| Elegia | |
|---|---|
| by Leevi Madetoja | |
&sq=Google&lang=en&file=File:Leevi_Madetoja_probably_1915-1918.jpg) The composer (c. 1915–1918) | |
| Opus | 4/1 |
| Composed | 1909 |
| Duration | Approx. 5 minutes |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 10 January 1910 |
| 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.