1st Symphony (Sibelius)
The 1st Symphony in E minor , op. 39 by Jean Sibelius was written in 1899 and has a playing time of approx. 35–40 minutes. The work was premiered on April 26, 1899 by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the composer, albeit in the original version, which has not survived. After the premiere, Sibelius made some changes to the version in which the symphony is played today. This revised version was completed in the spring and summer of 1900 and was performed for the first time in Berlin on July 18, 1900, again by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, but now under the direction of Robert Kajanus . He also directed the first record recording made with the London Symphony Orchestra in 1930.
In Reclam's concert guide, the symphony is described as a "bitter work" , here a lonely person is in dialogue with the forces of nature, it is "filled with the expression of longing, lamentation, pain."
In 1991, Barry Millington wrote in the supplement to the complete recording of the symphonies with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle 1984–88: “The First Symphony strings together youth and maturity, sensitivity and passion, light and shadow; these contrasts are highlighted in the final with refreshing, stimulating starkness. "
Instrumentation: two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , a bass tuba , timpani , harp , percussion , strings
- 1st movement - Andante ma non troppo / Allegro energico: begins very softly with an elegiac clarinet solo on a muffled, rumbling soundscape of the timpani. This expressive solo introduces the actual main theme, which sounds under a string tremolo. A secondary theme sounds in the oboe - the whole movement is composed in the sonata main movement form .
- 2nd movement - Andante (ma non troppo lento): a core theme that is first heard in the violins is played around anew in five stanzas
- 3rd movement - Scherzo: Allegro: very rhythmic, in the middle a slow (“Lento”) trio.
- 4th movement - Andante / Allegro molto: is entitled Quasi una fantasia and begins with the clarinet motif of the 1st movement. By connecting elements from all movements, Sibelius creates a unified final movement, which, through repeated organ points, increases to "a jagged mood of gloomy grandeur" .
literature
- Reclam's concert guide. Orchestral music. By Hans Renner and Klaus Schweizer [1959]. 12th edition, Stuttgart 1982, p. 498