BIS-CD-817STEREO F pl Totalplaying time:55'21 SIBELIUS,Johan (Jean) Julius Christian (1865-1e57) tr Andante Molto in F minor forCello and Piano (1887)* wot 5'21 a Tempodi valse('Lulu Waltz') in F sharpminor 0'54 forCello and Piano (1889)* pa * tr Andantino in C major for Celloand Piano(c. 1884) 1,rar".7 2'.46 tr Theme and Variationsfor Cello solo (c. 1887\*wt"t 11',26 TwoPieces ('Serious Melodies'), Op.77 8'48 for Cello and Piano (wirhetmHansen) tr l. Cantique('Laetare anima mea') (1914) 5'02 tr ll. Devotion('Ab imo pectore') (1915) ** 3'40 Four Pigces, Op.78 for Cello and Piano (wirhehHansen) 11'57 d l, lmpromptu(1915) 1',47 E ll"Romance in F major(1915) 3'04 tr lll.Religioso (1917) AIEA @ lV.Rigaudon (1915) t30 E Mafinconia, Op.20 for Celloand Piano(1900) p,"nxoptanan4 12'18 Torleif Thed6en,celo . Folke Grdsbeck,piano * .. = WorldPremidre Recordings; = FirstRecording with Authentic Cello pan - I n March1869, Maria Sibelius gave birth to her thirdchild a son, namedChristian I afterhis fatherwho had died of typhusthe previousautumn. The 27-year-oldwidow I had faceda mountainof unpaidbills when her husbanddied, and in due coursethe estatehad beendeclared bankrupt. By the time of Christian'sbirth, Maria had moved back in shameto her mother'shome, where she had devotedherself to bringingup herother children - Linda(b. 1863)and Johan(b. 1865). All three childrenplayed musical instruments, and in due coursethe sibelius childrenformed a pianotrro in their home town of Hiimeenlinna(Tavastehus); Linda playedthe piano,Johan the violinand christianthe cello.Together, they experimented with not onlythe Classicalbut alsothe Romanticrepertory. Christian Sibelius, like his father,was to pursuea career in medicine,but he was evidentlya cellistof con- 'Janne' 'Jean' siderableprowess and his elderbrother - to his familyand friends, to posterity- duly composednumerous works for him. Jean sibeliuswas to gain an internationalreputation aS a composerof symphonicmusic, and it is only in recent yearsthat his chamberand instrumentalworks, choral pieces and songshave begun to attractmore widespreadattention. Sibelius'soriginal cello music consists of youthfulworks from the 1880s(not all of whichhave been preserved in theirentirety), pieces from the periodof the FirstWorld war and, in between,the cello fantasy Malinconiafrom 1900. In addition,arrangers such as Georg Schn6evoigtand Otto Taubmannhave made cello transcriptionso1 severaiorchestral works; these adaptationsare variablein qualityand, in any case, falloutside the remito{ the presentrecording. Duringthe early1990s, the Syrian-borncellist and conductorMunir Bakieh under- took a thoroughstudy of Sibelius'scello manuscripts, resolving a seriesof notational questionsin the unpublishedworks and comparingthe laterpieces with the published editions.In the courseof his research,numerous small errors in the printedparts have beenfound (these have been corrected for this recording). The Early Cello Works sibelius,searliest cello pieces date from his youthand studentyears. He composed chambermusic prolifically in the late 1880s,in part underthe guidanceo1 Martin wegelius at the HelsinkiMusic Institute,and in part independently,away from the contextof his studies.These independent pieces - includingthe earlycello works - were oftencomposed for immediateperformance by friendsand family,and the cello musicin particularwas oftenintended for his youngerbrother Christian. fhe Andantino in C major- provisionallydated by Sibelius'sfirst biographerErik Furuhjelmas 1884,but possiblycomposed slightly later- is probablythe earliestof Sibelius'sextant cello pieces. 11 Furuhjelm is correct,it predatesthe beginningof Sibe- lius'sformal studies in Helsinki,which started in the autumnof 1885.This simple Andantino- which,like some of htsother early chamber compositions, shows the in- fluenceof Griegand, especially,Tchaikovsky - is neverthelessa fluentpiece with a wistfullynostalgic melody of greatcharm. The spiritof rchaikovskyalso pervadesrne 'Lulu very brief F sharp minor Tempo di valse, known as the waltz' (the originsof this nameare uncertain).This piecewas firstplayed by christianand Jeansibelius during the summerof 1BB9at the spa casino in Loviisa,the idylliccoastal town in whichthe youngcomposer spent many happysummers as a child.lts melodyanticipates the very popularsong Flickankom ifrdn sin elsklingsm6te trcm 1900-01. The first modern performanceof lhe Lulu waltz was given by Munir Bakieh and Mart Ernesaksat SippolaChurch, Finland on 7th July1996, as partof the VonteeninValssi Festivar. The F minor Andante molto (1887)is longerand bolderthan either the Andantino ot lhe Tempodi valse,and the piano part - which in those pieces had been purely accompanimental- is, at least in the outer sections,an equal partnerof the cello part.This work too is dedicatedto ChristianSibelius, and featuresa virtuosocaoenza- like middlesection. lts first modernperformance, by Munir Bakiehand FolkeGrds- beck,took place at the KuusamoConcert Hall, Finland, on 15thJune 1996. The most ambitiousof the early cello works is the D minor Theme and variations (c.1887), which is believedto be the first Finnishcomposition for solo cello.A brief introduction,Adagio, leads to the theme, Andantino(a distantancestor of the second group of the first movement of lhe Third symphony). This has the character of a berceuseand subsequentlypasses through six variationswhich range from neo- baroque(Variation l) to bravura(Variation v) in character.In this very demanding piecesibelius continually experiments with devicesand techniquesthat were to becomecharacteristic of his maturewriting for solostring instruments - for instance semiquavertriplets (variation ll, bars 49 and 54) and rapid arpeggiatedfigurations 4 perform- (Variationv bars 89,94,98 and 101).Munir Bakieh gave the first modern anceof thiswork on 12thAugust 1995 at BromartChurch in Finland,and at the same concerthe and Folke GrAsbeckalso rescued the Andantinoin C maior {rom oblivion; 1995. they repeatedboth pieces at the Loviisasibelius Festival on 3rd september not be btf''6r.cello works by Sibeliushave not survivedintact, and could therefore longer includedon this recording. A Tempodi valse in G minor,which is considerably 1889 than the F sharp minorwork of ihe same name,dates irom 1887. In August piece,which christiansibelius asked Jean to supplya pianoaccompaniment to this the suggeststhat only the cellopart was everactually written down; in any case,only ceitJpart is preserved.Around 1889, Sibelius worked on a large-scale,17-minute-long it Fantasiain iive sectionsfor celloand piano,dedicated to Christian(who described lt as ,oneof the mostbeautrful and mosi magnificentcello works I haveever heard')' was alsoplayed at the spa casino in Loviisain the summerof 1889but in this case' too,only the cellopart has survived. The Wartime Pieces with rhe Two Piecesor'serious Melodies"op.77, exist in violinand celloversions dignifiedand solemn cantique, origin- the accompanimentof piano or orchestra.The 'Laetare ally called' Song of Praise or Lauda Sion and later given the Latin subtttle time r"a'l,Rejoice my soul'),was completedon lst Decembet1914, by which Sibeliushada|readybegunpre|iminarySketchesforhissxthSymphony,apiece"nir" dominatedby writingfor the strings.At this embryonrcstage rn the symphony'sdevelop- such ment,Sibelius toyed with the ide; of turningit intoa secondviolin concerto, and instruments ttrouitrtshelp to explainhis renewedinterest in the violinand celloas solo D minor seems at this time.'Likethe Sixth Symphony,Cantique has a modal flavour' is the key to havebeen a key whichSibelius associated especially withstring music:.it Variationslor oI tne Viotin Conierto, SixthSymphony and, indeed, oI the Theme and and the solo. Devotion,a more dramaticpiece, was completedin June 1915' cello 'Ab composerlater added the subtitle imo pectore'('From my very heart')' March, 1916 ihe first performancesol Cantique and Devotionwere given on 30th the HelsinkiCity oy g'e cerrisiOssian Fohstrom, to w|romthey are bothdedicated, with variouspublish- orchestraconducted by the composer.sibelius then negotiatedwith 5 ers beforewilhelm Hansenfinally issued the worksin printin 1922- by whichtime, however,the originalsolo part for the celloversion could not be found.A manuscriot (possibly retainedby Fohstromafter the premidre)found its way intothe collectionof petersburg, the Russianphilologist Andrei Rudnyev in st. and this was returnedto Finland in 1952.whereas previouscello and pianoperformances of Devotionhave relied upon variousconjectural transcriptions of the publishedviolin part, this cD presents.the firstrecording of sibelius'soriginal cello version, according to the'Rudnyev manuscriot. The Four Pieces,op.78, are amongthe numerousminiatures that sibeliuscom- posed duringthe Firstworld war. Each of these smallpieces was conceivedsepa- rately, and theirassembly into opus groups was decidedat a laterstage. sibelius also pieces moved betweenopus groups: the Romancein F major,for eximpre, was once scheduledto serveas a'worldlypendant'to cantiqueinop.TT.In a hand-written opus listfrom 1915sibelius-numbered lhe Rigaudonas op.79b, and in his draryne numbered it as op.77 No.3. The war had virtuallysevered sibelius's lucrative links with the Germanpublishers Breitkopf & Hartel,and his financialworries were com- pounded by the artistic struggleshe was experiencingwith the Fifth symphony. n view of this, some commentatorshave dismissedthele piecesas unworihysaron musrcwritten purely to pay the householdbills