BIS-CD-1565 f/b copy 2/22/06 12:51 PM Page 1 Sibelius Spirit of Nature Songs, Cantatas and Orchestral Works Lahti Symphony Orchestra Osmo Vänskä Helena Juntunen Tommi Hakala Jyrki Korhonen Dominante Choir Osmo Vänskä BIS-CD-1565 BIS-CD-1565 Spirit copy 2/22/06 12:32 PM Page 2 SIBELIUS, Johan (Jean) Christian Julius (1865-1957) Spirit of Nature · Luonnotar 1 Overture in E major, JS 145 (1891) (Warner/Chappell Music Finland) 11'17 2 Scène de ballet, JS 163 (1891) (Warner/Chappell Music Finland) 8'36 3 Kullervon valitus (Kullervo’s Lament) (1892, rev. 1957)* (Breitkopf & Härtel) 2'17 for bass and orchestra, from Op. 7. Text: Kalevala 4 Serenade, JS 168 (1894/95) (Breitkopf & Härtel) 5'47 for baritone and orchestra. Text: Erik Johan Stagnelius 5 I natten (In the Night), Op. 38 No. 3 (1903)* (Breitkopf & Härtel) 3'37 for baritone and orchestra. Text: Viktor Rydberg 6 Impromptu, Op. 19 – original version (1902)* (Manuscript/Breitkopf & Härtel) 5'27 for women’s chorus and orchestra. Text: Viktor Rydberg 7 Impromptu, Op. 19 – final version (1902, rev. 1910) (Breitkopf & Härtel) 6'57 for women’s chorus and orchestra. Text: Viktor Rydberg 8 Pan and Echo, Op. 53 (1906) (Lienau) 4'07 2 BIS-CD-1565 Spirit copy 2/22/06 12:32 PM Page 3 9 Höstkväll (Autumn Evening), Op. 38 No. 1 (1903, arr. 1904)* (Breitkopf & Härtel) 4'55 for soprano and string orchestra. Text: Viktor Rydberg 10 Hertig Magnus (Duke Magnus), Op. 57 No. 6 (1909, arr. 1912)* (Breitkopf & Härtel) 3'35 for soprano and orchestra. Text: Ernst Josephson 11 Luonnotar, Op. 70 (1913) (Breitkopf & Härtel) 8'50 for soprano and orchestra. Text: Kalevala 12 Väinön virsi (Väinämöinen’s Song), Op. 110 (1926) (Breitkopf & Härtel) 8'53 for mixed chorus and orchestra. Text: Kalevala TT: 76'36 Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti) (leader: Jaakko Kuusisto) Osmo Vänskä conductor Jyrki Korhonen bass [3] Tommi Hakala baritone [4, 5] Helena Juntunen soprano [9, 10, 11] Dominante Choir (chorus-master: Seppo Murto) [6, 7, 12] * World Première Recording 3 BIS-CD-1565 Spirit copy 2/22/06 12:32 PM Page 4 his CD offers a snapshot of Sibelius’s orch- Swedish-speaking Finnish friends – men such as estral music with and without voices, and Karl August Tavaststjerna and Bertel Gripenberg Tspans his career as an orchestral composer – as well as Swedish writers including Gustaf Frö- from beginning to end. There are, however, two ding, Ernst Josephson and Viktor Rydberg. Ryd- unifying themes: the Kalevala and the poetry of berg (1828-1895), a novelist, poet, journalist and Viktor Rydberg. philosopher, was one of the leading Swedish auth- The Kalevala, Finland’s national epic in fifty ors of his generation, and Sibelius used his texts ‘runos’ (‘poems’), was assembled by Elias Lönn- in a wide variety of pieces ranging from distinc- rot from folk originals and published in 1835; a tive and psychologically profound solo songs to revised edition followed in 1849. It was far more patriotic choral works and melodramas. than just an early manifestation of the use of Fin- The first music on the disc, however, is inde- nish as a literary language: indeed, it would be dif- pendent of these associations. The Overture in E ficult to overestimate its impact on Finnish culture major and Scène de ballet were composed in at all levels of society. Not only the subject matter Vienna in early 1891 during Sibelius’s second – linking various stories such as the creation of academic year as a student abroad. He had spent the world, the exploits of various mythological the previous season in Berlin under the strict tute- heroes and the quest for the Sampo (a sort of talis- lage of Albert Becker (two chorales for choir and man), and ending with a hint of Christianity – but orchestra – academic exercises – have survived also its style, with powerful alliteration and an in- from that period). In Vienna, however, he was sistent trochaic metre (emulated by Longfellow in given a much freer rein: with two teachers, the his Song of Hiawatha) acted as a magnet on com- more formal Robert Fuchs and the inspirational posers, painters and other creative artists, who Karl Goldmark, he explored new territory both as were only too willing to exploit its rich treasure- a composer and as an enthusiastic participant in trove of characters, situations and imagery. Sibe- the city’s vibrant social life. The Overture and lius found the Kalevala an inexhaustible source of Scène de ballet – Sibelius’s first surviving inde- inspiration throughout his career, in works rang- pendent orchestral pieces – were conceived as the ing from piano music (Kyllikki) and a cappella first two movements of a symphony that was choral songs (Terve, kuu [Hail, Moon] and Vene- never completed. Although it does not reproduce matka [The Boat Journey]) to orchestral master- folk tunes directly, the sonata-form Overture pieces such as Kullervo, The Swan of Tuonela and draws much of its thematic inspiration from the Pohjola’s Daughter. world of Finnish folk-music. The Scène de ballet Although Sibelius set texts from a wide range is far more cosmopolitan; it is a whirlwind of a of sources, he clearly had his favourites. Apart piece in which the orchestral novice creates an from the Kalevala and the writings of Johan Lud- intoxicating and exotic blend of musical impulses vig Runeberg, he often turned to poetry by his – a kind of Finnish precursor to Ravel’s La Valse. 4 BIS-CD-1565 Spirit copy 2/22/06 12:32 PM Page 5 The Overture and Scène de ballet were first per- a fundraising concert for the Helsinki Philharmo- formed in Helsinki in April 1891, conducted by nic Society Orchestra that November. By omitting Robert Kajanus. the brighter woodwind and brass instruments Sibe- While he was in Vienna Sibelius’s interest in lius creates a lugubrious atmosphere, especially in the Kalevala deepened, and this was reflected in the first and third verses of this strophic setting. his next orchestral work, Kullervo, premièred in Extracts from Rydberg’s poem Livslust och Helsinki in April 1892. Kullervo is a vast, five- livsleda (Joie de vivre and life’s weariness) form movement piece for mezzo-soprano and baritone the basis for the Impromptu for women’s chorus soloists, male choir and orchestra, and with it and orchestra, which in its original form was com- Sibelius made his breakthrough as an orchestral posed as a makeweight for the concert on 8th composer. He soon grew dissatisfied with the March 1902 at which the Second Symphony made piece, however, and withdrew it after a few per- its triumphant début. It begins in the manner of a formances; it was not heard again in its entirety slow waltz and later comes to resemble Tchaikov- until after his death. In 1957, just months before sky’s ballet music; one of its themes comes from he passed away at the age of 91, Sibelius was per- a String Trio in G minor fragment from 1893/94. suaded to make a new arrangement of Kullervo’s In another of Sibelius’s Rydberg settings, the huge- Lament from the end of the third movement for ly popular patriotic song Athenarnes sang° (Song the bass-baritone Kim Borg, who sang it at the of the Athenians; 1899), the enlightened Greeks in Sibelius Week in Helsinki that June. conflict with the barbaric Persians were used to The Serenade to words by Erik Johan Stagne- symbolize the Finns in their long-running feud lius dates from the spring of 1895, a period when with their Russian rulers. In the Impromptu, too, Sibelius was both fascinated and repelled by the one might interpret the ‘young Hellenics’ in the music of Wagner. A haunting portrayal of the an- poem as representing the Finnish people, but this guish felt by a man who can only admire his be- graceful, civilized music proved too mild-manner- loved from afar, it was first performed in April ed to maintain a regular place in the repertoire. 1895 by the great Finnish baritone Abraham Ojan- Eight years later Sibelius thoroughly over- perä. In 1910 Sibelius considered reworking the hauled the Impromptu, adding a new introduction Serenade – but, instead of revising the earlier – with words from a different part of the poem – piece, he incorporated some of its thematic mate- and a more effective ending, and omitting trum- rial into a new song, Langsamt° som kvällskyn pets and some of the percussion instruments. The (Slowly as the Evening Sun). new version was not heard in concert, however, I natten (In the Night) is the first Rydberg set- for a further two years (29th March 1912). ting on this disc. Unlike the previous two songs, it Further allusions to the world of classical was composed first with piano accompaniment (in antiquity can be found in the ‘dance intermezzo’ September 1903); the orchestration was made for Pan and Echo, written in the spring of 1906 for a 5 BIS-CD-1565 Spirit copy 2/22/06 12:32 PM Page 6 fundraising soirée in Helsinki. The piece accom- compose some of his most impressive songs, in- panied a tableau vivant in which, according to the cluding Jubal and Svarta rosor (Black Roses). newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet, ‘Pan and Echo are Hertig Magnus is the only one of these songs that seen on a hill, looking at the nymphs dancing in Sibelius himself orchestrated – in 1912, for Aino the valley’. The purpose of the soirée was to gath- Ackté. The score was long assumed to be lost, er funds for a new concert hall – a project that re- and was only rediscovered in 1994.