This well–filled disc
is a continuation of the Sibelius Edition
currently underway with BIS. The latest
issues feature the Lahti Symphony Orchestra,
recorded in the glorious acoustic of
the Sibelius Hall, Lahti. This series
started under the direction of Neeme
Järvi in Gothenburg, and switched
some time ago to the present artists.
The current disc is apparently No. 57
in the series, but only the more recent
issues have had a volume number. We
are obviously getting to the less popular
items in Sibelius’s oeuvre, but none
the worse for that, as there is bound
to be much less competition in this
repertoire. Indeed, there are three
world premiere recordings in this selection.
Vänskä’s
skill in Sibelius is well known, and
the current BIS offering is well up
to the usual standard. The disc contains
primarily choral items in fact all bar
one are choral and the choir here is
the Dominante. This choir is made up
of young singers from the Helsinki University
of Technology. The choral tradition
in Finland, based upon the evidence
of this disc, is extremely healthy,
presumably because of the extensive
and well established use of the Kodály
method.
The works performed
here come from the whole of the composer’s
active life, from early, non-catalogued
items, such as the Promotional Cantata,
written in 1894 to the last item on
the disc, written after Tapiola,
right at the end of his career. They
are all basically tonal, and relatively
simple thematically speaking, although
I am sure that to sing some of these
will be quite difficult to master. Dominante
does this magnificently with sure intonation
and security of tone.
The earliest item on
the disc is the Promotional Cantata,
or more accurately the Cantata for
the University Graduation Ceremonies
of 1894. Sibelius felt obliged to
write his Cantata as his teacher at
the University obtained a temporary
teaching position for the young composer
and the production of such a cantata
was an expected duty. The work was written
in great haste, with the added complication
that Sibelius was not happy dealing
with the librettist Kasimir Leino. Since
the graduation ceremony the work has
been only rarely performed. The sprawling
middle movement is where the two soloists
are deployed, and I feel that they are
the only performers on this disc which
cause me a problem. The soprano is acceptable,
but the baritone is decidedly raw in
tone, and I found this a let-down.
The two Chorales are
short, very pleasant pieces written
right at the start of Sibelius’s career
when he was in Berlin under tuition
of Albert Becker. They were written
not as religious works, but apparently
as an academic exercise, along with
numerous other short choral pieces.
The Captive Queen
was composed during the political
upheavals in Finland at the end of the
Russification of the state. The story
involves a young Queen who is held captive,
and freed by the local hero. Written
about the same time as Finlandia,
the nationalistic fervour of the piece
would not have been ignored by the contemporary
audience. Orchestration similar to the
beginning of En Saga and themes
not unlike those in the Second Symphony
proclaim the composer’s identity.
The later Scout
March was written for a Helsinki
scout group who provided Sibelius with
the text. He set this to music the same
day, by modifying a short work he had
composed earlier for brass septet. The
choral/orchestral version was probably
written at about the same time.
Jordens Sang was
written for the city of Turku, formerly
the capital of the grand Duchy of Finland.
After the Russian Revolution, and the
declaration of Finnish Independence,
it was decided to establish a new Swedish-language
university in Turku. Sibelius was asked
to compose a Cantata for the University,
but Sibelius was wary, after having
been told of the difficulties to be
expected there. Neither the text, nor
the occasion filled him with excitement
– ‘I only did it because I was being
paid’. It was later performed in Helsinki
with the first performance of the definitive
version of the Fifth Symphony, but has
since fallen into obscurity.
The next work, Maan
Virsi, had similar birth problems
as Jordens Sang. He was asked
to write it by Heikki Klemetti who had
founded the Suomen Laulu Choir in 1900,
and who had championed the composer’s
music throughout Finland in the early
years of the century. One would have
thought that the composer would have
been keen to support his colleague but
Sibelius’s well known habit of sloth
came to the fore. After much prevarication,
Sibelius finally produced his Op. 95.
It was not well received by Klemetti,
who considered it merely a reworking
of the material in Jordens Sang.
This was reinforced by the fact that
the title was Jordens Sang but
rendered in Finnish.
The last piece on the
disc is a very late work, written for
the Masonic Lodge, established in Finland
in 1756. Subsequently closed down by
the Russians in 1809, a new lodge was
set up in 1922, and Sibelius became
a member. He was asked to write a series
of songs for tenor and harmonium. Later,
these original pieces were modified
and converted. The Processional
was originally written for the graduation
ceremonies at Uppsala University in
1877. The Masonic Ritual Music,
Op. 113 was written in 1927, and then
modified in 1940, when various other
pieces were added, and the texts altered
to allow non-Masonic use. The work was
first performed in Ann Arbor in 1939.
This BIS CD may be
recommended to all completists who are
in the process of collecting the whole
of the Sibelius Series, as well as the
general music-lover who has a curiosity
about the choral works of Sibelius.
I cannot imagine that we will get many
other versions of these works, and if
we do, they are unlikely to be performed
and recorded better.
John Phillips
Dominante Choir 
