Jean Sibelius

Symphony No. 5

Two Serenades

Two Serious Melodies

Swanwhite

Sleeve notes in English and Finnish

Conductor Nicholas Collon’s second Sibelius album together with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra focuses on works written by Sibelius during or just before World War I, and culminating in the 5^th Symphony, one of the composer’s symphonic key works. Two opuses for violin and orchestra, Two Serenades and Two Serious Melodies, one of Sibelius’ most religious works, are featuring star violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Sibelius’ music for Strindberg’s Symbolistic play Swanwhite is a rarely performed gem with interesting thematic connections to other works included on this album, including the 5^th Symphony. 

Sibelius’ monumental and optimistic 5^th Symphony was long in the writing and underwent extensive revision, and it was not until the third version (1919) that Sibelius was satisfied with it. After exploring collisions between internal and external reality in his Fourth Symphony, Sibelius turned to a more universal outlook in his Fifth. Here, the music is about thematic growth and cycles. Towards the end, the music seems to become airborne, soaring high above worldly misery, with the final six majestic chords propelling the music out into space.

Sibelius wrote his Two Serenades, Op. 69 for violin and orchestra with apparent ease in 1912–1913. The sense of liberation evident in his music after the Fourth Symphony manifests itself here as translucent orchestration, and the upbeat genre fostered a relaxed mood that nevertheless does not stray into a simplistic popular style. Indeed, for all their lightness, these Serenades have profound depths. Completed in 1914–1915, Two Serious Melodies, Op. 77 are chips off Sibelius’s symphonic block, so to speak. They are not frivolous salon pieces, but neither are they virtuoso concert pieces. Rather, in this work the composer seems to reflect the ongoing war in Europe.

Sibelius had been an admirer of Strindberg’s literary works since early age. No doubt, Sibelius felt himself extremely honoured to receive the commission to write the incidental music to Strindberg’s Swanwhite from Strindberg’s wife. Sibelius wrote 13 numbers for the incidental music in 1908 and later adapted nine of these into an orchestral suite. Though it was a success in its day, the radiant score of Swanwhite subsequently fell into obscurity. The second movement of the suite, The Harp, foreshadows the slow movement of the Fifth Symphony, while the final movement, Song of Praise, is a spiritual devotion that seems to point forward to the nobility of the Seventh Symphony as well as the first of his Two Serious Melodies.

Christian Tetzlaff is considered one of the world’s leading international violinists and maintains a most extensive performing schedule. Musical America named him ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ in 2005. His recording of the Bartók Violin Concertos (ODE 1317-2) received both Gramophone and ICMA Awards, and the recording was also a finalist for the BBC Music Award in 2019. His recording of the Violin Concertos by Mendelssohn and Schumann, released on Ondine in 2011 (ODE 1195-2), and Bach Sonatas and Partitas released in 2017 (ODE 1299-2D) received the ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’. In addition, in 2015 ICMA awarded Christian Tetzlaff as the ‘Artist of the Year’, and he also received ECHO ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ award in 2017. His recordings on Ondine with Brahms’ Trios (ODE 1271-2D) and Violin Concertos by Dvorák and Suk (1279-5), released in 2015 and 2016, earned GRAMMY nominations.

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), and its mission is to produce and promote Finnish musical culture. The Radio Orchestra of ten players founded in 1927 grew to symphony orchestra proportions in the 1960s. Its Chief Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu, and as of autumn 2021 Nicholas Collon. In addition to the great Classical-Romantic masterpieces, the latest contemporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle commissions. The FRSO has twice won a Gramophone Award: for its album of Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto in 2006 and of Bartók Violin Concertos in 2018. Other distinctions have included BBC Music Magazine, Académie Charles Cros, MIDEM Classical awards and Grammy nominations in 2020 and 2021. Its album of tone poems and songs by Sibelius won an International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018. In 2023, the orchestra was nominated for Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year award and won a Gramophone Award for their Lotta Wennäkoski album.

British conductor Nicholas Collon is recognized for his elegant conducting style, searching musical intellect and inspirational music-making. He began as Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony in August 2021 – the first non-Finnish conductor ever to hold this post. From 2016–2021 he was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in Den Haag (latterly also Artistic Advisor) and was Principal Guest of Gürzenich-Orchester from 2017–2022. He also leads the Aurora Orchestra in their residencies at Kings Place and at the Southbank, where they have reinvented the concert format with their ‘Orchestral Theatre’ Series. Together they appear regularly at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and festivals such as Bremen, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Gstaad, and the BBC Proms where they perform every year in their hugely popular memorized performances.