Toivo Kuula was a Finnish composer and orchestral conductor known for his colorful, folk-influenced vocal works. He was also admired for his large-scale chamber pieces and was seen as a champion of Finnish music and culture. Kuula was born in 1883 in Vaasa, Finland, and he began studying music in 1900 at the Helsinki Music Institute under Martin Wegelius. Unfortunately, Kuula had to withdraw from his schooling because of financial difficulties. In 1904, he supported himself by giving violin and piano lessons, and he also conducted the orchestra and choir for the workers union. By 1905, composer Selim Palmgren became aware of Kuula's talents and encouraged him to resume his schooling. Palmgren also helped him acquire the necessary financial support to return to Helsinki. Kuula became very popular as a composer with some of his earliest works, including his Sonata for Violin and Piano and the song I Gazed Long into the Fire, both from 1907. That summer, he documented and transcribed a large volume of Ostrobothnian folk songs and dances for the South-Ostrobothnian Homestead Society. The following year, he became Jean Sibelius' very first composition student. This was made possible in part by Armas Järnefelt, who supported and encouraged Kuula but was also Sibelius' brother-in-law. Later Kuula also studied with Marco Enrico Bossi, Hans Sitt, and Marcel Labey. In addition to composing, Kuula began his first professional appointment as the conductor of the orchestra in Oulu in 1910. Two years later, he began conducting the Helsinki Town Orchestra, and then he moved on to the Native Orchestra in Viipuri in 1916. He met soprano Alma Silventoinen in 1914, and they got married later that same year. She inspired most of his solo songs, and they also toured and performed together. They had one daughter, Sinikka Kuula, who later became a pianist. In 1918, Kuula was tragically shot and killed by a drunken soldier during celebrations for Finland's newly won independence. At the time of his death, his Stabat Mater for chorus and orchestra was left unfinished, but it was later completed by his friend Leevi Madetoja. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi

Toivo Kuula

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