On Thursday, September 26 and Sunday September 29, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will be joined by renowned Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin in a performance of Chopin’s beautifully expressive and virtuosic piano concerto no 2. Also, on the program, the WSO will be performing Sibelius’ single movement Symphony no 7.
Sibelius struggled with what to call the work. Was it a symphonic fantasy or a full-fledged symphony? The title of “symphony” won out, and it would be one of the last orchestral pieces he would compose despite Sibelius living another 33 years.
The Symphony no 7 is a breathtaking depiction of a snowy Finnish landscape; where the clouds move across the sky, sometimes allowing the sun to poke through and give some warmth. (This is depicted with Sibelius’ use of trombones at choice moments, set against the string texture in the rest of the orchestra.) Sibelius in this one movement work, uses all the orchestral color at his disposal to create this gorgeous musical landscape.
In honor of the WSO’s upcoming performance of this masterpiece, we here at Classic 107 will be featuring Tone Poems by Sibelius, all week at one o’clock.
Monday, September 23: Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island (1893-1895, Rev. 1897, 1900)
This is the first of four tone poems that Sibelius called Four Legends from the Kalevala. The music was originally conceived for an opera called The Building of the Boat. An opera drawing on themes from the Finnish Kalevala Sagas.
Sibelius changed his mind however and used the music for four tone poems that centre around the heroic character Lemminkäinen that is found prominently throughout the Sagas.
Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island is based on the story in which Lemminkäinen travels to an island and seduces many of the women there, before fleeing the rage of the men on the island. The movement is also known as Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari, Saari being the Finnish word for island.
Tuesday, September 24: Nightride and Sunrise (1908)
Sibelius gave different accounts of the inspiration for this music. One version he told was that it was inspired by his first visit to the Colosseum in Rome, in 1901. Another account, given in his later years to his secretary, was that the inspiration was a sleigh ride from Helsinki to Kerava, during which he saw a striking sunrise.
The work represents a spiritual experience of nature by "an ordinary man." It unfolds in three contrasting parts: a galloping section which represents the horses as they pull the sledge across the countryside; a brief hymnic transition in the strings and an exquisite Northern sunrise whose first rays emerge in the horns.
Wednesday, September 25: Tapiola (1926)
Written on a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Symphony Society. Tapiola portrays Tapio, the animating forest spirit mentioned throughout the Kalevala Sagas.
When asked by the publisher to clarify the work's program, Sibelius responded with a prose explanation converted by his publisher (Breitkopf and Hartel) into a poem which the publisher put on English language editions of the score:
Wide-spread they stand, the Northland's dusky forests,
Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams;
Within them dwells the Forest's mighty God,
And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets.
Thursday, September 26: En Saga (1891-1892, rev. 1902)
En saga is without program or literary source. Sibelius routinely declined to state a program, although in the 1930s, he conceded that, if one must find an inspiration, the tone poem owed its nature not to The Kalevala Sagas, but rather the Icelandic Eddas that tell stories of Norse mythology in the form of poetry.
Critics have praised En saga as a masterpiece of "astonishing power and originality." that, stylistically, exhibits Sibelius's "personal brand of musical primitivism". The revised version of the tone poem is often described as being of superior craftsmanship relative to the youthful rawness of its predecessor.
Friday, September 27: Lemminkäinen in Tuonela (1893-1895, Rev. 1897, 1900)
This is the third of the four tone poems from the Four Legends from the Kalevala
The hero Lemminkäinen is in Tuonela, the land of the dead, to shoot the Swan of Tuonela. By doing this he will be able to claim the hand of the daughter of the villain Louhi, mistress of the Pohjola or Northland, in marriage. However, the blind man of the Northland kills Lemminkäinen, whose body is then tossed in the river and dismembered. Lemminkäinen's mother learns of his death, travels to Tuonela, recovers his body parts, reassembles him, and restores him to life.
Tune in all week to hear this magical music of Sibelius!