Photo: Eero Ikäheimonen / Lehtikuva · Public domain · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Erkki Salmenhaara
Person · male · Finland · Helsinki · born 1941 · died 2002 · recording since 1967
Finnish composer, critic and musicologist (1941–2002)
Also known as Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara · 에르키 살멘하라
Timeline
10 events▣ Album 4✦ Award 3◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1† Death 1
1940s
1960s
· Debut release
Debut release: Information Explosion
First documented EP in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1980s
1990s
2000s
· Album
Album: Suomi-Finland / La Fille en mini-jupe / Adagietto / Le Bateau ivre
Album
source: musicbrainz
2020s
Biography
English biography291 words · 5 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1370780656
Biography
Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara (March 12, 1941 – March 19, 2002) was a Finnish composer and musicologist.
Personal life
Salmenhaara was born in Helsinki, Finland, and married Anja Kosonen in 1961. They had two sons, but divorced in 1978. Salmenhaara died in Helsinki on March 19, 2002.
Career
Salmenhaara studied composition with Joonas Kokkonen at the Sibelius Academy until 1963, and then continued his studies with György Ligeti in Vienna. Salmenhaara then studied musicology, aesthetics and theoretical philosophy at the University of Helsinki, and earned his PhD in 1970 with a doctoral thesis about the works of the composer Ligeti. He served as lecturer (1966–1975) and associate professor (1975–2002) of musicology at the University of Helsinki and was also the leading writer on classical music in Finland. In addition, he served as chairman of the Society of Finnish Composers (1974–1976) and of the Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras (1974–1978).
Selected writings
Sointuanalyysi, 1968.
Das musikalische Material und seine Behandlung in den Werken Apparitions, Atmosphères, Aventures und Requiem von György Ligeti (Dissertation), 1970.
Tapiola: Sinfoninen runo Tapiola Sibeliuksen myöhäistyylin edustajana, 1970.
Soinnutus: Harmoninen ajattelu tonaalisessa musiikissa, 1970.
Tutkielmia Brahmsin sinfonioista, 1979.
Jean Sibelius, 1984.
Leevi Madetoja, 1987.
Löytöretkiä musiikkiin: Valittuja kirjoituksia 1960–1990, 1991.
Suomen musiikin historia 1–3, 1995–1996.
Literature
Henri-Claude Fantapié: Illuminations, il est grand temps in Muualla, täällä: Kirjoituksia elämästä, kulttuurista, musiikista, pp. 110–118. Ateena Kustannus, Jyväskylä. 2001. ISBN 951-796-265-7
Henri-Claude Fantapié: Quelques réflexions personnelles, suppositions et supputations, à propos du naïf dans l'art ou pour servir à une interprétation de l'œuvre d'Erkki Salmenhaara. Boréales n°9/10. 1978. pp. 244–258
Henri-Claude Fantapié: Le sacré, le rituel et le profane dans deux œuvres d'Erkki Salmenhaara Études finno-ougriennes, Tome 41, 2009. ADÉFO L'Harmattan.
Guy Rickards: Erkki Salmenhaara: Finnish music from the avant-garde to the euphonious. The Guardian, Thursday 23 May 2002.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 3 | 95.4th |
| Timeline events | 10 | 86.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 35 | 74.2th |
| Genres | 8 | 94.5th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (5 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
2003 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 22 tracks · 2:10:42
Disc 11Sonatina8:132Piano Sonata no. 2 in B major: I. Andante6:043Piano Sonata no. 2 in B major: II. Allegretto assai6:054Piano Sonata no. 2 in B major: III. Andante5:455Piano Sonata no. 2 in B major: IV. Allegro7:096Théme et Variations sur le nom Erik Tawaststjerna 10X768:227Piano Sonata no. 3: I. Adagio-allegro6:578Piano Sonata no. 3: II. Adagio sostenuto7:559Piano Sonata no. 3: III. Adagio-Allegretto4:3410Piano Sonata no. 3: IV. Allegretto3:5311Kocab3:21Disc 2117 small pieces19:332Sonata no. 1 in E flat minor: I. Allegro5:183Sonata no. 1 in E flat minor: II. Recitativo-Notturno3:414Sonata no. 1 in E flat minor: III. Intermezzo-Wiegenlied4:405Sonata no. 1 in E flat minor: IV. Introduzione-Finale5:386Little Suite: I. Prelude0:457Little Suite: II. Ostinato2:518Little Suite: III. March0:429Little Suite: IV. Melody1:5010Little Suite: V. Scherzino0:3411Piano Sonata 4: Allegro-Adagio16:52Suomi-Finland / La Fille en mini-jupe / Adagietto / Le Bateau ivre
2004 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 4 tracks · 1:09:42
1Suomi-Finland20:402La Fille en mini-jupe17:583Adagietto6:454Le Bateau ivre24:192009 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:06:36
1Sonata for Violin and Piano: I. Allegro4:242Sonata for Violin and Piano: II. Adagio5:423Sonata for Violin and Piano: III. Allegro5:424Sonata for Cello e Pianoforte: I. Allegro6:465Sonata for Cello e Pianoforte: II. Adagio4:046Sonata for Cello e Pianoforte: III. Allegro2:517Trois Scenes de Nuit pour violin et piano: I. Oiseaux de nuit6:148Trois Scenes de Nuit pour violin et piano: II. Clair de lune7:259Trois Scenes de Nuit pour violin et piano: III. Chaconne5:2010Sonata no. 2 per violoncello e pianoforte: I. Allegro5:0211Sonata no. 2 per violoncello e pianoforte: II. Andante7:0412Sonata no. 2 per violoncello e pianoforte: III. Allegro6:022020 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 56:32
1Toccata: I. Pesante4:082Toccata: II. Moderato4:123Toccata: III. Misterioso – Grave4:234Intrada7:525Prelude – Interlude – Postlude: I. Prelude5:306Prelude – Interlude – Postlude: II. Interlude3:377Prelude – Interlude – Postlude: III. Postlude1:558Canzona8:529Ricercata9:4310Introduction and Toccata: I. Introduction4:1211Introduction and Toccata: II. Toccata2:08
EP · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Information ExplosionSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracksAInformation Explosion: Prologue BInformation Explosion: Epilogue | 1967 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Erkki Salmenhaara head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 10 | 58.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 5 | 78.9th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 3 | 95.4th |
| Timeline events | 10 | 86.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 35 | 74.2th |
| Genres | 8 | 94.5th |
Awards & honours
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | State Award for Public Information | won | |
| 1990 | Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland | won | |
| 1996 | Professor of the Year | won |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erkki-Salmenhaara-1972.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c9e57af0-b0d2-44b2-b01e-bbaeeadbf609discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c9e57af0-b0d2-44b2-b01e-bbaeeadbf609core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q503764genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q503764seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erkki_Salmenhaarabiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erkki_Salmenhaara
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Eero Ikäheimonen / Lehtikuva · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q503764 · MusicBrainz: c9e57af0-b0d2-44b2-b01e-bbaeeadbf609
Similar artists
Browse every Tier 3 artist →Ranked from this record's own data: shared genre tags (rarer tags weigh more), era, home country and comparable fame. Every card lists the signals that placed it — no editorial picks.
Aulis Sallinen
Finland · Person
contemporary classical music · symphony · classical music · opera
4 shared genre tags · from Finland
18 wikis
Kalevi Aho
Finland · Person
contemporary classical music · symphony · classical music · opera
4 shared genre tags · from Finland
18 wikis
Valentyn Sylvestrov
Soviet Union · Person
contemporary classical music · symphony
2 shared genre tags · debut 1969, 2 years apart
40 wikis
Arvo Pärt
Soviet Union · Person
contemporary classical music · symphony
2 shared genre tags · debut 1966, 1 year apart
69 wikis
David Tudor
United States · Person
contemporary classical music · classical music
2 shared genre tags · debut 1970, 3 years apart
16 wikis
George Crumb
United States · Person
contemporary classical music · classical music
2 shared genre tags · debut 1969, 2 years apart
29 wikis
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Finland · Person
contemporary classical music · symphony · opera
3 shared genre tags · from Finland
34 wikis
Paavo Heininen
Finland · Person
contemporary classical music · classical music · opera
3 shared genre tags · from Finland
11 wikis