Ilkka Kuusisto

The first Moomin book Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (The Moomins and the Great Flood) was published 75 years ago. To mark the anniversary, FMQ gives an overview of music that has been composed over the years based on and inspired by Moomin stories.

The cultural cold war between the superpowers that began after the Second World War played a major role in shaping the international arts and culture scene as we know it today. This series of articles discusses the impacts of cultural diplomacy, particularly that of the USA, on Finnish music from the days of the Cold War to the present. This third part examines how American avant-garde came to Finland in the 1960s and what impacts it had.

At closer range, Jaakko and Pekka Kuusisto do not even look alike. But it's been hard to convince the media that one is Jaakko and the other is Pekka (see VMQ 3/96). To start with, they have both in turn taken first prize in the national Kuopio Violin Competition. Then in 1990 Jaakko came fourth in the Sibelius Violin Competition at the age of 16, to be followed five years later by Pekka, who hit the jackpot when he was 19.

Children’s music underwent a huge transition in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. Composer Pekka Jalkanen witnessed and contributed to this development. In this article from 2011 he discusses the history of Finnish children's music.

The history of electronic music in general is yet a short one, and affords an interesting angle on the passing of time. Experiments made 40 or 50 years ago may seem to us rather primitive now, but how will the high technology of today look to those working in this field fifty years from now?