Fredrik Pacius und das „Frühneufinnische“: Über Parallelen zwischen Musik- und Sprachgeschichte im Finnland des 19. Jahrhunderts

This paper is in the tradition of philosophical enquiry enquiry (cf. Mikhail Bachtin et al.) into the influence of music (as a medium of expression and communication rather than as musical ‘literature’) on language. However, it is beyond the scope of any single study to address this question in its entirety. In what follows, this meta-perspective is rooted in two socio-cultural research questions: How could the influence of a prominent figure like Fredrik Pacius unfold culturally beyond his profession? What role did his unique professionalisation play as a model for his contemporaries in Finland? Pacius’s contribution to the tradition of arranging Elias Lönnrot’s Kanteletar (especially to the separately printed musical supplement of 1840 Suomalaisten Laulujen ja Runojen Nuotteja) is critically examined in this paper, as is the scholarly reception of the case (Otto Andersson, John Rosas, Fabian Dahlström and Heikki Laitinen). Lönnrot’s distinction between ‘Runo tones’ (in the archaic spirit of the Kalevala) and ‘newer songs’ (in many cases ‘imported’, he writes) is considered in relation to the question of the extent to which Pacius had the German, Scandinavian or Finnish traditions in his mind. It is worthy of note that only Pacius’ 
arrangements of ‘newer songs’ (e.g. in regard of the Finsk runa: Minun kultani kaukana kukkuu) have survived, and their authorship and dating have been the subject of debate.