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.
| Spring Song | |
|---|---|
| Tone poem by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1895) | |
| Native name | Vårsång |
| Opus | 16 |
| Composed | 1894, rev. 1895 |
| Publisher | Fazer & Westerlund (1903)[1][a] |
| Duration | 8 mins. (orig. 10 mins.)[3] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 21 June 1894[4] |
| Location | Vaasa, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
| Performers | Orchestra of the Song Festival |
History
editThe 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 (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it in F major and retitled the work Spring Song (Vårsång), appending the subtitle "The Sadness of Spring" to that (unpublished) version.[6]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
editSpring Song is scored for the following instruments,[1] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
- 2 flutes (each doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B♭), and 2 bassoons
- 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in F), 3 trombones, and tuba
- Timpani and tubular bells ("glocken")
- Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses
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
editSpring 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\!|}>>}}](http://wiki.nitrosworld.org/proxy-img/http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fscore%2Ff%2Fs%2Ffsj9vg6dacppae6kwi7f91cm4gskrw2%2Ffsj9vg6d.png)
Discography
editThe sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Spring Song:
Notes, references, and sources
edit- Notes
- ↑ On 20 July 1905, the Helsinki-based music publisher Fazer & Westerlund (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) sold its Sibelius holdings (the publishing rights and printing plates) to the German firm of Breitkopf & Härtel.[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.
- ↑ P. Berglund–EMI Classics (5 69773 2) 1997
- ↑ C. Groves–EMI Classics (5 85532 2) 2003
- ↑ A. Gibson–Chandos (CHAN 8395/6) 1985
- ↑ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–384) 1988
- ↑ V. Sinaisky–Brilliant Classics (BC9212) 2010
- ↑ Neeme. Järvi–DG (00028947755227) yyyy
- ↑ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1125) 2000
- ↑ S. Sato–Finlandia (0927–49598–2) 2003
- ↑ O. Vänskä–BIS (SACD–1645) 2009
- ↑ L. Segerstam–Ondine (ODE 1112–2) 2007
- ↑ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHSA 5217) 2021
- ↑ S. Oramo–Chandos (CHAN 20136) 2019
- References
- 1 2 Dahlström 2003, p. 58.
- ↑ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
- 1 2 Dahlström 2003, p. 57.
- ↑ Dahlström 2003, p. 28.
- ↑ Barnett 2007, p. 91.
- ↑ Tawaststjerna 2008, p. 142.
- ↑ 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.
External links
edit- Spring Song (Vårsång), Op. 16: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Johnston, Blair. Spring Song at AllMusic
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