Jyrki Linjama

Jyrki Linjama studied composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara and Paavo Heininen at the Sibelius Academy, graduating with a Master’s degree in music in 1989. He also studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague 1987–88, in Budapest 1989–91, and at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin 1991–92, where his teacher was Witold Szalonek. Linjama taught in the Music Department at the University of Helsinki 1986–87, at the Sibelius Academy 1993–5, and has been on the teaching staff of the University of Turku since 1992. He has received a number of awards in recognition of his work as a composer and been commissioned to write works for the leading Finnish orchestras and festivals. In 2004 he was awarded the Hulda Paulo Prize of the Paulo Foundation. For Linjama, composing is the search for his own identity in the day-to-day round of hard work, the sustained effort to find answers and become part of a solid cultural tradition. His work as a lecturer in musicology at the University of Turku has established a deeper relationship with the Western music tradition which, in turn, has led him to address basic aesthetical issues and helped him to make bolder use of historical musical material in his own compositions. Linjama is a conscientious craftsman-composer who shuns being associated with any particular stylistic camp. He is modern but not a ‘modernist’ and greatly aware of tradition without being a ‘traditionalist’. Linjama has mostly written chamber music and solo works, but also a great deal of vocal music. His instrumental works have tended to be scored for one or two instruments, or for orchestra. Linjama always tries in his music to make maximum allowance for the inherent character of each instrument, and his stylistic range has in the past few years been widened by taking in some of the less common ones. His stylistic latitude seems to be a consequence of his desire to learn, which prevents him from setting himself any musical taboos. He often combines the multi-threading of Post-Serialism with an almost Romantic emotional sensitivity. The most important series of works in Linjama’s instrumental output consists of the three Violin Concertos, which continue and augment his Expressionist approach, while his most extensive chamber music work, Partita (1996) for guitar and string quartet, is an almost Neo-Classical piece. Linjama’s vocal music includes both solo songs and choral works. His major solo vocal work is "Kolme madrigaalia" (Three Madrigals, 1998–2001). He has written both secular and sacred choral works, the latter including Kyrie (1989) for female choir, "Pääsiäismotetti" (Easter Motet, 1995) for mixed choir and organ, a set of four Piae Cantiones motets entitled In hoc natali gaudio (1996) for mixed choir, and "Juhlakantaatti" (Festive Cantata, 1997) for soloists, choir and organ.

Hildegardiana (1998) was performed during the 2006 AFNOM festival in London.

Contact information

Jyrki Linjama
Email: jyrlin@utu.fi
www.fimic.fi/linjamajyrki