Two Serious Melodies

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Two Serious Melodies - Wikipedia

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Two Serious Melodies
Concertante pieces by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1915)
Opus	77
Composed	1914 (1914)–1915
Publisher	Hansen (1922–1923)^[1]
Duration	8 mins^[2]
Premiere
Date	30 March 1916 (1916-03-30)^[1]
Location	Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Conductor	Jean Sibelius
Performers	Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Ossian Fohström [fi] (cello)

The Two Serious Melodies, Op. 77, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1914 to 1915 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They are:

Cantique, Op. 77/1 (1914); subtitled "Laetare anima mea" ("Rejoice my soul"). Moderato assai
Devotion, Op. 77/2 (1915); subtitled "Ab imo pectore" ("From my very heart"). Tempo molto moderato

Sibelius originally called No. 1 Lofsången (Song of Praise). In 1915, he made transcriptions of each piece for violin and piano. In 1916, he arranged both pieces for cello and orchestra and transcribed them, too, for cello and piano.^[3]^[4]

Each piece is dedicated to the Finnish cellist Ossian Fohström [fi].

Instrumentation

Cantique is scored for the following instruments:^[5]

Soloist: violin (or cello)
Woodwinds: 2 flutes and 2 clarinets (in B♭)
Brass: 2 horns (in F)
Percussion: timpani (2 players)
Strings: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and harp

Devotion is scored for the following instruments:^[6]

Soloist: violin (or cello)
Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets (in A), and 2 bassoons
Brass: 4 horns (in F) and 3 trombones
Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the complete Two Serious Melodies:

No.	Conductor	Orchestra	Soloist	Rec.^[a]	Time	Recording venue	Label	Ref.
1	Vladimir Ashkenazy	Philharmonia Orchestra	Boris Belkin (violin)	1979	7:23	Kingsway Hall	Decca	^[b]
2	Vernon Handley	Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra	Ralph Holmes (violin)	1980	9:31	Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin	Schwann, Koch	^[c]
3	Lawrence Foster	Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra	David Geringas (violin)	1980	8:24	Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin	Parnass	^[d]
4	Neeme Järvi	Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra	Dong-Suk Kang (violin)	1989	8:28	Gothenburg Concert Hall	BIS	^[e]
5	Jukka-Pekka Saraste	Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra	Arto Noras (cello)				Finlandia	^[f]
6	Luca Pfaff [fr]	Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra	Marie Scheublé				Arion Music	^[g]
7	Thomas Dausgaard	Danish National Symphony Orchestra	Christian Tetzlaff (violin)	2002		Danish Radio Concert Hall (old)	Virgin Classics	^[h]
8	Osmo Vänskä	Lahti Symphony Orchestra	Marko Ylönen [fi] (cello)	2004		Sibelius Hall	BIS	^[i]
9	Leif Segerstam	Turku Philharmonic Orchestra	Mikaela Palmu (violin)	2014	10:17	Turku Concert Hall	Naxos	^[j]
10	Alejandro Garrido Porras	Orquestra Vigo 430	Nicolas Dautricourt (violin)	2014	9:15	Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music	La Dolce Volta [fr]	^[k]
11	Sir Edward Gardner	Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra	James Ehnes (violin)	2023		Grieg Hall	Chandos	^[l]

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.
^ V. Ashkenazy–Decca (473 590–2) 2003
^ V. Handley–Koch-Schwann (CD 311 003 F1) 1988
^ L. Foster–Parnass (91 987 8) 1982
^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–472) 1990
^ J. Saraste–Finlandia (4509–95872–2) 1992
^ L. Pfaff–Arion Music (ARN 68330) 1996
^ T. Dausgaard–Virgin Classics (7243 5 45534 2 4) 2002
^ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1485) 2006
^ L. Segerstam–Naxos (8.573340) 2015
^ A. Garrido Porras–La Dolce Volta (LDV 23) 2015
^ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHAN 5267) 2024

References

^ ^a ^b Dahlström 2003, pp. 338, 340.
^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 338–339.
^ Barnett 2007, pp. 248, 251, 260.
^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 338–340.
^ Dahlström 2003, p. 338.
^ Dahlström 2003, p. 339.

Sources

Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
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.

v t e Jean Sibelius
List of compositions Discography of symphony cycles
Symphonies	Kullervo (1892) Symphony No. 1 (1899, rev. 1900) Symphony No. 2 (1902) Symphony No. 3 (1907) Symphony No. 4 (1911) Symphony No. 5 (1915, rev. 1916, 1919) Symphony No. 6 (1923) Symphony No. 7 (1924) Symphony No. 8 (mid 1920s–c. 1938, abandoned)
Concertante	Violin Concerto (1904, rev. 1905) Two Serenades (1912–1913) Two Serious Melodies (1914–1915) Six Humoresques (1917–1918, No. 1 rev. 1940) Suite for Violin and String Orchestra (1929)
Tone poems	En saga (1892, rev. 1902) Spring Song (1894, rev. 1895) The Wood Nymph (1895) Lemminkäinen Suite 1895, rev. 1897, 1900, 1939; includes The Swan of Tuonela Finlandia (1899) Pohjola's Daughter (1906) Nightride and Sunrise (1909) The Dryad (1910) The Bard (1913) Luonnotar (1913) The Oceanides (1914, rev. 1914) Tapiola (1926)
Opera & theatre	The Building of the Boat (1893–1894, abandoned) The Maiden in the Tower (1896) King Christian II (1898) Kuolema 1903; includes Valse triste Pelléas et Mélisande (1905) Belshazzar's Feast (1906) Swanwhite (1908) The Lizard (1909) The Language of the Birds (1911) Scaramouche (1913) Everyman (1916) The Tempest (1925)
Cantatas	Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1894 Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas II (1896) Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897 The Origin of Fire (1902, rev. 1910) The Captive Queen (1906) My Own Land (1918) Song of the Earth (1919) Hymn of the Earth (1920) Väinämöinen's Song (1926)
Other voice(s) & orchestra	The Rapids-Rider's Brides (1897) The Breaking of the Ice on the Oulu River (1899) Snöfrid (1900) Marjatta (1905, abandoned) Impromptu (1902, rev. 1910) The Raven (1910, abandoned)
Other orchestral	Overture in E major (1891) Ballet Scene (1891) Karelia Suite (1893) Rakastava (1894, arr. 1912) Scènes historiques I (1899, arr. 1911) Overture in A minor (1902) Romance in C major (1904) Cassazione (1904, rev. 1905) Pan and Echo (1906) In memoriam (1909, rev. 1910) Scènes historiques II (1912) Suite mignonne (1921) Suite champêtre (1922) Suite caractéristique (1922)
String quartets	String Quartet in E-flat major (1885) String Quartet in A minor (1889) String Quartet in B-flat major (1890) String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae (1909) Andante festivo (1922, orch. 1938)
Piano trios	Piano Trio in A minor, Hafträsk (1886) Piano Trio in D major, Korpo (1887) Piano Trio in C major, Lovisa (1888)
Other chamber	Water Droplets (c. 1875–1881) Pieces for brass septet (1889–1899) Piano Quintet (1890) Malinconia (1900) Violin Sonatina (1915)
Piano	Six Impromptus (1893) Piano Sonata (1893) Ten Pieces, Op. 24 (1895–1903) Kyllikki (1904) Three Sonatinas (1912) The Bells of Kallio Church (1912, arr. 1912) Two Rondinos (1912) Five Pieces, The Trees, Op. 75 (1914) Five Pieces, The Flowers, Op. 85 (1916–1917) Five Esquisses (1929)
Songs	Seven Runeberg Songs, Op. 13 (1891–1892) "Serenad", JS 168 (1894–1895) Six Songs, Op. 36 (1899–1900) Five Songs, Op. 37 (1900–1902) Seven Songs, Op. 17 (1891–1904) Five Songs, Op. 38 (1903–1904; includes "Höstkväll") Six Songs, Op. 50 (1906) Two Songs, Op. 35 (1908) "Kom nu hit, död", Op. 60/1 (1909, orch. 1957) "Arioso", Op. 3 (1911) Five Christmas Songs, Op. 1 (1897–1913; includes "Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt") Six Runeberg Songs, Op. 90 (1917)
Choral works	Hymn, Op. 21 (1896, rev. 1898) Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotional Cantata (arr. 1898) Finlandia Hymn (1899, arr. 1938–1940) Six Partsongs, Op. 18 (1893–1901) Jäger March (1917)
Family	Ainola (home) Aino Sibelius (wife) Ruth Snellman [fi] (daughter) Heidi Blomstedt (daughter) Christian Sibelius (brother) Aulis Blomstedt (son-in-law) Jussi Jalas (son-in-law) Jussi Snellman [fi] (son-in-law) Alexander Järnefelt (father-in-law) Elisabeth Järnefelt (mother-in-law) Armas Järnefelt (brother-in-law) Arvid Järnefelt (brother-in-law) Eero Järnefelt (brother-in-law) Kasper Järnefelt [fi] (brother-in-law)
Teachers	Helsinki Music Institute: Martin Wegelius (theory, composition) Mitrofan Vasiliev (violin) Hermann Csillag [de] (violin) Post-graduate studies: Albert Becker Robert Fuchs Karl Goldmark
Pupils	Toivo Kuula Leevi Madetoja Bengt de Törne [fi]
Colleagues & friends	Juhani Aho Aino Ackté Granville Bantock Ferruccio Busoni Axel Carpelan [fi] (patron) Olin Downes Ida Ekman Richard Faltin [fi] Ida Flodin [fi] Karl Flodin [fi] Akseli Gallen-Kallela Heikki Klemetti [fi] Santeri Levas (secretary) Erkki Melartin Oskar Merikanto Rosa Newmarch Abraham Ojanperä Selim Palmgren Adolf Paul Wilhelm Stenhammar Karl Wasenius [fi]
Select interpreters	Sir Thomas Beecham Paavo Berglund Sir Colin Davis Neeme Järvi Paavo Järvi Robert Kajanus Herbert von Karajan Serge Koussevitzky Hannu Lintu Sakari Oramo Eugene Ormandy Sir Simon Rattle Jukka-Pekka Saraste Georg Schnéevoigt Leif Segerstam Leopold Stokowski Osmo Vänskä
Select biographers	Fabian Dahlström [fi] Karl Ekman [fi] Erik Furuhjelm [fi] Glenda Dawn Goss Cecil Gray Robert Layton Nils-Eric Ringbom [fi] Erik W. Tawaststjerna
Namesakes	International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition Jean Sibelius Quartet Sibelius (2003 film) Sibelius (scorewriter) Sibelius Academy Sibelius Academy Quartet Sibelius Glacier Sibelius Hall Sibelius Medal Sibelius Monument Sibelius Museum Sibelius Piano Trio Sibelius Society of Finland 1405 Sibelius (asteroid) Wihuri Sibelius Prize
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