Jean Sibelius

Serenad

"" (in English: "Serenade"; in Finnish: ""), JS 168, is an art song for baritone and orchestra written in by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of the eponymous poem by

Instrumentation#

The "" is scored for the following instruments and voices, organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, and strings): *Baritone *2 oboes, 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons *4 horns *Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses

Reception#

The British musicologist Robert Layton has praised the "" as “something of a discovery … it has the greatest delicacy and atmosphere, and its whispering pizzicato strings are wonderfully suggestive”. He concludes by labeling it as “one of Sibelius’s very greatest and most subtle songs both in its use of rhythm and color”. The Sibelius biographer Andrew Barnett characterizes the "" as a “nocturnal lament for one’s lost love”, the chromaticism of which illustrates the extent to which still in the mid-1890s, Sibelius was under Wagner’s spell.

Discography#

The Finnish conductor Jorma Panula and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Finnish baritone Jorma Hynninen, made the world premiere studio recording of the "" in 1984 for BIS. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

Composer: Jean Sibelius