Finnish Line

Mark Swed opens his CD review (“From Finland, Compelling Compositions,” Nov. 11) with an interesting statement: That a small, out-of-the way country has been able to produce so many world-class musicians is often called the Finnish miracle.

And it is all the more amazing when it comes to composers of the generation of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho and Magnus Lindberg, who are between 40 and 50 and are lately making a very strong impression just about everywhere.

Finland has one of the best musical education systems in the world. I was told on a recent teaching trip in Finland by a president of one of the many conservatories in this wonderful country: “Music education begins at the early stage of babyhood.” The Finns’ substantial music education reflects strongly in their learning effectiveness as well as their ability to connect and interrelate subject matters.

That such composers emerge from Finland is not a miracle, it is the result of a wise investment in balanced education.

NURIT C. KRAUSS

Los Angeles