to merge with the newly founded Nya Pressen.[1]

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Two years later, Sibelius premiered the Symphony No. 1 in E minor, thereby beginning an artistic path that would result in his becoming one of the most important symphonists of the twentieth century.

Sources

Books

• Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16397-1.

• Goss, Glenda Dawn (2009). Sibelius: A Composer's Life and the Awakening of Finland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-00547-8.

• Tawaststjerna, Erik (2008) [1965/1967; trans. 1976]. Sibelius: Volume I, 1865–1905. Translated by Layton, Robert. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24772-1.

1. On En Saga, Floding wrote that "it 'posed the listener a series of puzzles', but after having heard it for the third time—the piece was performed on no fewer than five occasions during the year—he wrote of 'its incomparable beauty'".
2. On Mielck's symphony: "Flodin spoke of its Beethovenian spirit. There were some barbs in his review obviously aimed in Sibelius's direction. 'We have often deplored the weakening sense of form in the young composers of our present generation. They can all turn out Rhapsodies, Symphonic Poems, Suites galore, but few dare test their strength against the magisterial symphonic edifice: the reason for this is that so few command the art of being able to develop a musical idea to its logical conclusion, so that it has a general rather than a passing significance, a spiritualized form thus giving the imagination a distinct objective towards which it can strive'..."
3. "(3 November 1897) Flodin returned to the attack in Nya Pressen. 'This kind of music' (he is referring to the Four Legends that he had earlier praised) 'sounds positively pathological: it leaves mixed feelings, painful and difficult to put into words since they have so little in common with the aesthetic feelings of pleasure that all art and above all music should prompt. I am no Hanslick... But I must say quite frankly that music like the Lemminkäinen portraits depresses me, makes me miserable, exhausted and apathetic'. Whatever made Flodin perform this volte face? He obviously wanted to see Sibelius's thinking directed into other channels... Less atmosphere anymore substance: this, then, was the kernel of Flodin's argument. Inspired by Mielck's Symphony he did his utmost to urge Sibelius to follow his example and to abandon the fashionable symphonic poem. But his article reads as a general reaction against the artistic climate of the 1890s and the musical currents of the day... the symbolism... the morbidity, mysticism and the dreamlike states evoked by many of the artists of the decade appalled him..."
4. "His sentiments echo those of Wegelius who, like Flodin, was anxious to save Sibelius from those 'dark fancies' and lead him over to the Elysian Fields of classical art. What did Sibelius make of all this? Certainly Flodin's words must have upset him but it seems unlikely that they would have had any direct influence on his development. Flodin had overlooked the symphonic aspect of the Lemminkäinen Legends and Sibelius in any event would have sooner or later embarked on a symphony without 'encouragement' of this kind'.
5. Following the premiere of Sibelius's First Symphony on 26 April 1899, "the voice of Flodin was silent: he had moved to the Aftonposten, the publication of which had been prohibited by the Russian censor".
6. On 1 September 1899, in Aftonposten, Flodin published an article "in which he expressed surprise that Sibelius's work had been misunderstood on its performances in Germany and Sweden (?) but admitted that he himself had needed years before he had come to terms with it and been able to appreciate 'its wild beauty'. He went on to say, 'The most national of all modern composers, Grieg, long ago received international recognition, and it is high time that this was accorded to Sibelius. But in fact he composes at least a generation ahead of his time'".
7. "As a composer, he has performed piano pieces, solo songs and duets, the choral works "I sommarnatt" och "I skären", "Luca Signorelli Requiem för Mignon", "Helena" cantatas, etc., in which his cultivated musical taste and solid talent for form make themselves known."

Newspapers

• K. [Flodin, Karl] (21 October 1897). "Ernst Mielcks konsert" [Ernst Mielck's concert]. Nya Pressen (in Swedish). No. 286. p. 2–3.

• K. [Flodin, Karl] (2 November 1897). "Jean Sibelius konsert" [Jean Sibelius's concert]. Nya Pressen (in Swedish). No. 298. p. 2.

Other

• Biografiskt lexikon för Finland, Sarjala

• Historical Dictionary of the Music and Musicians of Finland, pp. 84–85, Hillila & Hong

• Obituary in Helsingin Sanomat by Evert Katila

1. "He had been in pain before, but he only had his terminal illness for three weeks."
2. "In the Flodinie family, which moved from Sweden to Finland a little over two hundred years ago, literary, musical and other artistic hobbies have been traditional. Thus, Karl Fiodin's father, district doctor Ferdinand Flodin, also painted, composed and engaged in multifaceted literary activities. Karl Flodin was born on 10.7. 1853 in Vaasa, where his father's silo was the city doctor. During his school days, he began his musical studies under the guidance of Richard Fnltin, which he later completed at the Leipzig Conservatory (his teachers were S. Jadassohn, Piutti et al.). After completing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Helsinki"
3. "He was part of the editorial staff of Hufvudstadsbladet for a short time, but soon moved to Nya Pressen, as a permanent music critic, where he was until the aforementioned magazine was closed. After this, when Helsingfors Posten was founded, Flodin became its editor-in-chief, continuing his criticizing activities in this paper as well as in Nya Pressen, which was revived in 1905."
4. "Karl Flodin carved out a career for himself as a real artistic critic in our country's music scene, which was young, with all the characteristics of a young artistic life. With his great literary ability, with his reviews, which were often in the form of small works of art, Flodin greatly influenced the taste of the concert audience"
5. "It is undeniable that Flodini's work as a critic had a noticeable impact on the development of the musical scene in Helsinki "
6. "Especially memorable is his diligent and skillful writing to clarify the nature and meaning of Sibelius's music at a time when general perceptions of it were still chaos."
7. "Karl Flodin's compositional output, although not small in amount, is of less importance than his criticism. He composed sensual but general piano pieces, solo songs and choral and, to some extent also orchestral works"

"In Buenos Aires, he completed an extensive biography of Martin Wegelius. Previously, he had published a series of musical treatises and edited the literary and artistic magazine »Euterpe», which he founded at the turn of the century, which also gave impetus to specialized music magazine companies in our country."

• Obituary in Suomen musiikkilethi

1. "Karl Flodin's compositional production has also been of representative importance, although he has not been a household name in that field for a long time. He mostly composed songs and piano pieces, but some of the larger works that were performed at the time remain behind him as manuscripts."

• Obituary in Uusi Suomi by Heikki Klemetti

1. "One who has grown up at the dawn of our national musical art begins to feel more and more lonely." p.7
2. "our first reviewer, a composer with a fine sense and a writer with a sharp pen." p.7
3. "As a critic of Karl Flod was above all artistically involved living personality. Not, so to speak, the accountant of the concert ex officio, but also a listener who gets excited when there is something exciting to hear. Flodin often wrote at length, so his reviews were read with pleasure, because they always had substance and matter, although the form was as elegant as that of many reviewers, who have nothing but form. And above all, I repeat again: Flodin was one of the most honest critics, which you will probably find in this difficult profession. Who wouldn't Flodin have scolded at some point!"

• Obituary in Hufvudstadsbladet

1. "Karl Flodin, the prominent music writer, journalist, critic and composer, has passed away here after a period of illness."
2. "Karl Flodin's name is primarily and most closely associated with his journalistic activities... was generally recognized as the most brilliant pen of the Helsinki newspaper world"
3. "As an assessor of the phenomena of musical life, Karl Flodin occupied a position with us that no other critic, either before or after him, has held. He was the critic who set the tone, to whose judgments everyone listened, whether they shared them or not, which of course also happened. The prerequisites for this position lay in Flodin's widely acknowledged musical talent, his profound musical insights and above all his warm love for the art of music in all its forms.It was this enthusiasm for music that made him not only the eminently sharp, persuasive critic he became, but also to a real leader and advisor for all young recording artists."
4. "Karl Flodin, who with his cultured! musical taste and his sure judgment not only criticized the musical creations he had to judge, but also with his unselfish interest encouraged and spurred the young talents to new efforts towards higher and higher goals."
5. "a variety of different newspapers, magazines and occasional publications of all kinds that received contributions from Karl Flodin's hand. Mainly it was Nya Pressen, which for many years in he possessed an editorial power of the greatest value Karl Flodin devoted his work and his ability, but also Finsk Tidskrift, Finsk Musikrevy and many other literary companies had the benefit of his participation, mainly in music matters."
6. "After the withdrawal of Nya Pressen, Karl Flodin was the publisher of Helsingforsposten in the years 1902-1905 and at the same time he founded Euterpe, which was originally planned as a music magazine in the later years of its existence became a literary revue."
7. "He collected some musical essays and published them in book form under the title "Finnish musicians" and the comprehensive the lively and valuable biography of Martin Wegelius is also a work of his diligence and his interest in domestic musical life"
8. "In 1907, Flodin moved to Busnos Ayres, where as a pianist and accompanist he participated in Adée Leander-Flodin's singing lessons and wrote music criticism in a German newspaper. Flodin maintained his ties with his homeland by occasionally sending correspondence to Nya Pressen and Svenska Pressen"
9. "after he settled in Helsinki again in 1921, appeared under essays that were always well-read. �Karl Teodor Flodin was born in Vaasa on July 10, 1858. He became a student in 1877, a candidate of philosophy in 1883 and a master's degree in 1886. He began his music studies with Richard Faltin and then continued at the Leipzig Conservatory. He is most closely mourned by his wife, the singer Adée Leander-Flodin, with whom he has been united in a rare happy marriage since 1900."

• Obituary in Åbo Underrättelser

1. "He became a student in 1877 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1883. Even at a very young age, he had begun to develop his great musical talent and later had Richard Faltin as his piano teacher, music theory and composition and studied music theory at the conservatory in Leipzig for two years. After returning to his homeland, he entered the service of journalism. He was first employed for a short time in Hufvudstadsbladet and then joined Nya Pressen, where he was counted as one of the most notable employees."
2. "His deep musical insights, his fine taste and brilliant stylistic ability turned his critics into real masterpieces and through them he exerted a significant influence on our musical life. After Nya Pressen's withdrawal during the Bobrikoff regime, Flodin became responsible publisher of the Helsinki Post and he was involved again when Nya Pressen was resurrected in 1905. Flodin could not find a position in his home country that could secure his finances, and therefore he looked for a field of activity outside the country's borders. He moved in 1908 to Buenos Ayres, where he stayed for 13 years and occupied a notable position. Over there he also worked on the comprehensive biography of one of our most remarkable men in the field of music, Martin Wegelius, which he was commissioned to write by the Swedish Literature Society and which was published in 1922."
3. "He had a great interest in German literature in particular, and he lied to his great dominion over the colloquial language, giving German poetry an exemplary Swedish costume, as well as writing his own poems, which bear witness to his unusual talent for form."

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Effect on Sibelius's development