The musically talented Toivo Haapanen studied musicology at the University of Helsinki and music theory and the violin at the orchestra school of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. After graduating as a Bachelor of Arts in 1918, he continued his studies vigorously, earning his doctorate in 1925, the same year he was appointed Docent in musicology.

The career of Dr Haapanen comprised both research and action. He served as conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra before becoming chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The first public concert of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Dr Haapanen and held in the Great Hall of the University of Helsinki on October 29, 1929. At the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Dr Haapanen also served as Director of Music for close to twenty years. His passion was the promotion of orchestra culture in Finland, and his main means of achieving this was continuous improvement work with the Radio Symphony Orchestra.

As a researcher, Dr Haapanen was especially interested in the sources of mediaeval liturgical hymns. He not only catalogued and organised the collections of parchment fragments, he produced ground-breaking research on them. In his publication Die Neumenfragmente der Universitätsbibliothek Helsingfors (1924) he demonstrated that the liturgical music of Finland had been mainly affected by French and German influences. And in his book Suomen säveltaide (‘Musical Arts of Finland’), published in 1940, Dr Haapanen produced the first comprehensive description of the history of music in Finland.

The determined work of Dr Toivo Haapanen in the service of music and research of music received acknowledgement in the form of a chair as professor extraordinary of musicology at the University of Helsinki in 1946. He held this post for less than five years before his death.

The first professor of musicology in Finland was Ilmari Krohn. He held his chair as professor extraordinary at the University of Helsinki from 1918 to 1935. A regular permanent chair in musicology was established at the University of Helsinki in 1955. To date, this chair has been held by only three professors: Armas Otto Väisänen, Erik Tawaststjerna, and Eero Tarasti

Sources

• Website of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Accessed 14 September 2015.
• Taitto, Ilkka (2007): Haapanen, Toivo (1889–1950). National Biography online publication. Helsinki. Finnish Literature Society. Accessed 14 September, 2015. Available for free on the Nelli portal
• Toivo Haapanen, Ylen Elävä arkisto. Accessed 17 september, 2015.
• Toivo Haapanen, Wikipedia. Accessed 14 Spetember 2015.
• Österman, Pia (2002): Sivistyksen voima. Filosofeja, historioitsijoita, kulttuuri- ja kielitieteilijöitä – 150 vuotta humanisteja. Yliopistopaino, Helsinki. Accessed 17 September, 2015.