The ''Lemminkäinen Suite'', or more correctly ''Four Legends from the Kalevala'', Op. 22, is a sequence of four
tone poems for orchestra completed in 1896 by the Finnish composer
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
. The work was conceived as ' (''The Building of the Boat''), an opera with a mythological setting, before taking its form as a suite. There is a narrative thread: the exploits are followed of the heroic character
Lemminkäinen from the ''
Kalevala'', which is a collection of folkloric, mythic,
epic poetry
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard t ...
. The second tone poem, ''
The Swan of Tuonela'', is popular as a standalone orchestral work.
History
The piece was originally conceived as a mythological opera before Sibelius abandoned the idea and made it a piece consisting of four distinct movements. The first two though were withdrawn by the composer soon after its premiere and were neither performed, nor added to the published score of the suite until 1935. Sibelius changed the order of the movements when he made his final revisions in 1939, placing ''
The Swan of Tuonela'' second, and ''Lemminkäinen in Tuonela'' third.
Sibelius revised the score in 1897 and 1939.
Movements
* ''Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island'' is based on
Canto 29 ("Conquests") of the Kalevala, where 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.
* ''
The Swan of Tuonela'' is the most popular of the four tone poems and often is featured alone from the suite in orchestral programs. It has a prominent
cor anglais
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...
solo. The music paints a gossamer, transcendental image of a mystical swan swimming around Tuonela, the island of the dead. Lemminkäinen has been tasked with killing the sacred swan, but on the way he is shot with a
poisoned arrow, and dies himself.
* ''Lemminkäinen in Tuonela'' is based on
Canto 14 ("Elk, horse, swan") and
15 ("Resurrection"). Lemminkäinen is in
Tuonela, the land of the dead, to shoot the Swan of Tuonela to be able to claim the daughter of
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.
* ''Lemminkäinen's Return'': The storyline in the score roughly parallels the end of
Canto 30 ("Pakkanen"
[Lönnrot (1989), p. 431.]), where after his adventures in battle, Lemminkäinen journeys home.
Instrumentation
The suite is scored for two
flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s (both doubling
piccolo
The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...
), two
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s (one doubling
cor anglais
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...
), two
clarinet
The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell.
Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
s in B (one doubling on
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...
), two
bassoon
The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...
s, four
horns (in E and F), three
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
s (in E and F), three
trombone
The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
s,
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...
,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
,
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...
,
bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
,
cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
,
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...
,
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
, and
strings.
Recordings
The original versions of ''Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island'' and ''Lemminkäinen's Return'' have been recorded by
Osmo Vänskä and the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finland, Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipali ...
(BIS CD-1015). Other recordings of the full published suite are by the
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under
Leif Segerstam, the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra under
Okko Kamu, the
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; ) is a Swedish symphony orchestra based in Gothenburg. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen. The orchestra received the title of the National Orchestra of Sweden () in 1997.
Ba ...
under
Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor.
Early life
Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...
, The
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...
under
Eugene Ormandy, the
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
, the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
under
Sir Colin Davis, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Petri Sakari.
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemminkainen Suite
Suites by Jean Sibelius
Tone poems by Jean Sibelius
Music based on the Kalevala