Finnish composer Yrjö Gunaropulos (1904–1968) was born in St Petersburg. As result of the Russian Revolution, his family moved to Finland in 1917.

Gunaropulos studied composing under Erkki Melartin and Oskar Merikanto. Typical of that time, he was a very versatile musician, not only composing and conducting but also playing saxophone, clarinet, piano and violin. Gunaropulos met Matti Rajula, the greatest saxophone virtuoso of the 1920s and 30s in Finland. Inspired by his capabilities Gunaropulos wrote a huge Saxophone Concerto in C minor for Rajula in 1935. Rajula had enormous success with this work, performing it with the city orchestras of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Wyborg, Oulu and Vaasa as well as the radio orchestras of Oslo, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki. He had performances coming up in London and elsewhere but these plans were cancelled due to the Second World War.