The story of Villa Kokkonen

Do you know the story of the artist’s home Villa Kokkonen? Villa Kokkonen is a rare composer’s home designed by architect Alvar Aalto on the shores of Lake Tuusula. But what is Villa Kokkonen and who was its resident, Joonas Kokkonen?

Located in Vanhankylänniemi, Järvenpää, this wooden, bright modern building was designed as the home and workspace for composer Kokkonen. The artist’s home Kokkonen is an international rarity, as it is one of the few buildings designed by Alvar Aalto for private use.

The municipality of Järvenpää was established in 1951 and became a city in 1967, the same year architect Alvar Aalto drew the first sketch of the artist’s home Kokkonen. Joonas Kokkonen moved to Järvenpää at the age of five and lived in Villa Kokkonen for 27 years.

It can be said that the building wraps around the grand piano in the soundproofed studio like a fan. The furniture is mostly unique pieces designed by Artek and Alvar Aalto specifically for Villa Kokkonen. The interior also includes some stage sets from Joonas Kokkonen’s most famous work, the opera ”The Last Temptations.”

When the city of Järvenpää bought Villa Kokkonen from the estate of composer Joonas Kokkonen in 1998, the then cultural director proudly stated in a newspaper interview: ”By purchasing Villa Kokkonen, Järvenpää got its own Halosenniemi!”

Who was Joonas Kokkonen?

Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996) is one of the most respected art music composers in Finland in the 20th century. Kokkonen lived in Järvenpää in an artist’s home designed by Alvar Aalto from 1969 until his death.

Academician, Professor Joonas Kokkonen at his home in Helsinki on April 18, 1963. In the picture, composer Kokkonen is at his grand piano. Photo: Museovirasto

Childhood in Savo and Järvenpää

Joonas Kokkonen was born on November 13, 1921, in Iisalmi. His father, Heikki, was a merchant and self-taught musician who served as an ”assistant cantor” in religious meetings and sang in choirs. His mother Maria’s two brothers were well-known folk musicians and violinists. Music was a hobby at home.

At the age of two, Joonas began to play hymns and other melodies he heard on the home harmonium. He stood on one leg, pedaled with the other, and reached for the keys, which he could barely see. This is believed to have led to his habit of standing at the grand piano or ”slouching” over it while composing as an adult.

Joonas had four older brothers, the youngest of whom was nine years older than him. His parents and older brothers treated little Joonas very protectively. His parents valued education and higher education. Heikki’s father had the opportunity to buy shares in Järvenpään Kauppa Oy, and later during the depression, the entire shareholding. Thus, the Kokkosens moved to Järvenpää, close to Helsinki, with their sons’ studies in mind.

Studies

Joonas Kokkonen started his schooling at Tuomaala School, later moved to Kilpinen School, and then to the brand new Harjula School. Kokkonen’s hobbies as a schoolboy were diverse. He engaged in sports and physical activities like his older brothers. Kokkonen studied piano playing on his own and started violin lessons in 1937. At school, he actively participated in cultural activities and founded the music club of Järvenpää Co-educational School, where he gave presentations on, among other things, Sibelius’s symphonies. In 1939, Kokkonen represented his school in the Recitation Competition of the Temperance Union of Studying Youth, winning his category. Joonas was named a high school graduate from Järvenpää Co-educational School in 1940, as no matriculation exams were held during the Winter War year.

Joonas Kokkonen had perfect pitch and an excellent musical memory.

As a boy, he became aware of his musical talents and calling. Kokkonen’s earliest surviving composition is an Etude in Classical Style for piano from 1936. The most significant work before starting his actual composition studies is the Pielavesi Suite for piano, composed in 1939, which is still performed today. Even before his academic studies, Kokkonen could read scores and hear the orchestra in his head without needing actual auditory observations, which were rare compared to the modern world.

In 1940, Kokkonen began his studies at both the University of Helsinki and the Sibelius Academy. At the university, he studied folklore, Finnish literature, and musicology as his major. Kokkonen graduated with a Master of Philosophy degree in 1948. At the Sibelius Academy, Kokkonen studied theoretical subjects and history of music, composition, and piano playing. His composition professor was Selim Palmgren, and his piano teacher was Ilmari Hannikainen, whom Kokkonen considered his most important musical mentor.

On the Battlefield and in the Field of Music From the summer of 1941, Kokkonen served in the Continuation War as a signalman and clerk, and also as a pianist in entertainment troops. The war years made his studies intermittent and adversely affected his pianistic development, as well as his composition studies, which remained very fragmented; he never had a permanent composition teacher and did not complete a composition diploma. After being discharged in October 1944, his studies at the university and the Sibelius Academy continued. In 1946, Kokkonen won the academic piano championship and placed fourth in the Maj Lind Piano Competition, as he did again in 1947. Kokkonen completed his piano diploma in 1949. The following year, he gave a successful debut concert.

Joonas Kokkonen worked as a music critic for Ilta-Sanomat from 1947 to 1957, for Kauppalehti from 1948 to 1951, and for Uusi Suomi from 1957 to 1963. He founded the New Music Magazine, serving as its editor-in-chief from 1954 to 1956. Kokkonen also earned additional income as a restaurant musician. At the Sibelius Academy, Kokkonen was first a part-time teacher and then a lecturer in music theory and history from 1948 to 1959. Meanwhile, he composed mainly small-scale works such as chamber music and piano pieces. His larger breakthrough work, Music for String Orchestra, received an excellent reception at its premiere in 1957. Despite his limited published compositions, Kokkonen was appointed professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy in 1959. He resigned from the position upon being elected a member of the Finnish Academy in 1963. Even after this, he continued to teach composition.

It was somewhat critically said that Kokkonen could order, compose, perform, and even review a composition himself.

Kokkonen was involved in many different national music organizations and committees. The most important of these include chairmanships in the Finnish Composers, the Finnish Music Council, the Finnish Symphony Orchestras Association, and Teosto, as well as influencing the leadership bodies of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the State Art Committee. Thus, Kokkonen was perhaps the most influential figure in Finnish musical life of his time. A TV documentary about him is even titled ”The Kekkonen of Music.” Kokkonen’s literary output is extensive; he published musicological studies and writings and reflections on music and art. He was also a sought-after and respected lecturer and speaker.

Kokkonen also belonged to the Freemasons, but he was not known to be very active in the organization. However, he was given the title of Grand Organist, and Tauno Äikää premiered Kokkonen’s organ piece Lux aeterna (Eternal Light) at the 50th anniversary of the Finnish Freemasons in the fall of 1974.

Composer of Four Symphonies and The Last Temptations The core of Kokkonen’s compositional output consists of four symphonies from 1960, 1961, 1967, and 1971, the chamber orchestra piece Sinfonia da camera from 1962, three string quartets, a cello concerto, …durch einen Spiegel… for string orchestra, and Requiem for orchestra, choir, and vocal soloists from 1981. The premiere of the first symphony in 1960 was a great success. The third symphony can be considered a turning point in Kokkonen’s