Ernst Mielck

Ernst Mielck (24 October 1877 – 22 October 1899) was a Finnish composer.

Ernst Mielck in 1898

Mielck was born in Vyborg. He started piano lessons at the age of ten; in 1891 he was sent to Berlin, where he studied under Max Bruch, one of the leading composers of the period. Bruch said of Mielck that he had "an easy, felicitous, and remarkable flair for invention."[1] Mielck returned to Finland in 1896. Three years later he died of tuberculosis in Switzerland, just two days before his 22nd birthday.

Music

Mielck composed all his works in the short span of four years. His catalogue includes a large number of works in the field of chamber music, including a string quintet and a string quartet. He also composed a symphony (1897), two overtures, a concert piece for piano and orchestra as well as one for violin and orchestra, the Finnish Suite, and two major vocal works in the German language.

Mielck faced disappointment in his home country for the lack—with the exception of the Finnish Suite—of nationalistic (political) tendencies; his interest in the culture of his ancestral Germany made him rather a foreigner in the Finnish music scene.

It was in Germany, shortly before his death, that Mielck found his greatest success.

The enthusiasm aroused in the critics—mainly in Karl Flodin at the "Nya Pressen"—by the premiere of Mielck's symphony, on 20 October 1897, conducted by Robert Kajanus, was a motivation that prompted Jean Sibelius to try his hand at his first symphony.

List of works

By opus number
  • Op. 1, String Quartet in G minor, 1895
  • Op. 2, Ouverture zu Macbeth, 1896
  • Op. 3, String Quintet in F major, 1897
  • Op. 4, Symphony in F minor, 1897
  • Op. 5, Altböhmisches Weihnachtslied (Cantata for Choir and Orchestra), 1898
  • Op. 6, Dramatische Ouverture (Dramatic Overture), 1898
  • Op. 7, Altgermanisches Julfest (for Baritone Solo, Male Choir and Orchestra), 1898
  • Op. 8, Concert Piece in D major for Violin and Orchestra, 1898
  • Op. 9, Concert Piece in E minor for Piano and Orchestra, 1898
  • Op 10, Finnische Suite (Finnish Suite), 1899

Without opus number
  • Romance for cello and piano, 1894
  • 3 Fantasy Pieces on Finnish Polska Motifs, 1895
  • 'En blomma', 'Morgenlied', 'Stjernorna', 'Wanderlied' for male choir, 1897
  • Two impromptus for piano, 1899
  • Sarabande in G minor for piano, 1899

Songs for voice and piano
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References
  1. Bruch quoted by BBC Radio 3 presenter during Through the Night program of January 31, 2010
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