Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p25853"

This master's thesis in musicology focuses on Russian and Soviet orchestral conducting education from a Finnish perspective. The thesis consists of a summary and two sub-studies. The first sub-study, titled "Russian Conducting Pedagogy in Finland", published in the journal Idäntutkimus 4/2022, provides background information by examining which Russian or Soviet conductors have taught in Finland over time and which Finns have studied orchestral conducting in Russia or the Soviet Union. The second sub-study, the article manuscript "Finnish alumni's experiences of the orchestral repertoire at the St. Petersburg Conservatory conductor education from 1979 to 2019", examines the repertoire used in conductor education at the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Conservatory and its pedagogical nature. The study utilizes a qualitative research approach that combines interviews and autoethnography to explore conducting pedagogy and expand our understanding of Finnish-Russian music relations. The material used consists of thematic interviews with Finnish alumni of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the author's own notes from their studies at the conservatory from 2001 to 2004. The results of the first sub-study suggest that Russian conducting pedagogy has had a significant impact on Finnish conductors. The teaching visits of Arvid Jansons in the 1970s and Ilya Musin in the 1990s inspired numerous Finnish conducting students at that time. In addition, Eri Klas, who received his training in Leningrad, served as a professor of orchestral conducting at the Sibelius Academy from 1993 to 1997. Finnish musicians have also gone to study conducting beyond the eastern border, and they have become experts in Russian orchestral music. The most popular institution among Finns has been the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Conservatory. The second sub-study analysed the repertoire employed in conducting education at the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) Conservatory based on alumni interviews. The study examined the repertoire's composers, genres, styles, and difficulty levels, and compiled the interviewees' perspectives on its pedagogical nature. Notably, the study highlighted the prominence of Beethoven's and Tchaikovsky's works in the repertoire and the relatively high representation of Russian music. The findings suggest that the repertoire used in the conservatory's conducting education equips students with a solid foundation for developing their conducting skills and for working in the professional field.