Armas Järnefelt

Armas Järnefelt (born Aug. 14, 1869, Viipuri, Fin. [now Vyborg, Russia]—died June 23, 1958, Stockholm, Swed.) was a composer and conductor who introduced Richard Wagner’s operas into Finland and who is known for his works for small orchestra.

Järnefelt studied under the composer Ferruccio Busoni at Helsinki and Jules Massenet at Paris. He conducted at Viipuri (1893–1903), and as director of the Helsinki Opera (1903–07) he gave the first performances of Wagner’s operas in Finland (1904). He became conductor of the Royal Opera in Stockholm in 1907 and in 1910 became a naturalized Swedish citizen. In 1932 he returned to Finland as director of the Helsinki Opera. He was known as a conductor of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Wagner and of his brother-in-law, Jean Sibelius. He wrote songs and choral, orchestral, and piano music but became known chiefly for his Berceuse (1904) and Praeludium for small orchestra.