thumb|Bernhard Crusell (1826)

Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Finland-Swedish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, – the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius".

Early life and training

Crusell was born in Uusikaupunki (Nystad), Finland, into a poor family of bookbinders. His grandfather, Bernhard Kruselius had learned the trade of bookbinding in Turku and Stockholm, then settled in Pori where he fathered nine children, including Crusell's father Jakob, who also became a bookbinder. In 1765, after Jakob completed his apprenticeship, he moved to Uusikaupunki and married Helena Ylander, but she died about one year later. In 1769 he married Margaretha Messman. The couple had four children, but Bernhard was the only one who lived to become an adult. Later in life Crusell described this period of his life, writing in the third person:

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In his little town of birth there was only one person who had an active interest in music: a shop assistant who could be heard in the evenings playing the flute for his own amusement. One night, the four-year-old Berndt was sitting in the street, leaning against a wall, on top of the world with admiration for the sweet melodies. His parents, who had been looking for their son for a long time, scolded him severely, but this could not stop the boy from returning to his favourite spot the next evening. This time he got a beating for his disobedience, but as it was to no avail, they left him to his "craze", confident that he would come back home as soon as the flute went silent...

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When Crusell was eight, the family moved to Perttula, the rural village of Nurmijärvi about 23 miles north of Helsinki. He soon began to receive training from a member of the Nyland regimental band.

In 1788, when he was thirteen, another family friend, aware of the young man's natural ability, took him to see Major O. Wallenstjerna at Sveaborg, a Swedish fortress built on six islands off the coast of Helsinki. The educated officers of the fort had significant influence on the culture and politics of the city. Wallenstjerna, impressed with Crusell's playing, recruited him as a volunteer member of the Sveaborg military band and gave him a place to live with his own family. Crusell received an education at Sveaborg and excelled in music and languages. In 1791 Wallenstjerna transferred to Stockholm and Crusell went with him. Although Crusell spent most of the rest of his life in Sweden, he always considered himself a Finn. In his final years in a letter to Runeberg he called himself a "finsk landsman" (a fellow Finn; note that "Finn" at the time did not refer to the language).

Career as a clarinetist

In Stockholm, Crusell continued his studies and established himself as a clarinet soloist. In 1792, at age sixteen, he received an appointment as the director of the regimental band, and in 1793 became principal clarinet with the Hovkapellet (Royal Court Orchestra), which was directed by his composition teacher, the German composer Abbé Vogler. In 1798 he received financial assistance which enabled him to live in Berlin for a few months and study with the well-known German clarinetist Franz Tausch (1762–1817). Crusell's progress was swift, and he performed at concerts in Berlin and Hamburg before returning to Sweden. The review of the Hamburg concert in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung was positive.

Crusell lived in Sweden for the rest of his life, going back to Finland only once. After a trip to St. Petersburg, on his return trip to Sweden, he performed in Helsinki on 7 July 1801, with the pianist Fredrik Lithander as his accompanist, and in Turku on 30 July, in a concert organized by the orchestra of the Turku Society of Music.

In Stockholm Crusell had become acquainted with the French ambassador to Sweden. This friendship encouraged and enabled him to undertake a trip to Paris in 1803. There he performed and also studied clarinet with Jean-Xavier Lefèvre at the newly formed Conservatoire. Before about 1800 Crusell had been playing with the reed turned up, but later turned it down, the modern practice and a position more compatible with cantabile playing.

Around this time the Théâtre-Italien de Paris offered Crusell a position as first clarinetist. Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, anxious to keep Crusell in the royal orchestra, denied a petition for an extension of leave and as a positive inducement made him chief conductor of the bodyguard regiment bands. After Crusell returned to Stockholm he remained with the Royal Court Orchestra until 1833.

During his career Crusell became increasingly well known as a clarinet soloist, not only in Sweden but also in Germany, and even in England. Carl Abraham Mankell (1802–1868), music critic of Svenska Tidningen (Swedish News), admired Crusell's playing for the roundness of his tone and its evenness in quality throughout the range of the instrument. He was father-in-law to the German bassoonist Frans Preumayr.

Other accomplishments and awards

Crusell was skilled with languages, translating the important Italian, French, and German operas for performances in Sweden. His translation of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, first performed in 1821, resulted in his induction into the Geatish Society, an association of literary academics in Sweden. In 1837 he was awarded a gold medal by the Swedish Academy and was inducted into the Order of Vasa, for service to the state and society. The National Library of Sweden holds two manuscript autobiographies.

List of musical works

Dates of composition and first publication and other information are from Asiado,

  • After the edition by Bernhard Päuler. Winterthur: Amadeus, 2006, score (15 pages) and 4 parts .
  • Arrangement for 3 clarinets and bass clarinet by Béla Kovács. Leverkusen: Edition Darok, ca. 1996, score (20 pages) and 4 parts .<!--

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  • Quartet in C minor for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, Op. 4
  • Composed 1804?; published Leipzig, C. F. Peters, 1817.
  • Other publications:
  • Edition Peters, cat. no. EKB 039.
  • After the edition by Bernhard Päuler. Winterthur: Amadeus, 2006, score (16 pages) + 4 parts .
  • Manuscript edition by Lyle T. Barkhymer (Indiana University), 1975, score (pp.&nbsp;53–91) and 4 parts .<!--

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  • Quartet in D major for clarinet, violin, viola and cello, Op. 7
  • Composed 1821?; published Leipzig, C. F. Peters, 1823, cat. nos. 1723 and 1783B.
  • Other publications:
  • Edition Peters, cat. no. EKB 040.
  • Transcription for oboe in C major by Kurt Meier. Winterthur: Amadeus, 2002, score (16 pages) and 4 parts <!--

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  • Quartet in D major for flute, violin, viola and cello, Op. 8 (Edition Peters EKB 056)
  • Arrangement of Op. 7
  • Composed 1821?; published Leipzig, C. F. Peters, 1823.
  • Other publications:
  • Helsinki: Suomalaisen Musiikin Tiedotuskeskus, 1991, score (25 pages) and 3 parts .
  • Edition by Kurt Meier. Winterthur: Amadeus/Bernhard Päuler, 2002, miniature score (16 pages) and 4 parts .
  • Arrangement ("Sonata") for flute and piano by Timo Hongisto. Espoo: Fazer Music, 1990, score (44 pages) and part .<!--

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  • Three clarinet duets: No. 1 in F major, No. 2 in D minor (score), No. 3 in C major
  • Published Leipzig, C. F. Peters, 1821.
  • Other publications:
  • Edition Peters, cat. no. EP 7780.
  • Three progressive clarinet duets, London: Hinrichsen Edition, 1960, score (3 volumes score and 3 parts) .<!--

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  • Concert Trio (Potpourri) for clarinet, horn, and bassoon
  • Edition by Bernhard Päuler. Winterthur: Amadeus, 2005, score (8 pages) and 3 parts ; .
  • Arrangement by Stig Rybrant. Lidingö: Busch, 2007, score (12 pages) and parts .<!--

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  • Divertimento in C major for oboe, two violins, viola and cello, Op. 9
  • Free score at IMSLP.
  • Dates: published Leipzig, C. F. Peters, 1823, cat. no. 1728.
  • Other publications:
  • Edition by Bernhard Päuler. Winterthur: Amadeus, 2003, score (15 pages) and 5 parts .<!--

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Vocal works

  • Sångstycken ("Songs")
  • Texts by Esaias Tegnér and others
  • Published Stockholm, 1822, 3 volumes. Vol 1 .<!--

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  • Frithiofs saga (10 songs), for voice and piano
  • Texts by Esaias Tegnér
  • Published Stockholm, 1826; enlarged 1827.
  • Other publications:
  • Zwölf Gesänge aus der Frithiof's Saga (Twelve Songs from the Frithiof's Saga), translated from Swedish by Gottlieb Mohnike. Leipzig : C.F. Peters, [1827], score (28 pages) .
  • Tolf sånger ur Frithiofs saga, Stockholm: Elkan & Schildknecht, [186-?], score (35 pages) .
  • Lund: Gleerup; Copenhagen: Lose & Olsen, no date, score (28 pages) .<!--

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  • "From Ganges' beauteous strands" for voice, clarinet & piano
  • From incidental music to Den lilla slafvinnan (The little bondswoman).
  • Originally for soprano and chamber orchestra.
  • Published Ampleforth, Yorkshire: Emerson Edition, 1980, score (22 pages) and 2 parts .<!--

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  • "Oi terve Pohjola!" for vocal quartet
  • Swedish title: "Hell dig, du höga Nord!" ("Hail, O Northland!")
  • Also arranged for chorus.
  • Probably Crusell's most famous composition in Finland.