The Lizard (Sibelius)

Composition#

Lybeck began writing The Lizard in 1907 and completed it in 1908; published by Albert Bonnier (Stockholm), the book became available to the public on 20 November 1908. The Finnish literary critics received the play positively, praising in particular the author’s concise prose and—surprisingly, given his inexperience in the genre—sure sense for the dramatic; nevertheless, several wondered whether The Lizard could be staged successfully, given its dreamlike scenes and Lybeck’s extensive stage directions. Sibelius read the play with alacrity and wrote to Lybeck of its impact.

Premiere#

The fact that Sibelius had contributed original music tended to increase any play’s box office. At the premiere, the ensemble consisted of seven musicians: two first violins (including Victor Carnier, who took the violin solo in Tableau 1), one second violin, one viola, two cellos (one of whom was ), and one contrabass. The contract Sibelius signed with Lybeck in 1909 stipulated that the latter would, in exchange for a fee, own the rights to the incidental music. As such, after ’s six performances in 1910, Lybeck took possession of the autograph score and parts. With the playwright’s death on 11 October 1925, the music became part of his estate, with which it remained until 1960 when his heirs donated the materials to the Sibelius Museum in Turku. The autograph score is an important historical document because it contains extensive rehearsal markings in the composer’s hand. The Lizard finally was published—over 80 years after its premiere—in 1997 by (now Fennica Gehrman); the publisher advertises the “delicate” score as “Sibelius at his most enchanting … with “chromatic and whole note motifs and mysterious string tremolos that are a direct forerunner of Tapiola.

Structure and roles#

The Lizard is a stage drama in three acts, of which Act II is subdivided further into three tableaux. Sibelius’s incidental music is played in Tableau 1 (near the end of the scene) and Tableau 3 (the entirety of the scene). The play includes ten roles, three principal—Alban, Elisiv, and Adla—and seven minor. These are as follows: The entire play takes place at the Eyringe family estate: * Act I: The terrace room of the family mansion * Act II, Tableau 1: The burial chapel * Act II, Tableau 2: The terrace room * Act II, Tableau 3: Within Elisiv’s fever dream * Act III: Elisiv’s bedchamber Includes music by Sibelius.

Synopsis#

The principal character in the play, Count Alban, is engaged to Elisiv, who represents everything that is pure. But, Adla —word that resembles to Ödlan or lizard— symbolizes evil and arouses both fear and passion in Alban. Elisiv and Adla both struggle to keep Alban’s soul on their side. Elisiv trips, falls, and perishes in the struggle, but in revenge, Alban kills the evil that exists within himself - i.e. Adla.

Music#

The Lizard is scored for violin solo and small string ensemble, consisting of a minimum of five additional players: 2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass. Sibelius also stipulated that there should be no more than nine players total. * Adagio—Più adagio, to Act II, Tableau 1 * Grave—Adagio, to Act II, Tableau 3 <!– Context and analysis Although it is rarely played, Sibelius told his friend and patron that it was “one of the most exquisite works that I have written”. The work derives from the “crisis” period between 1908 and 1912.

Relationship to the text#

• Might better be understood as a melodrama, especially Elisiv’s fever dream (second number)
• Sibelius composed several melodramas, including Nights of Jealousy (1893), The Wood Nymph (1895), The Breaking of the Ice on the Oulu River (1899), Snöfrid (1900), The Countess’s Portrait (1906), and A Lonely Ski-trail (1925)
• Sibelius thought his music could not be understood apart from the next
• Inappropriate as a stand-alone concert item
• Kallberg considers it inexplicable that Fenica Gerhman published The Lizard in 1994 without text indications included.

Artificially low catalogue number#

• The Lizard is Op. 8 despite being written in 1909.
• It’s neighbors are the choral symphony Kullervo (Op. 7, 1892) and the tone poem En saga (Op. 9, 1893).
• Originally Op. 8 had been ????
• The Lizard had been variously Opp. 59, 40, and 29a.

Sibelius and Symbolism#

• Frequently gravitated to Symbolist drama; also wrote: Pelléas and Mélisande (1905; Maeterlinck), Belshazzar’s Feast (1906, 1907; ), Swanwhite (1907; Strindberg)

Modern opinions of Sibelius’s music#

Guy Rickards dismisses The Lizard as “rather characterless”. –>

Discography#

The Finnish conductor and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording in the autumn of 1994 for (now Warner Classics). Critics largely have received The Lizard positively. Erik Levi, who reviewed the Kangas recording for BBC Music Magazine, noted that the “strangely withdrawn” music to The Lizard was one of the few of Sibelius’s compositions for strings to have “reach ed the compositional heights of the symphonies and tone poems”. In his review of the Segerstam recording, ’s Andrew Achenbach declared The Lizard a “fascinating discovery … luminously scored … containing much duskily beautiful and splendidly atmospheric invention, not to mention some fascinating harmonic and textural foreshadowings of Tapiola”. Similarly, Rob Barnett of MusicWeb International found The Lizard—with its “inky expressionist caverns”—“fascinating … sinister stuff … likely to puzzle the Sibelian generalist”. On the other hand, David Hurwitz with Classics Today characterizes The Lizard as “all atmosphere and repetition of brief melodic patterns … something moody that never forces you to pay attention”. As such, he concludes, Sibelius was probably wise to never fashion a concert suite from the incidental music: “It would have been nearly impossible … There’s very little actual music here”. The sortable table below lists all commercially available recordings of The Lizard:

Notes, references, and sources#

; ; ; ;Books * * * * * * * * * * * ;Liner notes * * ;Journals and magazines * ;Newspapers (by date) * * * * * * ;Websites * * * * * * *