Jean Sibelius
Five Pieces, Op. 75 (Sibelius)
The Five Pieces (in French: ), Op. 75, is a collection of compositions for piano written in 1914 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The Five Pieces, however, is more commonly referred to by its
No. 1: When the Rowan Blossoms#
When the Rowan Blossoms (Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1921 by the London-based firm of . Marked Allegretto, it has a duration of about two minutes.
No. 2: The Solitary Fir Tree#
The Solitary Fir Tree (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1921 by London’s . Marked Grave, it has a duration of about two minutes.
No. 3: The Aspen#
The Aspen (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1922 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen. Marked Andantino, it has a duration of about 2.5 minutes.
No. 4: The Birch#
The Birch (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was also published in 1922 by Hansen. Marked AllegroMisterioso, it has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.
No. 5: The Spruce#
The Spruce (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was also published in 1922 by Hansen, after Sibelius had revised the piece in 1919. Marked StrettoLentoRisolutoLento, it has a duration of about three minutes.
Discography#
The Finnish-German pianist Ralf Gothoni made the first studio recording of the complete Op. 75 Five Pieces in 1971 for EMI; of these, When the Rowan Blooms, The Solitary Fir Tree, and The Birch (Nos. 1–2 and 4) were world premieres. The remaining two pieces, The Aspen and The Spruce (Nos. 3 and 5), had been recorded earlier in 1959 by the Hungarian pianist Ervin László for RCA Victor (RCA LM–9828). The sortable table below lists, in addition to the aforementioned Gothoni traversal, other commercially available recordings of The Trees, as a whole:
- Composer
- Jean Sibelius