The Sibelius Edition: Chamber Music Ii, Vol.9

Jaakko Kuusisto & Laura Vikman, violin; Nobuko Imai & Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic, viola; Torleif Thedéen, Taneli Turunen & Joel Laakso, cello; Folke Gräsbeck, piano; Suvi Lehtonen-Gräsbeck, kantele; Lasse Pöysti, narrator; brasspartout

Jean Sibelius: Chamber Works for Cello; String Duos and Trios; Music for Kantele; Music for Brass Ensemble etc

Includes previously unreleased recordings: [Theme and Variations] in D minor, JS196 for solo cello; Suite in A major, JS186 for string trio; Duo, JS66 for violin and viola; Trio in G minor, JS210 for violin, viola and cello; [Waltz] (Kehtolaulu / Lullaby), JS222 for violin and kantele; Ödlan (The Lizard), Op.8, incidental music to the play by Mikael Lybeck, for solo violin and string ensemble and the following world première recordings: Luftslott (Castles in the Air), Duo, JS65 for two violins; Serenata, JS169, and Menuetto and Allegro, JS128, for two violins and cello; Tempo di valse in G minor, JS193 for cello and piano; [Duo] in E minor, JS68 for violin and cello; [Lento] in E flat minor, JS76 for cello and piano; Moderato in F major (1885–89) and [Mazurka] in G minor (1887–89) for solo cello; [Andante] in B minor, JS91, [Andantino] in B minor, JS92, and Andante molto in B minor (1888–89) for cello and piano; Canon in G minor, JS50 for violin and cello; Andantino in A major (1889) for string trio; Fantasia, JS79 for cello and piano (piano part and end of cello part lost); Adagio in F sharp minor, JS15 for cello and piano; [Minuet] in F major (1891) for violin and cello; Canon in D minor (1895–98) for violin, viola and cello; Moderato, JS130 and Dolcissimo, JS63 for kantele; [March] (1897–99) for brass ensemble and percussion.
In spite of the fact that Sibelius’ chamber music is far less well-known than his orchestral works, it forms a large and important part of his production. In terms of numbers of discs it makes up a fourth of the complete recorded edition being brought out on BIS. Already released are the complete quartets and piano trios [BIS-CD-1903/05] and the works for violin and piano [BIS-CD-1915/17]; the present set focuses on his chamber music for other instrumental combinations and includes a number of world première recordings and previously unreleased material. A substantial chapter is the music for cello (solo and with piano accompaniment), much of which was written for Sibelius’ brother Christian. It is here performed by Torleif Thedéen, with the support of Folke Gräsbeck on the piano. There are also a number of duos and trios for strings, including the brief Vattendroppar (Water Drops) for violin and cello pizzicato, which is often claimed to be Sibelius’ earliest surviving composition, dated to around 1875. Another, more sizeable, rarity is the music to the play Ödlan (The Lizard), scored for string ensemble. Composed in 1909, half way between the Third and Fourth Symphonies, it was once described by Sibelius as ‘one of the most exquisite works that I have written’. This volume also includes Sibelius only work for viola and piano (‘Rondo in D minor’), as well as the world première recordings of two pieces for solo kantele, the traditional Finnish plucked-string instrument which appears in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epos that served as such an inspiration to Sibelius. Another group of works with a specifically Finnish background, are the pieces for ‘torviseitsikko’, a particular combination of seven brass instruments and percussion. These are here performed by members of the eminent German ensemble brasspartout. A varied programme then on this ninth instalment of the acclaimed Sibelius Edition, about which a reviewer in Fanfare has already predicted that it ‘will certainly be considered a landmark in the history of recording’.

Price: $86.98

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