Ainola (literal English translation: "Aino's Place") is a museum in Järvenpää, Finland, that originally was the home of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, his wife Aino (née Järnefelt), and their six daughters. Situated on the shores of Lake Tuusulanjärvi 38 kilometres (24 miles) north of Helsinki, the two-story, wooden home was designed by the Finnish architect Lars Sonck;[1] the foundation was laid in the spring of 1904, and the Sibelius family began occupying the residence in September.

Clockwise from top: front of Ainola (1940s); Sibelius in his study (1915); Ainola in 2017, been a museum since 1974; Jean and Aino are buried in the garden; the family in the dining room (1915)

The Ministry of Education and the Sibelius Society of Finland have jointly operated Ainola since 1974.

Overview

The only requests Sibelius had for Sonck were to include both a lakefront view and a green fireplace in the dining room. Water pipes were never installed until after Sibelius's death because he did not want the distraction while he was there composing.

Its distance from the hustle and bustle of the nation's capital gave the composer the peace that he needed for his creative endeavours. His biographer Erik W. Tawaststjerna writes that "when Sibelius first left Helsinki, Järvenpää was to a large extent untouched countryside. Foals and sheep almost nosed their way into the house, and from time to time an elk majestically bestrode the grounds."[2] There were also other artistic families living in the neighborhood who provided a lively social circle for the Sibelius family.

Daily life in Ainola was documented by Sibelius's private secretary Santeri Levas in the 1945 photographic book Jean Sibelius and His Home.

Buildings around Ainola include the sauna and the family's personal workshop. Sibelius died at Ainola on September 20, 1957. His wife Aino lived in Ainola for the next twelve years until she died on June 8, 1969. They both are buried in the Ainola garden surrounded by apple trees.[3]

Museum

In 1972, Jean Sibelius's daughters Eva Paloheimo, Ruth Snellman [fi], Katarina Ilves, Margareta Jalas, and Heidi Blomstedt sold Ainola to the Finnish government. The Ministry of Education and the Sibelius Society of Finland opened it as a museum in June 1974.[3] It is currently open from May to September. Among the personal effects remaining there are a Steinway grand piano, which was a gift to Sibelius on his fiftieth birthday in 1915, and paintings by Aino's brother Eero Järnefelt.

See also

• List of music museums

References

Bibliography

• Levas, Santeri (1955). Jean Sibelius ja hänen Ainolansa [Jean Sibelius and his home] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
• Sadie, Julie Anne (2005). Calling on the Composer: A Guide to European Composer Houses and Museums. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300107500.
• Tawaststjerna, Erik (1976). Sibelius. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520058699.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ainola.

• Ainola website
• Ainola – the home of Jean Sibelius. Virtual Finland, 2008. Archived at Wayback Machine