Spring Song (Sibelius)

Spring Song (in Swedish: Vårsång; in Finnish: Kevätlaulu), Op. 16, is a single-movement tone poem for orchestra written in 1894 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Spring Song
Tone poem by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1895)
Native nameVårsång
Opus16
Composed1894 (1894), rev. 1895
PublisherFazer & Westerlund [fi] (1903)[1][a]
Duration8 mins. (orig. 10 mins.)[3]
Premiere
Date21 June 1894 (1894-06-21)[4]
LocationVaasa, Grand Duchy of Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersOrchestra of the Song Festival

History

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The piece was initially composed as Improvisation for Orchestra, in the key of D major. It premiered on 21 July 1894 at an outdoor festival in Vaasa, organized by the Society for Popular Education [fi] (Kansanvalistusseura). Short, lyrical, and delicately scored, Sibelius's piece was ill-suited for the open-air concert, and the audience received it less enthusiastically than another work on the program: Korsholm, by Sibelius's brother-in-law and friend Armas Järnefelt. Shortly therefore, Sibelius withdrew Improvisation for revision. In 1895, he recast it in F major and retitled the work Spring Song (Vårsång), appending the subtitle "The Sadness of Spring" to that (unpublished) version.[5]

Structure

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The work is scored for 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in F), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, glocken, violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.[6] Spring Song takes about 8 minutes to play.

 

The tempo marking is: Tempo moderato e sostenuto. The piece contains an optimism that is relatively rare among Sibelius' works. It is known for its prominent use of bells at the end of the song.[7]

Discography

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The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Spring Song:

No. Conductor Orchestra Rec.[b] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Paavo Berglund Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 1973 8:21 Southampton Guildhall EMI Classics
2 Sir Charles Groves Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 1975 6:56 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall EMI Classics
3 Sir Alexander Gibson Royal Scottish National Orchestra 1977 7:10 Glasgow City Halls Chandos
4 Neeme Järvi (1) Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1) 1986 8:17 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
5 Vassily Sinaisky Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra 1991 8:19 Mosfilm Studios Brilliant Classics
6 Neeme Järvi (2) Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2) 1994 7:46 Gothenburg Concert Hall Deutsche Grammophon
7 Osmo Vänskä (1) Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1) 1999 8:14 Ristinkirkko BIS
8 Shuntaro Sato Kuopio Symphony Orchestra [fi] 2002 8:32 Kuopio Music Centre [fi] Finlandia
9 Osmo Vänskä (2) Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2) 2007 7:34 Sibelius Hall BIS
10 Leif Segerstam Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 2007 8:56 Finlandia Hall Ondine
11 Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra 2018 7:45 Grieg Hall Chandos
12 Sakari Oramo BBC Symphony Orchestra 2018 9:03 Watford Colosseum Chandos

Notes, references, and sources

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Notes
  1. ^ On 20 July 1905, the Helsinki-based music publisher Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) sold its Sibelius holdings (the publishing rights and printing plates) to the German firm of Breitkopf & Härtel.[2]
  2. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  3. ^ P. Berglund–EMI Classics (5 69773 2) 1997
  4. ^ C. Groves–EMI Classics (5 85532 2) 2003
  5. ^ A. Gibson–Chandos (CHAN 8395/6) 1985
  6. ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–384) 1988
  7. ^ V. Sinaisky–Brilliant Classics (BC9212) 2010
  8. ^ Neeme. Järvi–DG (00028947755227) yyyy
  9. ^ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1125) 2000
  10. ^ S. Sato–Finlandia (0927–49598–2) 2003
  11. ^ O. Vänskä–BIS (SACD–1645) 2009
  12. ^ L. Segerstam–Ondine (ODE 1112–2) 2007
  13. ^ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHSA 5217) 2021
  14. ^ S. Oramo–Chandos (CHAN 20136) 2019
References
  1. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 58.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
  3. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 57.
  4. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 28.
  5. ^ Tawaststjerna 2008, p. 142.
  6. ^ Score, Sibelius: Vårsång (Frühlingslied), Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig, 1903
  7. ^ Barnett 2007.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
  • Tawaststjerna, Erik (2008) [1965/1967; trans. 1976]. Sibelius: Volume I, 1865–1905. Translated by Layton, Robert. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24772-1.
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