Ilmari Hannikainen: Early Songs The Finnish pianist, composer, and piano teacher Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955) wrote over one hundred solo songs. As a child, he accompanied his mother, the singer Alfhild "Alli" Hannikainen (1867-1949), on the piano. His own songs bear dedications to her and to many other well-known Finnish singers of the time, some of whom he also performed with. As late as the 1950s, he recorded several songs for Finnish Radio, but unfortunately, only a few of the recordings have survived.