Reading the notes for a new CD, I again came across a reference to the
Finnish composer Ernest Mielck, born in Viborg in 1877 and dying two days
short of his 22nd birthday a long way from home in Locarno.  The only other
information I could find was that he studied with Bruch for three years and
composed, as the writer of the article in the 1954 Grove put it, "several
works of lasting value", including a Dramatic Overture and a Finnish
Symphony.  There was no entry for him in the New Grove of 1980 but perhaps
he's been reinstated in the most recent edition.

The symphony is regarded as the first by a Finnish composer, having
appeared before Sibelius's 1st and 2nd, and Melartin's 1st.  Apart from
some details of other compositions, Grove has no more information.  It
seems strange that none of the Scandinavian or Finnish record companies
has, to my knowledge, recorded the symphony, especially in the light of its
apparent significance in the history of Finnish music.  Does anyone know
anything further about either the symphony or why Mielck died at such an
early age?

Richard Pennycuick
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