Robert Kajanus

Robert Kajanus was born on December 2, 1856, in Helsinki. Studying in Leipzig under Carl Reinecke and in Paris under Johan Svendsen, he was deeply inspired by Wagner and Finnish folklore, composing the symphonic poem Aino (1885), which directly inspired Sibelius to compose Kullervo.

In 1882, Kajanus founded the Helsinki Orchestral Society (now the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra), Scandinavia's oldest continuous professional symphony orchestra. Serving as its chief conductor for five decades until 1932, he brought Finnish classical music to Paris for the 1900 World Fair and conducted the historic first definitive recordings of Sibelius's symphonies for the Sibelius Society in London.