Photo: Carl Adolph Hårdh · CC BY 4.0 · credits

Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography

Fredrik Pacius

Person · male · Hamburg · Hamburg · born 1809 · died 1891 · recording since 1991

German composer resided in Finland (1809-1891)

Q113360774 art song cantata classical music opera symphony

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Also known as F. Pacius · Friedrich Pacius · 弗雷德里克·帕修斯

Debut: 1991
Release groups: 5
Awards: 4
Timeline events: 11
Wiki language versions: 28

Compare this artist Read the biography Jump to timeline

Timeline

11 events▣ Album 5✦ Award 3◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1

1800s
1. 19 March 1809 · Birth
  Born 1809-03-19
  source: wikidata
1850s
1. 1856 · Award
  Won: Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class
  source: wikidata
2. 1857 · Award
  Won: Knight of the Order of Vasa
  source: wikidata
1880s
1. 1882 · Award
  Won: Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
  source: wikidata
1890s
1. 8 January 1891 · Death
  Died 1891
  source: wikidata
1990s
1. 1991 · Debut release
  Debut release: Kung Karls jakt
  First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
  source: musicbrainz
2. 1991 · Album
  Album: Kung Karls jakt
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2000s
1. 30 November 2003 · Album
  Album: Die Loreley
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
2. 2004 · Album
  Album: Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
3. September 2004 · Album
  Album: The Princess of Cyprus
  Album
  source: musicbrainz
4. 27 April 2009 · Album
  Album: Hymn to Finland
  Album
  source: musicbrainz

Biography

English biography689 words · 8 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1363918861

Biography

Fredrik Pacius (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈfreːdrik ˈpɑːsius], Finland Swedish: [ˈfreːdrik ˈpɑːsiʉs] ); in German and in Estonian Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German composer, violinist and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He is regarded as the "Father of Finnish music".
Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was appointed music teacher at the University of Helsinki in 1834, where he founded a musical society, the student choir Akademiska Sångföreningen and an orchestra, building up orchestral and choral life in the city. In 1848, Pacius set to music the poem "Vårt land" by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, which became Finland's national anthem. The same melody was also used for the Estonian national anthem "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" and the Livonian ethnic anthem "Min izāmō, min sindimō". In 1852, he composed Kung Carls jagt (English: King Charles' Hunt; Finnish: Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys), the first opera written in Finland, with a libretto by Zacharias Topelius.

Early life and training

Pacius grew up in a musical family in Hamburg; his father, the wine merchant Johann Conrad Ludwig Pacius, played violin and hosted weekly string quartet evenings at home. On the recommendation of Hamburg's music director Albert Gottlieb Methfessel, the celebrated violin pedagogue Ludwig Spohr accepted the 15-year-old Pacius as his pupil in Kassel in 1824, where he studied until 1826. Alongside his violin studies, Pacius studied music theory, counterpoint and composition under Moritz Hauptmann.

Building musical life in Helsinki

After several years as a violinist at the Royal Court Orchestra in Stockholm, Pacius moved to Helsinki in 1835. There he systematically built up the city's musical life. He organised regular orchestral concert series, first under the name of the Musical Society, then on his own initiative from 1838 to 1844, and from 1844 to 1853 under the Symphony Association which he himself founded. He conducted large-scale oratorio performances, including Handel's Messiah and Carl Heinrich Graun's Der Tod Jesu, with ensembles of up to 100 performers. By 1838 he had established the Academic Choral Society (Akademiska Sångföreningen), which he led regularly until 1846. The musicians and singers he trained spread their skills across the country.

Vårt land and the national anthem

Runeberg's patriotic poem Vårt land, which opens his verse epic Fänrik Ståls sägner (1848), had previously been set to music by three amateur composers – August Engelberg, F. A. Ehrström and the poet himself – but none of these settings was considered musically satisfying. Pacius composed his setting, rehearsed the choir and wrote an arrangement for brass band in just four days before the premiere.
The first performance took place on Flora Day on 13 May 1848 on Gumtäkt meadow in Helsinki, performed by the Academic Choral Society accompanied by the Guards' Band under Pacius's direction. The song gradually became Finland's national anthem. A key step in this process was a successful Finnish translation by Paavo Cajander.

The libretto of Kung Carls jagt

The libretto of Kung Carls jagt was written by the author and historian Zacharias Topelius in close collaboration with Pacius, in the style of Romantic nationalism, and like the national anthem was designed to convince Finland's grand duke (i.e. the Russian Emperor Nicholas I) of the total loyalty of his subjects in Finland.

Later years

Pacius was appointed professor in 1860 and retired from his position at the university in 1869 after 35 years of service, receiving a full pension. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1877. After retiring he made several extended visits to Germany and at times considered settling there permanently, but Finland had become his true home.
His final major work, the opera Die Loreley with a libretto by Emanuel Geibel, premiered at the Alexander Theatre in Helsinki in April 1887 and was performed eight times to full houses. At his 75th birthday concert in 1884, Robert Kajanus conducted in his place while Henri Herold performed Pacius's violin concerto. At the audience's request, Pacius himself took the baton at the end of the concert to conduct Vårt land.
Pacius is buried at Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.

Operas and stage music

Kung Carls jagt (Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys, "King Carl's Hunt"), opera (1852)
Prinsessan av Cypern, Singspiel (1860)
Die Loreley, opera (1862–87)

Orchestral

Symphony in D minor (1850)
Overture in E-flat major (1826)
Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor (1845)

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.

Normalised profile metrics with percentile rank
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	28	89th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	5	78.9th
Studio albums	5	84.6th
Awards recorded	4	96.3th
Timeline events	11	87.9th
Recording span (years)	-100	5th
Genres	9	95.7th

Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.

Discography (5 release groups · 5 studio albums)

Albums · 5

Kung Karls jakt
1991 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 44 tracks · 2:21:36
Disc 119 tracks · 1:08:03
1Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Overture7:35
2Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Hallå i den villande gröna mark2:39
3Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Se så, kamrater3:08
4Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Drick! Njut!2:54
5Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Kungens skål0:17
6Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 1: Jag marsk, det var ej galet4:40
7Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 2: Hör, göken galar - att gå på jakt ock stå på vakt5:07
8Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 3: Än dröjer kungen0:45
9Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 3: Vad oerhört, vad dristigt brott!8:14
10Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 4: Min son, min Karl!1:01
11Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 5: Där går han med sin mamma0:20
12Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 5: Nu är han min!2:41
13Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 5: Säg, är du ensam, Gyllenstjerna?2:46
14Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act I Scene 6: Kom, låt oss fresta, kulan den bästa!7:26
15Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 1: Och havets unga tärna5:47
16Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 1: Den tredje versen som handlar om...0:51
17Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 2: God Morgon, vackra barn5:10
18Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 3: Kom du mig kosse, kom,o kom; Sör ej, min hulda flicka du6:10
19Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 3: Fly Jonathan, fly bort!0:32
Disc 225 tracks · 1:13:33
1Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 4: De dröja än...0:23
2Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 4: Ve den som yppar...7:02
3Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 5: O du nattens höga silverklara öga10:07
4Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 6: Guds fred! Har någon sett Leonora?0:39
5Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 6: Den kallar jag en usel man3:45
6Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 7: Stor tack, min vän!0:18
7Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act II Scene 7: Vad? Jonathan?6:01
8Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 1: Hej, så lustigt bara!5:02
9Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 1: Vem vill se min schture schkåp?6:08
10Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 2: Säg, är det sant att Jonathan...0:33
11Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 2-3: En kung, ja ser du Greta3:34
12Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 4: Förlät, Ers Majestät...0:31
13Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 5: Här var det ... här i maknadens tumult1:07
14Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 6: Se så, hej spelmän0:27
15Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 6: Och viljen I veta, och viljen I förstå2:53
16Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 6: Förräderi3:17
17Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 7: Om jag ej kommer ut är allt...0:25
18Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 8: Dyrkade, sköna flicka!4:42
19Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 9: Min Karl! Min dyre son!1:48
20Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 10: Och låt oss nu vårt trogna folk belöna!0:44
21Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 10: Och havets unga tärna4:35
22Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 10: Konungens nåd har lagens bila hejdat1:27
23Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 11: Ett ryckte sällsamt, ja otrolight1:57
24Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 11: På Åland slutad nu är Kungens jakt2:30
25Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles): Act III Scene 11: Och ila vi bort från Finlands strand3:38
Die Loreley
2003 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 18 tracks · 2:06:13
Disc 19 tracks · 1:10:50
1Die Loreley: Overture12:09
2Die Loreley, Scene 16:33
3Die Loreley, Scene 28:58
4Die Loreley, Scene 32:54
5Die Loreley, Scene 44:08
6Die Loreley, Scene 51:20
7Die Loreley, Scene 64:45
8Die Loreley, Scene 716:47
9Die Loreley, Scene 813:16
Disc 29 tracks · 55:23
1Die Loreley: Prelude3:56
2Die Loreley, Scene 13:03
3Die Loreley, Scene 26:33
4Die Loreley, Scene 33:32
5Die Loreley, Scene 44:44
6Die Loreley, Scene 54:56
7Die Loreley, Scene 65:59
8Die Loreley, Scene 714:24
9Die Loreley, Final Scene8:16
Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys
2004 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 41 tracks · 2:09:26
Disc 119 tracks · 1:05:08
1Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Overture6:52
2Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Halloo! Kautta synkeän metsämaan2:30
3Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kas niin, nyt veikot, pyssyt syrjähän3:09
4Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Juo, nauti, haavehet luo!2:03
5Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kuninkaan malja!0:26
6Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Niin, marski tuuma hurja!5:00
7Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Tuoll' kukkuu käki!5:39
8Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kuningas viipyy vielä0:40
9Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Min kauhean näin turmatyön!7:34
10Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Min' oot näkoinen!0:57
11Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Äitinsä kera tuoll' käy pienoinen0:27
12Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Nyt on hän mun!2:36
13Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Oletko yksin1:54
14Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kilvan nyt koittaa voimme, ken voittaa!6:21
15Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Ja nuori merenneito hän suvi-illalla6:58
16Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Aina muistelen tuot pikku kuningasta0:30
17Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Laps kaunis, ehtoota!5:02
18Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Käy kanssain armas, käy pois6:17
19Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Pakene, Jonathan!0:13
Disc 222 tracks · 1:04:18
1Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Vaan sano kuinka mahti meille päätyy6:11
2Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Oi yön kaukomaista taivon silmä paista9:49
3Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: On kelpo tuuli, meri vaahtoilee0:43
4Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Se miesi kehnoks' sanotaan3:51
5Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kiitos teille!0:20
6Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kuin? Jonathan?5:53
7Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Hei, nyt naurut soivat5:21
8Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kaappiin tanne katschokaat5:37
9Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Tottako, että Jonathan Föglöstä0:31
10Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kuningas, nyt sen kuulet2:45
11Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Anteeksi, olette liian kaino vielä0:38
12Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Ja tahdotte tietää, ja nähdäkin kenties2:38
13Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Petosta!3:26
14Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Takaisin, taikka oitis ammun sua!0:21
15Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Armahin tyttö hempeä!4:55
16Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Kaarle!1:30
17Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Nyt palkan saakoon uskollinen kansa!0:28
18Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Ja meren nuori impi2:10
19Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Vapaasti valita saat, mitä mielit0:41
20Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Armonsa tää lain kuolon kalvan estää1:23
21Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Ties outo huhu uskomaton2:06
22Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys: Nyt kauaksi Suomi jäädä saa3:01
The Princess of Cyprus
2004 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:11:04
1Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I , no. 1. Danskör8:11
2Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I. Narration1:22
3Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I , no. 2. Ballad5:11
4Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I. Narration0:26
5Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I , no. 3. Skrattkör4:00
6Prinsessan av Cypern: Act I. Narration2:27
7Prinsessan av Cypern: Act II , no. 4. Kvarnsången6:54
8Prinsessan av Cypern: Act II. Narration1:13
9Prinsessan av Cypern: Act II , no. 5. Melodram7:35
10Prinsessan av Cypern: Act II. Narration1:19
11Prinsessan av Cypern: Act III, no. 6. Romans3:54
12Prinsessan av Cypern: Act III. Narration0:26
13Prinsessan av Cypern: Act IV, no. 7. Cypriernas kör1:20
14Prinsessan av Cypern: Act IV. Narration2:46
15Prinsessan av Cypern: Act IV, 8a. Besvärjelsen, melodram / 8b. Andante grave12:51
16Prinsessan av Cypern: Act IV, 9. Final: Dödens flod / Det var en moder / Pris, ära, glans11:09
Hymn to Finland
2009 · studio album
Search Spotify Search YouTube Music
Tracklist · 33 tracks · 1:00:36
1Vårsång (På hoppets dag)0:46
2Studentsång1:53
3Sång för nordiska ynglingar1:02
4Det var då2:50
5Philomele2:03
6Den sjuttonåriga1:40
7Förgät mig ej1:16
8Till Jonas Perón0:39
9Fredmans epistel no. 14 "Hör, i Orphei drängar"1:37
10Fredmans epistel no. 25 "Blåsen nu alla"1:33
11Fredmans epistel no. 13 "Nå, ä’ nu alla församlade här?"1:54
12Kreivin sylissä istunut1:53
13Laulu kanteletta soittavalle tytölle0:33
14Turvaton0:59
15Rannalla itkijä1:19
16Verinen poika (Velisurmaaja)1:50
17Fantasi över ett finskt tema2:12
18Frühlingsglaube1:30
19Ich bin nun einmal so1:01
20Gespräche der Irrlichter2:02
21Der Jäger auf der Kirchweih1:17
22Wiegenlied (Alles still in süßer Ruh)1:12
23Die Abendglocke auf dem Berge2:54
24Lied an die schöne Müllerin3:36
25À la mélancolie2:51
26Rheinweinlied0:31
27Schenkt ein!1:08
28Trinklied (Warnung vor dem Wasser)1:15
29Björneborgarnas marsch3:44
30Suomis sång2:36
31Finlands flagga5:26
32Hymn till Finland1:25
33Vårt land2:09

Stats & PK

Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Fredrik Pacius head-to-head →

Fredrik Pacius metrics with percentile rank among published artists
Metric	Value	Percentile
Wikipedia language versions	28	89th
Spotify monthly listeners	—	no data
Release groups in DB	5	78.9th
Studio albums	5	84.6th
Awards recorded	4	96.3th
Timeline events	11	87.9th
Recording span (years)	-100	5th
Genres	9	95.7th

Awards & honours

Awards and honours, by year
Year	Award	Result
1856	Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class	won
1857	Knight of the Order of Vasa	won
1882	Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic	won
—	Order of Saint Stanislaus	won

Where this record comes from

portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pacius.jpg
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/06d925cc-ead6-42f4-9e8b-cc7d7aedc884
discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/06d925cc-ead6-42f4-9e8b-cc7d7aedc884
core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q327024
genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q327024
seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Pacius
biography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Pacius

Why this artist is in the database

List of composers by name

Tier rule: notable long tail (listeners 0, 28 language versions)
Image: Carl Adolph Hårdh · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q327024 · MusicBrainz: 06d925cc-ead6-42f4-9e8b-cc7d7aedc884

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Timeline

1800s

Born 1809-03-19

1850s

Won: Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class

Won: Knight of the Order of Vasa

1880s

Won: Commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic

1890s

Died 1891

1990s

Debut release: Kung Karls jakt

Album: Kung Karls jakt

2000s

Album: Die Loreley

Album: Kaarle kuninkaan metsästys

Album: The Princess of Cyprus

Album: Hymn to Finland

Biography

Biography

Early life and training

Building musical life in Helsinki

Vårt land and the national anthem

The libretto of Kung Carls jagt

Later years

Operas and stage music

Orchestral

Discography & profile

Normalised profile

Discography (5 release groups · 5 studio albums)

Albums · 5

Stats & PK

Awards & honours

Where this record comes from

Why this artist is in the database

Similar artists

Andrei Eshpai

Vissarion Shebalin

Johann Friedrich Fasch

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Arthur Sullivan

Gioachino Rossini

Heinrich Schütz

Gaetano Donizetti