Rakastava

Rakastava
Suite by Jean Sibelius
The composer in 1913
Opus14
Composed1912 (1912)
Movements3
Scoring
Rakastava
Choral composition by Jean Sibelius
Composed
  • 1894 (men's chorus)
  • 1894 (men's chorus and string orchestra)
  • 1898 (mixed chorus)
Movements4
Scoring
  • men's chorus (1894)
  • men's chorus and string orchestra (1894)
  • mixed chorus (1898)

Rakastava (The Lover), Op. 14, is a suite by Jean Sibelius. He completed it in 1912, scored for string orchestra, percussion and triangle. He based it on his earlier composition of the same title, a song cycle of four movements for men's chorus a cappella completed in 1894. The works are based on a Finnish text in Book 1 of the Kanteletar.

History

In 1894, Sibelius completed Rakastava, a cycle of four a cappella songs for men's chorus on a Finnish text in Book 1 of the collection of Finnish folk poems, the Kanteletar.[1][2] He first set it in 1894, as an entry for a local competition. He won the second prize, while the first prize went to his former teacher.[3] Sibelius arranged the cycle for men's chorus and string orchestra in 1894, and for mixed choir in 1898.[1]

Sibelius used the cycle as the basis for the orchestral suite Rakastava for string orchestra, percussion and triangle, to which he assigned the opus number 14. He completed it in 1912, when he also wrote his Fourth Symphony.[1][4] Sibelius often conducted the suite together with his symphonies because the piece "captivated audiences".[1]

Music

Structure of the song cycle

  1. Missä armahani
  2. Armahan kulku
  3. Hyvää iltaa lintuseni[1]

Structure of the suite

  1. Rakastava, Andante con moto (common time, D minor)
  2. Rakastetun tie (The way of the lover), Allegretto (3
    4
    , B major)
  3. Hyvää iltaa ... Jää hyvästi (Good evening, farewell), Andantino (cut time, F major & D minor)[5]

In the first movement, the strings sound light and beautiful. The choral part of the second movement was changed to "murmurs on the strings and wonderfully flexible melodic progressions."[1] The third movement is deeply emotional as its model.[1]

Discography

The sortable table below contains other commercially available recordings of orchestral version of Rakastava:

No. Conductor Ensemble Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Leslie Heward Leslie Howard String Orchestra 1941 10:38 Birmingham Town Hall His Master's Voice
2 Franz Litschauer Vienna State Opera Orchestra c. 1952 ? ? Vanguard
3 Arthur Winograd Arthur Winograd String Orchestra c. 1956 ? ? MGM
4 Gennady Rozhdestvensky U.S.S.R. State Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra 1962 12:48 ? Yedang Classics
5 Leslie Jones The Little Orchestra of London c. 1969 11:45 ? Unicorn-Kanchana
6 Leo Berlin Stockholm Philharmonic Chamber Ensemble 1969 11:44 Studio 4, Swedish Radio Swedish Society Discofil
7 Sir John Barbirolli Hallé Orchestra 1969 12:54 Kingsway Hall EMI Classics
8 Alois Springer Hamburg Symphony c. 1971 12:39 ? Allegria
9 Leif Segerstam Helsingin kamariorkesteri 1974 11:33 Sibelius Academy BIS
10 Paavo Pohjola Espoo Chamber Orchestra 1977 11:44 Finlandia Hall; Meilahti Church[k] Espoo Records
11 Sir Neville Marriner Academy of St Martin in the Fields 1977 10:47 Kingsway Hall Argo
12 Sir Alexander Gibson Scottish National Orchestra 1977 12:16 Motherwell Town Hall Chandos
13 Nicolas Flagello Orchestra da Camera di Roma c. 1977 ? ? Peters International
14 Roland Douatte Radio-Tele-Luxembourg Symphony Orchestra c. 1982 12:06 ? Valintatalo
15 Neeme Järvi Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra 1985 15:01 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
16 William Boughton English String Orchestra 1988 10:50 Great Hall, University of Birmingham Nimbus
17 Adrian Leaper Cappella Istropolitana 1989 12:53 Moyzes Hall, Bratislava Naxos
18 Juhani Lamminmäki Tapiola Sinfonietta 1989 11:01 Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre Finlandia
19 Heikki Rautasalo Vox Artis Chamber Orchestra 1990 10:35 Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre Vox Artis
20 Paavo Berglund Finnish Chamber Orchestra 1991 ? Tampere Hall FCO
21 Mario Bernardi CBC Vancouver Orchestra 1992 11:05 Orpheum CBC Records
22 Richard Rintoul Colburn Chamber Orchestra 1992 12:53 Bridges Hall of Music Ambassador
23 Csaba & Géza Szilvay The Helsinki Junior Strings 1992 10:40 ? Finlandia
24 Juha Kangas Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra 1993 10:54 Kaustinen Church Finlandia
25 Péter Csaba Virtuosi di Kuhmo 1994 11:01 Kuhmo Church Ondine
26 Sir Colin Davis London Symphony Orchestra 1994 14:40 Blackheath Concert Halls RCA Red Seal
27 Michael Bartosch Musica Vitae 2001 11:56 Hemmesjö Church Intim Musik
28 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra 2002 12:18 Sibelius Hall BIS
29 Vladimir Ashkenazy Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra 2006 10:28 Stockholm Concert Hall Exton
30 Thomas Kemp Chamber Domaine 2017 10:57 Sidney Sussex College Chapel; St Mary's Church, West Malling[k] Resonus Classics
31 Susanna Mälkki Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 2020 11:16 Helsinki Music Centre BIS
32 Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra 2021 11:55 Grieg Hall Chandos

Literature

  • Tomi Mäkelä: "Jean Sibelius und seine Zeit" (German), (tr. "Jean Sibelius and his time") Laaber-Verlag, Regensburg 2013

Notes

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ L. Heward–HMV (E 2904621) 1985
  3. ^ F. Litschauer–Vanguard (VRS–430) 1952
  4. ^ A. Winograd–MGM (E–3332) 1956
  5. ^ G. Rozhdestvensky–Yedang Classics (CT–10059) 2001
  6. ^ L. Jones—Unicorn-Kanchana (UKCD 2047) 1991
  7. ^ L. Berlin–Swedish Society Discofil (SCD 1047) 2001
  8. ^ J. Barbirolli–EMI Classics (7243 5 67299 2 6) 2000
  9. ^ A. Springer–Allegria (221025–205) 2003
  10. ^ L. Segerstam—BIS (CD–180) 1993
  11. ^ a b The liner notes to this release list both venues without further specification (i.e., track-by-track).
  12. ^ P. Pohjola–Espoo Records (ESP–001) 1977
  13. ^ N. Marriner–Argo (417 132–2) 1986
  14. ^ A. Gibson—Chandos (CHAN 8393) 1985
  15. ^ N. Flagello–Peters International (PLE 087) 1971
  16. ^ R. Douatte–Valintatalo (VLP 13) 1982
  17. ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–312) 1986
  18. ^ W. Boughton–Nimbus (NI7716/7) 2000
  19. ^ A. Leaper–Naxos (8.550330) 1990
  20. ^ J. Lamminmäki–Finlandia (4509–95859–2) 1991
  21. ^ H. Rautasalo–Vox Artis (VACD 001) 1990
  22. ^ P. Berglund–FCO (FCO 1001) 1991
  23. ^ M. Bernardi–CBC (SMCD 5157) 1996
  24. ^ R. Rintoul–Ambassador (ARC 1009) 1993
  25. ^ C/G. Szilvay–Finlandia (544692) 1994
  26. ^ J. Kangas–Finlandia (4509–98995–2) 1996
  27. ^ P. Csaba–Ondine (ODE 830–2) 1994
  28. ^ C. Davis–RCA Red Seal (82876–55706–2) 2003
  29. ^ M. Bartosch–Intim Musik (IMCD 076) 2001
  30. ^ O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1265) 2004
  31. ^ V. Ashkenazy—Exton (OVCL–00279) 2007
  32. ^ T. Kemp–Resonus Classics (RES10205) 2018
  33. ^ S. Mälkki—BIS (SACD–2638) 2023
  34. ^ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHSA 5217) 2021

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Other orchestral works / The Lover". Jean Sibelius. Finnish Club of Helsinki. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. ^ Rakastava (The Lover). Oxford Dictionary of Music. 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-920383-3. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. ^ Johnston, Blair. "Rakastava (The Lover), for male chorus (with or without string orchestra), JS 160". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  4. ^ Dettmer, Roger. "Jean Sibelius / Rakastava (The Lover), suite for string orchestra, triangle & timpani, Op. 14". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  5. ^ Sibelius, Jean (1913). Rakastava – Miniature Score Edition. Breitkopf & Haertel. ISMN 9790004206416.