Tapiola (Sibelius)
| Tapiola | |
|---|---|
| Tone poem by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1927) | |
| Opus | 112 |
| Based on | Kalevala |
| Composed | 1926 |
| Publisher | Breitkopf & Härtel (1926)[1] |
| Duration | 18 mins.[2] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 26 December 1926[2] |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Conductor | Walter Damrosch |
| Performers | New York Symphony Society |
Tapiola (literal English translation: "The Realm of Tapio"), Op. 112, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, written in 1926 on a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Symphony Society. Tapiola portrays Tapio, the animating forest spirit mentioned throughout the Kalevala. It was premiered by Damrosch on 26 December 1926.
History
When asked by the publisher to clarify the work's program, Sibelius responded with a prose explanation converted by his publisher (Breitkopf & Härtel) into a quatrain prefixed to English language editions of the score:
Wide-spread they stand, the Northland's dusky forests,
Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams;
Within them dwells the Forest's mighty God,
And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets.
Tapiola was premiered by Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphonic Society on 26 December 1926.[3][4] The program opened with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which was followed after the interval by Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, played by the composer. Tapiola closed the concert.
The first performance in Finland on 25 April 1927 was conducted by Robert Kajanus, when the overture to The Tempest and the Seventh Symphony were also introduced to Finland. The composer Leevi Madetoja noted, "At times we hear the melancholy, repeated call of an elf, at times a lonely wanderer in the woods is giving vent to the pain of life. A beautiful work, technically close to the seventh symphony."[4]
The original publisher was Breitkopf & Härtel, who published most of the composer's works. Tapiola was Sibelius's last major work, though he lived for another thirty years. He began working on an Eighth Symphony, but he is said to have burned the sketches after becoming unhappy with the work.
Instrumentation
Tapiola is scored for the following instruments,[2] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
- 3 flutes (the third doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 1 cor anglais, 2 clarinets (in A), 1 bass clarinet (in B♭), 2 bassoons, and 1 contrabassoon
- 4 horns (in E♭), 3 trumpets (in B♭), and 3 trombones
- Timpani
- Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses
Music
A typical performance of Tapiola lasts between fifteen and twenty minutes.
The opening gesture from which the whole piece develops is:
Karl Ekman wrote in the Hufvudstadsbladet: "Indeed, Tapiola is a monothematic whole – although there has been disagreement as to whether the core motif can actually be considered a theme. Erkki Salmenhaara argues that it is not. In his view, the 'core' motif gives rise to at least four central, interconnected basic motifs. These, in their turn, produce 'around thirty highly characteristic, original and inimitably Sibelian musical motifs'."[4]
Discography
The Finnish conductor Robert Kajanus and the London Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of Tapiola in June 1932,[2] which appeared on Volume 1 of HMV's The Sibelius Society series (C 507, 1933). Since Kanajus's pioneering example, three conductors—in terms of superlatives—have made four recordings each: Sir Thomas Beecham (1946, 1954, 1955, and 1955); Herbert von Karajan (1953, 1964, 1976, and 1984); and Paavo Berglund (1968, 1972, 1982, and 1987). The table below lists these and other commercially available recordings:
Notes, references, and sources
Notes
- ^ 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.
- ^ R. Kajanus–Naxos Historical (8.111393) 2012
- ^ S. Koussevitzky–Naxos Historical (8.110168) 2004
- ^ T. Beecham–Biddulph (WHL 055) 1998
- ^ E. van Beinum–Decca (485 1387) 2023
- ^ H. Karajan–EMI Classics (7 2435 66602 2 9) 1998
- ^ T. Beecham–Ondine (ODE 809-2) 1993
- ^ T. Beecham–BBC Music (BBCL 4041-2) 2000
- ^ [ T. Beecham–EMI DRM(CDM 7 63400 2) 1990]
- ^ E. Ormandy–Sony Classical 2021
- ^ A. Boult–SOMM (SOMMCD 093) 2009
- ^ H. Rosbaud–DG (447 453–2) 1996
- ^ T. Hannikainen–Everest (SDBR–3045) 2014
- ^ E. Ansermet–Decca (485 1583) 2023
- ^ H. Karajan–DG (457 748-2) 1999
- ^ C. Garaguly–Berlin Classics (0030962BC) 1995
- ^ L. Maazel–Decca (289 466 995–2) 2000
- ^ P. Berglund–Finlandia (4509–95843–2) 19??
- ^ P. Berglund–EMI Classics (50999 9 73600 2 5) 2013
- ^ E. Ormandy–Sony Classical (88875108582) 2015
- ^ C. Davis–Decca (478 3696) 2012
- ^ H. Karajan–EMI Classics (CDM 7 64331 2) 1992
- ^ A. Gibson–Chandos (CHAN 8395/6) 1985
- ^ V. Ashkenazy–Decca (411 935–2) 1984
- ^ P. Berglund–EMI Digital (CDC 7 47484 2) 1983
- ^ H. Karajan–DG (413 755–2) 1984
- ^ P. Bartholomée–Ricercar (RIC 030) 19??
- ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–312) 1986
- ^ A. Watanabe–Japan PO (JPFO0001) 2012
- ^ P. Berglund–Warner Classics (0190295869151) 2017
- ^ J. Saraste–RCA (19439704812) 2020
- ^ H. Blomstedt–Decca (475 7677) 2006
- ^ V. Sinaisky–Brilliant Classics (BC9212) 2010
- ^ L. Segerstam–Chandos (CHAN 9083) 1992
- ^ C. Davis–RCA Red Seal (82876–55706–2) 2003
- ^ E. Batiz–IMP Classics (IMP1114) 1994
- ^ L. Segerstam–Ondine (ODE 852–2) 1996
- ^ N. Järvi–DG (477 6654) 2007
- ^ A. Davis–Finlandia (0630–15242–2) 1997
- ^ O. Vänskä BIS (CD–864) 1997
- ^ P. Sakari–Naxos (8.555299) 2002
- ^ S. Oramo–Erato (2564 60294-2) 2003
- ^ V. Ashkenazy–Exton (OVCL–00292) 2007
- ^ O. Kamu–BIS (SACD–1945) 2011
- ^ R. Spano–ASO Media (CD–004) 2013
- ^ S. Oramo–BBC Music Mag (BBCMM441) 2019
- ^ H. Lintu–Ondine (ODE 1289-5)2017
- ^ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHSA 5217) 2021
- ^ K. Mäkelä–Decca (4852256) 2022
- ^ R. Bancroft–BBC Music Magazine (BBC MM478) 2022
References
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 472.
- ^ a b c d Dahlström 2003, p. 471.
- ^ "List of Sibelius' Works of the 1920s". Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
- ^ a b c "Other orchestral works / The Dryad". Tapiola. Finnish Club of Helsinki. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
Sources
- 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.
Further reading
- Grimley, Daniel M. (Summer 2011). "Music, Landscape, Attunement: Listening to Sibelius's Tapiola," Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 394–398.
- Mellers, Wilfrid (2001). "Tapiola's Search for Oneness and Cunning Little Vixen as a Parable of Redemption." In Singing in the Wilderness: Music and Ecology in the Twentieth Century (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press), pp. 37–52.
- Vernon, David (2024). Sun Forest Lake: The Symphonies & Tone Poems of Jean Sibelius. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press. ISBN 978-1739659943.
External links
- Tapiola, Op. 112: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Inkpot review of Tapiola
- "December 26, 1926: The Premiere of Tapiola". Keeping Score: 13 Days When Music Changed Forever. WQXR. 9 August 2011. (audio no longer available)
- Audio on YouTube, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan
