Robert Kajanus
Finnish conductor and composer (b. 2/14 December 1856 in Helsinki; d. 6 July 1933 in Helsinki).
Kajanus studied music in Helsinki, Leipzig and Paris, and worked in Dresden following his graduation. In 1882 he returned to Helsinki, and founded the city's Philharmonic Society (known after 1914 as the Finnish National Orchestra), serving as their conductor for exactly fifty years. He was a champion of the works of Sibelius, and recorded many of them onto disc for EMI-Columbia during the early 1930s.
In 1897, he was appointed director of music at Helsinki University, where he remained until 1926. He was also the founder of the Nordic Music Festival in 1919.
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
One letter from Tchaikovsky to Robert Kajanus has survived, dating from 1893, which has been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 4875 – 28 February/12 March 1893, from Klin
One letter from Kajanus to Tchaikovsky, dating from 1/13 March 1893, is preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, No. 1433).
