The Berlin-based publisher Robert Heinrich Lienau concluded a publishing contract agreement with Jean Sibelius in 1905. The first work included in the agreement was the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47. After being criticized at its first performance on 8th February 1904, the concerto was withdrawn for revision. Out of respect for the composer’s intentions, the early version from 1904 could previously only be made public on rare occasions.
In keeping with the work carried out on the Jean Sibelius Complete Works Edition, and in order to meet the great interest of professionals in the 1904 version, the composer’s heirs and publisher have now decided to release it. This is a significant step not only for academia but also for performers and the public.
The early version of the violin concerto is generally regarded as more dramatic, virtuosic and Beethovenian than the revised version, as well as being harsher and more jagged. It exerts a peculiar charm and, together with the revised version of 1905, provides a unique insight into the workings of the composer.
Performance materials for the original 1904 version are available from: Robert Lienau Musikverlag,
Am Dornbusch 24–26,
D-64390 Erzhausen, Germany.
Tel.: +49 (0) 6150 – 86775 – 0
website: musikverlag-lienau.de
e-mail: hire@musikverlag-lienau.de
Two concerts featuring the Finnish soprano Mia Huhta will take place in London to mark the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth, at Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington.
First there will be an all-Sibelius concert on 6th December 2015 (Finnish Independence Day) at 6.30 pm. This will feature I Maestri Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Esteban & George Hlawiczka, and Mia Huhta will be the soloist in Luonnotar.
A second concert will take place in the same venue on 10th December at 7 pm. This will be a chamber concert at which Mia Huhta will be joined by Beatrice Philips (violin), Kati Raitinen (cello) and Bengt Forsberg (piano). Works to be performed include the Theme and Variations for solo cello (JS 195), Malinconia and Sibelius’s own piano arrangement of Finlandia.
Mia Huhta remarks: ‘For a long time my dream has been to give a recital in London that combines the musical legacy of Jean Sibelius and great chamber musicians. For Finland Sibelius was in his lifetime – and still is – a national treasure. We have chosen a wonderful collection of works by Sibelius. Songs represent a far more important side of his creative activity than is generally appreciated. The violin was his own instrument and his brother
Christian played the cello, which is a natural reason for very intimate and also experimental expression.’
Mia Huhta began her studies in classical singing in the Conservatory of Ostrobothnia in Kokkola, Finland, continuing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She has participated in numerous song competitions both in Finland and abroad; she has won the Vox Unica, Kangasniemi and Pentti Koskimies competitions and gained a special prize in the Lappeenranta song contest in 1996 and 1999. Both at the Wigmore Hall competition in London and at the Queen Sonja competition in Norway she reached the semi-finals. She works regularly with major Finnish orchestras and conductors and is often heard in opera. She has given many premières of Finnish vocal works, including Mikko Heiniö’s church opera Riddaren och Draken (The Knight and the Dragon), P.H. Nordgren’s Te Deum, Paavo Heininen’s Suomalainen laulukirja (Finnish songbook), Lotta Wennäkoski’s Ilta hurmaunut and Eero Hämeenniemi’s Laulun synty. She has also recorded extensively.
I Maestri is a unique organisation that helps talented young conductors hone their skills through a programme of workshops, masterclasses and public concerts. Created in London in 2001 by music director George Hlawiczka and with the help of their patrons, Sir Neville Marriner and Jorma Panula, I Maestri enables conductors to work with professional musicians drawn from the ranks of the London orchestras, chamber ensembles and music colleges. Its inspiration was the Helsinki conducting academy under Jorma Panula and the Pierre Monteux Academy, where generations of conductors were nurtured because of having ‘an instrument’ to work with on a regular basis. The orchestra is also open to excellent amateur musicians who have the opportunity to play next to expert colleagues.
Bengt Forsberg is one of Sweden’s leading musicians, with a busy career encompassing solo piano performance, chamber music, conducting and piano accompaniment. He has maintained a long-standing musical partnership with the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, resulting in many recordings including songs by Sibelius for the BIS complete Sibelius project.
Kati Raitinen has been solo cellist of the Royal Swedish Opera since 1995. She is an active chamber musician and with her string trio she has recently won the interpretation prize from the Swedish Royal Music Academy, given by the King of Sweden.
Beatrice Philips enjoys a busy freelance life as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, leader and teacher. She is founder and artistic director of the Lewes Chamber Music Festival. She has played at numerous festivals, has broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and plays regularly with many leading ensembles in London.
Programme, 6th December: Karelia Suite, Op. 11 Luonnotar, Op. 70 The Swan of Tuonela and Lemminkäinen’s Return from ‘Lemminkäinen’, Op. 22 Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 Finlandia, Op. 26
Venue: Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2BA
Orchestral concert: 6th December 2015, 6.30 pm
Chamber concert: 10th December 2015, 7 pm
Sibelius’s rarely heard but exceptionally appealing Humoresques for violin and orchestra, Op. 87 and Op. 89, will be played at a London concert by Fenella Humphreys and Sinfonia Tamesa (leader: James Maggs) conducted by Tom Hammond on 14 November.
These pieces capture, as Sibelius’s biographer Erik Tawaststjerna observed, ‘the lyrical, dancing soul of the violin’. Sibelius himslf said of the Humoresques that they show ‘the anguish of existence… fitfully lit up by the sun’.
Also on the programme is Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.
Sinfonia Tamesa is a London-based symphony orchestra founded in 2001. Directed and conducted by Tom Hammond, it is known for programming adventurous, challenging new repertoire alongside better-known orchestral works to produce interesting, accessible concerts.
Date: Saturday 14 November 2015 Time: 7.30 pm Venue: St Sepulchre without Newgate (Musicians’ Church),
Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DQ Tickets: £10/£8
‘I regard myself as having genuine friends in Gothenburg. To have them perform my new works will always be a pleasure and an honour for me.’ — Jean Sibelius
To mark Sibelius’s 150th birthday the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra will perform a complete cycle of his symphonies under it principal guest conductor, Kent Nagano, in the Gothenburg Concert Hall, Sweden. This will be the orchestra’s first such cycle in its home city. It has previously performed cycles in 1996 in Birmingham and London.
Sibelius has long held a special place in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s programmes, and the composer was a close friend of the orchestra’s then chief conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar. The orchestra has performed the Second Symphony more than 150 times.
The concert series will begin on 29th November 2015 (6 pm) with a chamber concert by musicians from the orchestra, narrated by the actress Nina Zanjani. The programme will include music for violin and piano, string trio and quartet. The symphonies will be spread over three concerts on 2nd–4th December (each at 7.30 pm): Nos 3, 6 and 7 on 2nd December, Nos 1 and 5 on 3rd December and Nos 4 and 2 on 4th December.
Until 4th December there will also be a Sibelius exhibition in the Gothenburg Concert Hall.
The orchestra has also published a video of Sibelius’s Valse triste arranged for six double basses and performed by Charles DeRamus:
A new novel about Sibelius, My Music, My Drinking & Me – The Memoirs of Jean Sibelius by
Caroline J Sinclair, has been published as the second title in the ‘Famous Composers
Series’ from MAK Books.
Based on true events and told from Sibelius’s own point of view, My Music, My Drinking & Me – The Memoirs of Jean Sibelius depicts a turbulent and violent period in European history, when Finland is struggling to gain and maintain its independence. Sibelius is expected by many to be a spokesman for his country. However, he is uncomfortable with
the position thrust upon him; he has no desire to make political statements through his music, wanting only to depict the elemental forces of Finnish nature. On a more personal level, he is battling with alcoholism; he believes that he needs alcohol to be able to write music, but does his drinking foster or hinder his creativity? Furthermore, if he does not give up drinking, it will cost him his marriage. Which is the stronger – his need to drink or his desire to save his marriage before it is too late?
My Music, My Drinking & Me is as much about a marriage as about music. In it, Caroline J Sinclair has drawn a vivid picture of Sibelius’s family life, and of the country that inspired him to compose.
Caroline J Sinclair , a graduate in modern languages, is an Oxford-based author who has a keen interest in classical music. She has done extensive research into Sibelius’s life and music, including sourcing information from his letters and diaries, enabling her to keep the story historically authentic and factually correct. Furthermore, having once lived in Finland, she is familiar with the Finnish language, culture and customs. Her first novel
was on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, and she is currently working on the third book in this series of famous composers’ memoirs.
On the occasion of Jean Sibelius’s 150th birthday a new five-disc DVD edition from Arthaus Musik offers live recordings of the composer’s seven symphonies by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Hannu Lintu. The recordings were made in the Helsinki Music Centre. Each symphony is preceded by a documentary and an introduction, giving a new and modern perspective to the composer and his symphonies.
As a special feature the set includes eight ‘fictional short documentaries’ with both acted drama and animation tricks, giving a different perspective on Jean Sibelius. The focus is not on the music, but on the person. The commentator is the composer Kaija Saariaho. Other interviewees are experts from various fields of life; a doctor, a couples therapist, a wine connoisseur and a wilderness guide to name a few.
There are also introductions to each symphony. These documentary sections, hosted and narrated by Hannu Lintu, can also been seen in an hour-long separate programme. Also included is a detailed book about Sibelius’s life and work.≈
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHcI8iJhP7g
Catalogue number: Arthaus Musik 101796.
The set is also available on Blu-ray: 101797.
Orders can be placed at Arthaus Musik’s website: click here.
The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition is one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world, and will be held for the eleventh time in Helsinki from 22 November to 3 December 2015. The first and second rounds will take place at the Helsinki Conservatory of Music and the final round at the Helsinki Music Centre
The Sibelius Society of Finland launched the competition in 1965 in connection with the 100th anniversary of Sibelius’ birth. The first chair of the committee was Aino Sibelius. Since 1965 the competition has been held every five years, and is open to violinists from all over the world under the age of 30. The finalists play the Sibelius Violin Concerto and one other violin concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra or the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
The members of the Jury have always been internationally well-established violinists and violin teachers, whereas the Chairmen have been Finns – so far Tauno Hannikainen, Joonas Kokkonen, Tuomas Haapanen, Aulis Sallinen, Mikko Heiniö and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The competition is nowadays organized jointly by the Sibelius Society of Finland and the Sibelius Academy. Since 1969 it has been a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
The jury will consist of:
Veli-Matti Puumala (Chairman)
Pierre Amoyal
Serguei Azizian
Sigrún Edvaldsdóttir
Pekka Kauppinen
Sung-Ju Lee
Cho-Liang Lin
Gerhard Schulz
Krzysztof Wegrzyn
This year there will be 45 competitiors from 13 countries. The list of competitors in alphabetical order:
Naoka Aoki (f), United Kingdom
Wonhee Bae (f), Germany
Hannah Soojin Cho (f), United States of America
Sarah Christian (f), Germany
Sara Etelävuori (f), Finland
Marina Grauman (f), Germany
Anna Göckel (f), France
Yoo Na Ha (f), France
Esther Hwang (f), Canada
Mayumi Kanagawa (f), Germany
Bomsori Kim (f), United States of America
Jeein Kim (f), South Korea
Da Kyung Kwak (f), United States of America
Stepan Lavrov (m), Poland
Christel Lee (f), Germany
Kerson Leong (m), Canada
Zeyu Victor Li (m), United States of America
Richard Lin (m), Taiwan
Tikhon Lukiyanenko (m), Russia
Kyung Ji Min (f), United States of America
Rustem Monasypov (m), Switzerland
Yasuka Morizono (f), Germany
Katerina Nazarova (f), United Kingdom
Seiji Okamoto (m), Japan
Taejun Park (m), Japan
Pekko Pulakka (m), Finland
Fedor Rudin (m), Germany
Anna Savkina (f), Russia
Lev Solodovnikov (m), Russia
Friederike Starkloff (f), Germany
Elly Suh (f), United States of America
Ryosuke Suho (m), Japan
Mai Suzuki (f), Austria
Elena Tarosyan (f), Russia
Stephen Tavani (m), United States of America
Diana Tishchenko (f), Germany
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian (m), Austria
Kasmir Uusitupa (m), Finland
Juho Valtonen (m), Finland
Xiao Wang (m), United States of America
Jungyoon Yang (f), Austria
Minami Yoshida (f), Japan
Laura Zarina (f), Germany
Eva Zavaro (f), France
Nancy Zhou (f), United States of America
Would you like to join in a birthday greeting video to Sibelius? International Co-ordinator of Sibelius One, Leon Chia, has embarked on a project to create one. The idea is to collect video snippets of Sibelius fans saying ‘Happy Birthday, Sibelius!’, which will then be compiled into a collage.
To take part, send your video clip to happybirthdaysibelius@gmail.com with the subject title: Happy Birthday Sibelius Video Project.
A special double concert at Brighton Unitarian Church. First comes a lunchtime piano recital by the Finnish pianist Folke Gräsbeck. In the second concert we hear the Sibelius One Chamber Ensemble, and also Folke Gräsbeck both as a solo performer and in duo. This concert will include three UK premières.
‘One must live every note’, a major Sibelius exhibition at the National Museum of Finland (Mannerheimintie 34, Helsinki) is running from 16th October 2016 until 13th March 2016.
The theme of the exhibition is the life of Jean Sibelius seen through his music and compositions. It features almost 130 artefacts and coincides with the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth. Among the items on display are original music manuscripts, sheet music and concert programmes from the National Library as well as letters and bills of exchange from the National Archives. Also on display are suits and dresses that belonged to Jean and Aino Sibelius from the National Museum and artefacts from Ainola.
The exhibition is a joint effort between the National Museum, National Library, National Archives and Ainola. The Finnish Literature Society has issued a trilingual exhibition publication One must live every note, which is available in the museum shop. Public events are also linked to the exhibition.
The exhibition publication One must live every note is written by Fabian Dahlström, Veijo Murtomäki, Leif Segerstam, Marja Pohjola and Taina Tammenmaa from the National Archives, Jouni Kuurne from the National Museum, Hilkka Helminen from Ainola, and editors of the Jean Sibelius Works critical edition: Kari Kilpeläinen, Anna Pulkkis, Tuija Wicklund, Timo Virtanen and Sakari Ylivuori. The book is published by SKS and is also available direct from the publisher (click here).
