Jean Sibelius

Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotional Cantata

The Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotional Cantata (in Finnish: ; sometimes abbreviated as the Nine Songs), Op. 23, is a song cycle of pieces for soprano, baritone, and mixed choir a

Performance history#

The Songs for Mixed Chorus were performed for the first time in their entirety on 30 April 1904, in Viipuri, with the choral master and deputy judge Emil Forsström directing a group of thirty singers drawn from the area; the soloists were Ellen Relander and Edvard Ekström. The concert was at the Town Hall and had been organized by the Viipuri Friends of Music to raise funds for the local orchestra.

Structure#

The ten constituent songs in the cycle are as follows: # “March-like” (); “We the youth of Finland …” (" …") # “Not too leisurely” (); “The wind rocks …” (" …") # “Lightly” (); “Oh hope, hope, you dreamer …” (" …") # “Quickly” (); “Many on the sea of life …” (" …") # “Leisurely” (); “The fading thoughts of the Earth …” (" …") # # “Briskly” (); “O love, your realm is limitless …” (" …") # “March-like” (); “As the swift current …” (" …") # “Festively” (); “O precious Finland, Mother beyond compare …” (" …") Several of the song cycle’s numbers, especially Nos. 1, 6a, and 6b, remain popular in Finland. Moreover, in 1913, Sibelius arranged No. 6a for female choir.

Discography#

The Finnish choral director and the m (EOL) made the world premiere studio recording of the Op. 23 songs in 1975 for RCA Victor. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

Notes, references, and sources#

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Composer: Jean Sibelius