Bernhard Crusell: 2012

Q: Could you please lease tell us a little bit about yourself? Like where you are from and what your family is like?
A:    I was born in Uusikaupunki, Finland. However when I was eight years old, we moved to Nurmijärvi, Finland. Both places are absolutely kaunis! Or as you would say in English, beautiful. Now to my family, well most people are surprised to find out that I was born into a poor family of mere bookbinders. They usually think that was born into a family of rich well-known musicians. Once my father Jakob became a bookbinder he decided to marry Helena Ylander who unfortunately died a year later. He then remarried to my mother,Margaretha Messman in 1769. I had three siblings, but I was the only one to live past my teen years.

     I loved my parents a lot even though they never supported my passion for music. In fact, when they caught me listening to a flutist they scolded me harshly. Normally I would obey and never do that again, but the music was just so amazing to me I had to listen one more time right? Well I did once more, and they gave up knowing I would soon come home once the flute was silent. So, my parents didn't completely support my love for music but they were not completely against it either.

Q: What events in your life made you love music?
A:    When I was eight years old my family and I moved to Nurmijärvi. It's a great place really, but yes I received musical education from a Nyland regimental band. After that when I was 13, a family friend told me me that I had a natural ability for clarinet. He soon took me to meet Major O. Wallenstjerna. He was very impressed to hear me play and decided to recruit me as a member of the Sveaborg military band. That great man even gave me place a place to live with his very own family.

    From that point I lived in Sveaborg which is a "Swedish fortress built on six islands just off the coast of Helsinki"(Hillila and Hong). I was given an education there where I was great in music and languages. I do believe though hearing that flute player when I was just four years old, really changed my life. It made me really want to become a musician.

Q: What role did your mentors play in helping you develop your skills in the arts?
A:    Oh my mentors played a great part in helping me succeed and develop my skills. However I do believe I have a natural ability for music anyway. Without the help of the Nyland regimental band I wouldn't have received training on clarinet. Without Major O. Wallenstjerna I wouldn't have received experience and an education. I am very grateful for the help all of my mentors have given me

     A few other of my mentors I would like to acknowledge are Daniel Böritz, my music theory teacher. And Abbé Vogler my composition teacher. I even studied with the very well-known German clarinetist, Franz Tausch. I really admire my mentors and hope that other students who wish to excel in this art to know that even if you have a natural gift like I do, lessons are still a must.

Q: What was it like when you first entered the art of music? And do you have any advice for anyone just starting out in music?
A:    It was at first very exciting. There is so much and there will always be so much to learn about it. Music theory is truly a great class to take if you are really interested in music. I studied music theory and music composition in 1791-1799. Yes, that long and I still have more and more to learn. However even though I was very excited to learn and improve in my art it was intimidating.

      I've learned to write solo work with orchestras, chamber music, vocal works, I even attempted to write an opera. Now for anyone just starting out, learn at your own pace, learn as much as you possibly can, and enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy playing clarinet or being a composer I wouldn't have stuck through with it. Without music I would be a bookbinder just like my father! So be grateful!

Q: Did any cultural or political situations impact your work?
A:    I wouldn't say it impacted my work really, however "As a result of a war in 1808 and 1809, Sweden ceded Finland to Russia. Helsinki was made capital of the new autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812. The university (Turku Society of Music) was transferred to Helsinki after the great fire of Turku in 1828, spelling an end to Turku’s role as the hub of Finnish music life"(mozartforum).

      Turku was the place to be for music. It was the centre of musical activities. The Turku Society of music even set up it's very own orchestra. Although one thing that has influenced my work is that I follow the Viennese Classicism style of music. Also French opera music had influenced my music.

Q: What were your major accomplishments in music? And could you tell me some of the methods you used?
A:    I'm well known for being an amazing clarinetist of course! But over time I've been recognized as as an outstanding composer. I have composed six concertos, four of them being for clarinet. Chamber music, and even orchestra music. Before composing though, I was very well-known with playing with the orchestra. In fact, I was the best-paid musician out of all of them.

      Methods, I've used are more listening to other styles of music. I'm Finnish, so I was always exposed to the Swedish style of music. I've traveled and listened to other music, like I said before french opera. That has really influenced my work. Doing so, it makes people pay attention. If you are just writing music that just all sounds the same, adding a different taste to it, makes people want to hear more.

Q: What were important opportunities you had that led to your success? Any advice for others?
A:   Being able to be trained by the Nyland regimental band helped of course. Meeting Major O. Wallenstjerna and working as a volunteer clarinetist for the Seavborg military band really formed a outline for my success. Studying in Stockholm really encouraged me to improve, and it actually worked. In 1793 I became principal clarinet with the Hovkapellet. Thats the Royal Court Orchestra.

      Having many opprotunities to preform is the number one thing that led to my success. If you practice a lot that is great, but if you have never preformed for an audience, you will be so nervous and might even break down. If you have the opprotunity to study with great clarinetists, take that opprotunity! I have studied with Franz Tausch and Jean-Xavier Lefèvre. Amazing people that have opened up more of the music world to me.

Q: Were there any hardships you had to go through in order to become successful?
A:    My parents, I actually have a journal that I keep with me. Ahh here it is! "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..."(Biography of B. H. Crusell).

       So, again my parents were not the most supportive of my musical intrest. I was actually meant to become a bookbinder just like my father.

Q: What people do you look up to in the arts?
A:    My mentors really. Without them, I would just be a poor bookbinder. Working with Franz Tausch, has taught me to develop a much better tone, or sound on the instrument. If had continued without him, sure I'd be good. But not as great as I am. He opened up more preforming opprotunities for me and soon enough, "The review of the Hamburg concert in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung was positive"(Rice p.166).

         To my music theory and composition teachers, I really look up to. They are just amazing, without their help I wouldn't know how to compose a march. Or even a concerto, or an opera! I've seen some of there works and that has really inspired me and my work. So really anybody who I have worked for or with, with music has been a big inspiration to me.

Q: What stories can you tell us that shows us how you became successful in music?
A:    When I was eight I had a friend who could play clarinet. I thought it was just the best thing ever, so I learned to play it by ear. When I was thirteen, I had another friend who was very impressed to hear me play so that when he took me to meet Major O. Wallenstjerna. At only sixteen years I continued to study which led me to become the band director the band I got training from when I was eight. My progress with clarinet was very fast since I had a natural ablity. At this time I had been studying with Franz Tausch, and like I said before, this opened up many playing opprotunities.

      Around 1803, I studied music composition at Conservatoire in Paris. In 1818, I conducted several military bands. I didn't have them play just my work but other musicians works like Rossini, Spohr, and Weber for example. Really to become successful in music, you have to be willing to listen and learn. It is a wonderful thing really.

Works cited
Biography of B.H Crusell at the Crusell society website n.d Web.
Biography at Mozart-Forum n.d Web
Hillila, Ruth-Esther and Barbara Blanchard Hong (1997). Historical dictionary of the music and musicians of Finland. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press Print.
Rice, Albert. The clarinet in the classical period. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.
Weston, Pamela (2001). "Tausch, Franz (Wilhelm)"

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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