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Spring Song (Sibelius)

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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

Spring Song (in Swedish: Vårsång; in Finnish: Kevätlaulu),[3] Op. 16, is a single-movement tone poem for orchestra written in 1894 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

History

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The piece was initially composed as Improvisation for Orchestra, in the key of D major. It was premiered on 21 July 1894[5] 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it in F major and retitled the work Spring Song (Vårsång), appending the subtitle "The Sadness of Spring" to that (unpublished) version.[6]

Instrumentation

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Spring Song is scored for the following instruments,[1] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):

The piece contains an optimism that is relatively rare among Sibelius' works. It is known for its prominent use of tubular bells at the end of the song.[7]

Structure

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Spring Song takes about 8 minutes to play.

{\new PianoStaff {<< \new Staff \relative c' {\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"clarinet" \time 3/4 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Tempo moderato e sostenuto" 4=100 \autoBeamOff \transposition bes \clef treble \key g \major ^\markup {Clarinet I}|\mp r4 d4( e4)|d4. \( c8[( e8 c8])|d4\) g4--(fis4--|g4) d2|e4-- \( fis8[\> ( e8] fis4\! e4.) \) \< d8[( \> \( fis8 d8]\! ) e2.\) \< e2.*5/6 s8\!|} \new Staff \relative c' {\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"cello" \time 3/4 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo "Tempo moderato e sostenuto" 4=100 \autoBeamOff \clef bass \key f \major ^\markup {Cellos I}|\mp r4 c4( d4)|c4. \( bes8[( d8 bes8])|c4\) f4--(e4--|f4--) c2|d4-- \( e8[\> ( d8] e4\! d4.) \) \< c8[( \> \( e8 c8]\! ) d2.\) \< d2.*5/6 s8\!|}>>}}
Measures 5–12

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
[c]
2 Sir Charles Groves Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 1975 6:56 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall EMI Classics
[d]
3 Sir Alexander Gibson Royal Scottish National Orchestra 1977 7:10 Glasgow City Halls Chandos
[e]
4 Neeme Järvi (1) Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1) 1986 8:17 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
[f]
5 Vassily Sinaisky Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra 1991 8:19 Mosfilm Studios Brilliant Classics
[g]
6 Neeme Järvi (2) Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2) 1994 7:46 Gothenburg Concert Hall Deutsche Grammophon
[h]
7 Osmo Vänskä (1) Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1) 1999 8:14 Ristinkirkko BIS
[i]
8 Shuntaro Sato Kuopio Symphony Orchestra [fi] 2002 8:32 Kuopio Music Centre [fi] Finlandia
[j]
9 Osmo Vänskä (2) Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2) 2007 7:34 Sibelius Hall BIS
[k]
10 Leif Segerstam Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 2007 8:56 Finlandia Hall Ondine
[l]
11 Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra 2018 7:45 Grieg Hall Chandos
[m]
12 Sakari Oramo BBC Symphony Orchestra 2018 9:03 Watford Colosseum Chandos
[n]

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. ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 58.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
  3. ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 57.
  4. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 28.
  5. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 91.
  6. ^ Tawaststjerna 2008, p. 142.
  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.
  • Vernon, David (2024). Sun Forest Lake: The Symphonies & Tone Poems of Jean Sibelius. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press. ISBN 978-1739659943.
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