Elegia (Madetoja)

Elegia
by Leevi Madetoja
The composer, c. 1920s
Catalogue	Op. 4/1
Composed	1909 (1909)
Duration	Approx. 5 minutes
Premiere
Date	10 January 1910 (1910-01-10)
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Conductor	Robert Kajanus
Performers	Helsinki Orchestral Society

Elegia (In English: Elegy; occasionally with the Finnish subtitle Suru, or Sadness), Op. 4/1, is a composition for string orchestra by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, who wrote the piece in 1909 during his student years. On 10 January 1910, Robert Kajanus, chief conductor of the Helsinki Orchestral Society, premiered the Elegia to great acclaim, with the piece described as the "first master work" of a budding "natural orchestral composer". Madetoja subsequently designated the Elegia as the first number in his four-movement Sinfoninen sarja (Symphonic Suite), Op. 4, which the Helsinki Orchestral Society performed in its entirety under the composer's baton on 26 September 1910. The suite's three other numbers are virtually unknown, and the Elegia typically is performed as a stand-alone concert piece. Stylistically reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, it is, to date, Madetoja's most recorded and well-known orchestral composition, as well as the most enduringly popular of his many miniatures.

In 1906, Madetoja enrolled at the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki Music Institute (founded by Martin Wegelius in 1882), where he studied music theory, composition, and piano under, among others, Armas Järnefelt and Erik Furuhjelm (). During his time at the Music Institute, Madetoja's first compositions premiered at various student concerts: in December 1908, the Op. 2 songs, Yksin and Lähdettyäs; and on 29 May 1909, the Piano Trio, Op. 1 (second and third movements only).

Even more significantly, in January 1910, Robert Kajanus, chief conductor of the Helsinki Orchestral Society, conducted the premiere of Madetoja's Elegia on 10 January 1910; the program featured the Third Symphony, Im Walde (In the Forest) of Swiss-German composer Joachim Raff (1869) . The critics received the Elegia enthusiastically, describing it as the "first master work" of a budding "natural orchestral composer".