The Swan of Tuonela

Tone poem by Jean Sibelius

The Swan of Tuonela
Tone poem by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1895)
Native name	Tuonelan joutsen
Opus	22/2 (orig. No. 3)^[1]
Based on	Kalevala (Runo XIV)
Composed	1893 (1893)–1895, rev. 1897, 1900
Publisher	Wasenius [fi] (1901)^[2]
Duration	9 mins.^[2]
Premiere
Date	13 April 1896 (1896-04-13)^[3]
Location	Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Conductor	Jean Sibelius
Performers	Helsinki Philharmonic Society

The Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen) is an 1895 tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is part of the Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op. 22, based on the Finnish mythological epic the Kalevala.^[4]

The Swan of Tuonela was originally composed in 1893 as the prelude to a projected opera called The Building of the Boat. Sibelius revised it two years later, making it the second section of his Lemminkäinen Suite of four tone poems, which was premiered in 1896. He twice further revised the piece, in 1897 and 1900. Sibelius left posterity no personal account of his writing of the tone poem, and its original manuscript no longer exists (the date of its disappearance is unknown). The work was first published by K. F. Wasenius in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland, in April 1901. The German firm Breitkopf & Härtel also published it in Leipzig, also in 1901.^[4] The work was recorded for the first time by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in May 1929.

Structure

The tone poem is scored for a small orchestra of cor anglais, oboe, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trombones, timpani, bass drum, harp, and divided strings. The cor anglais is the voice of the swan, and its solo is one of the best known solos in the orchestral literature for that instrument. The music paints a gossamer, transcendental image of a mystical swan floating through Tuonela, the realm of the dead. Lemminkäinen, the hero of the epic, has been tasked with killing the sacred swan; but on the way, he is shot with a poisoned arrow and dies. In the next part of the story he is restored to life.

References

^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 84, 86, 89.
^ ^a ^b Dahlström 2003, p. 89.
^ Dahlström 2003, p. 85.
^ ^a ^b Program Notes by Phillip Huscher, Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

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.

External links

The Swan of Tuonela (Tuonelan joutsen), Op. 22/2: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Jean Sibelius

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)