Englund

Englund is primarily regarded as a symphonic composer. His seven symphonies and his concertos are the backbone of a substantial output. The majority of his chamber works were composed fairly late, after he returned to composition following a ten-year period of silence. The exception, however, is the Piano Quartet composed in 1941 and slightly revised in the early 1970s.

Einar Englund (1916-1999) was not only one of Finland's major symphonists; he was also one of his country's most important pianists. He was destined for a virtuoso career until he damaged a finger as a soldier in the Battle of Bengtskjar in the ''Finnish Continuation War'' in 1941 - but when he later discovered the bullet holes in his beret, he realized he had a lucky escape! Englund wrote surprisingly little for his own instrument, but the works he did produce glitter with a Prokofievan steely strength and textural clarity.

Einar Englund's music might not be as deeply original as that of his elder countryman Sibelius, but it is wonderful, beautifully made music nonetheless. The Piano Quintet dates from 1941. It was Englund's graduation exercise, and it attracted the favorable attention of Sibelius himself. Already you can hear the qualities that characterize all of Englund's music: the late-Romantic, Russian-leaning sound of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, the clean lines, tight formal control, and memorable melodic ideas.

Finnish composer, pianist, composition teacher and music critic Einar Englund was born in Ljugam on June 17th, 1916, and studied with Bengt Carlson at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. On a recommendation from Sibelius, possibly on the basis of his piano quintet, he continued his studies with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. He fought in World War II, an experience which inspired at least some of his earlier works. Gaining tumultous acclaim for his first two symphonies, Englund rose to prominence in the period immediately following World War II, where his music's resemblance to the works of Shostokovich and Prokofiev attracted the attention of music lovers and critics alike. A composer who didn't belong to any modern school or trend, he over the years continued to enrich and refine his distinctive personal style. Englund died in Ljugam on June 27th, 1999.

Though he was born on the Swedish island of Gotland, Englund settled in Helsinki, where he studied and later, after a spell of study in Tanglewood with Copland, taught. On returning home after his service on the front in 1945, he burned all his wartime manuscripts and sketches, and wrote this symphony, his first orchestral piece—and a remarkably accomplished piece it is! It became known in his native country as the War Symphony, though the composer characterized it as an expression of ''a euphoric joy at having—by a sheer miracle—come through four years of hell during the Second World War alive''. The musical language has more in common with Shostakovich than any other modern composer, but it is far from derivative. The idiom is accessible and there are memorable melodic ideas.