Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838) was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born Classical composer and indeed, the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius ? was Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838), who, although a foreigner, rose to a prominent position in the Swedish music world. Born in Uusikaupunki (Swedish name Nystad), Finland, into an impoverished family of bookbinders, he lived in Stockholm from 1791 onwards and performed his life?s work in Sweden. He made his last visit to his home country in summer 1801, when he performed in Turku and Helsinki. In those days, Finland was undeniably a musical backwater. The centre of musical activities was Turku, where the Turku Society of Music (Turun Soitannollinen Seura), founded in 1790, had done invaluable work in promoting music and had set up an orchestra of its own. Text source : Wikipedia (Hide extended text) ... (Read all)
