Kaj Chydenius is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 composer probably best known for his left-wing political songs interpreted by various artists. He studied at the Sibelius Academy

Sibelius Academy

The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...

, the University of Helsinki

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...

 and the Helsinki School of Economics

Helsinki School of Economics

The Aalto University School of Economics , known as Helsinki School of Economics until 2009, is the largest and leading business school in Finland and one of the most renowned in Europe...

, starting his career with avant-garde music

Avant-garde music

Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....

, happening

Happening

A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...

, instrumental theatre and the aesthetics of John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

. Some of the best-known works by Chydenius are Lapualaisooppera (1966) and such songs as 'Sinua, sinua rakastan', 'Nuoruustango' and the children's song 'Magdaleena', which are all evergreens in Finland. Kaj Chydenius was one of the founding members of KOM-teatteri in 1971, together with Kaisa Korhonen

Kaisa Korhonen

Kaisa Korhonen is a Finnish writer and recipient of the Eino Leino Prize in 1974.-References:...

 who was his wife then. The younger son of Kaj Chydenius, Jussi Chydenius

Jussi Chydenius

Jussi Chydenius is a Finnish musician and composer. He is best known for singing bass in the vocal ensemble Rajaton.He is the son of composer Kaj Chydenius and director Kaisa Korhonen. His brother is music producer Kalle Chydenius. He played drums for the rock band Don Huonot from 1989–2001 and...

 is a member of the vocal ensemble Rajaton

Rajaton

Rajaton is a Finnish a cappella ensemble, founded in Helsinki in 1997. The Finnish word rajaton means "boundless", to indicate the breadth of their repertoire, from sacred classical to near Europop...

. Many works by Chydenius are released on Love Records

Love Records

Love Records was a record label from Finland, which released 384 LPs, 253 C-cassettes, 347 singles and 24 EPs. They were a pioneering label in Finnish rock music but also released jazz, political songs, ethnic music and so on....

.

Selected discography

• Lauluja (1966)
• Kauneimmat rakkauslaulut (1977)
• Unet palaavat Helsinkiin (1996)