Einari Marvia

Einari Marvia studied composition from the age of 15, first privately and in 1932-45 at the Sibelius Academy, together with Aarre Merikanto and others. In 1940-41 he was orchestra leader of the Reserve Officers’ School. After World War II Marvia resumed his studies in Wien (Vienna) and Italy. His limited compositional work concentrated on solo songs. From 1961-79 he worked as an editor for the magazine “Pienen musiikkilehden”, and as a concert accompanist and conductor as well as presenter on the radio. In addition, 1946-80 he was the publishing director of “Musiikki-Fazer”, one of the major music companies in Finland.

For the 1952 art exhibition, Marvia submitted Miehen mitta, a 2-minute song for male voice and piano, composed in 1943. Occasionally the work appears under the extended title Niin se oisi miehen mitta (That would be the measure of a man). The song was no. 5 of the collection op. 7 Lauluja pianon säestyksellä (Songs with Piano Accompaniment). The text was written by the Finnish author Rafael Engelberg (1882-1962). The song was last released on CD in 1993.