The Five Pieces (in French: Cinq Morceaux),[2] 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 informal nickname The Trees due to the fact that the descriptive titles of the five pieces share a thematic link.
| Five Pieces | |
|---|---|
| The Trees | |
| Piano solos by Jean Sibelius | |
.png) Sibelius in middle age (c. 1915) | |
| Opus | 75 |
| Composed | 1914, rev. 1919 |
| Publisher | piecemeal by three firms[1] |
| Duration | 11 mins[1] |
.jpg)
Structure and music
editNo. 1: When the Rowan Blossoms
editWhen the Rowan Blossoms (Swedish: När rönnan blommar; in Finnish: Kun pihlaja kukkii) was published in 1921 by the London-based firm of Augener & Co.. Marked Allegretto, it has a duration of about two minutes.[2]
No. 2: The Solitary Fir Tree
editThe Solitary Fir Tree (in Swedish: Den ensamma furan; in Finnish: Yksinainen honka) was published in 1921 by London's J. & W. Chester. Marked Grave, it has a duration of about two minutes.[3]
No. 3: The Aspen
editThe Aspen (in Swedish: Aspen; in Finnish: Haapa) was published in 1922 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen. Marked Andantino, it has a duration of about 2.5 minutes.[4]
No. 4: The Birch
editThe Birch (in Swedish: Björken; in Finnish: Koivu) was also published in 1922 by Hansen. Marked Allegro – Misterioso, it has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.[5]
No. 5: The Spruce
editThe Spruce (in Swedish: Granen; in Finnish: Kuusi) was also published in 1922 by Hansen, after Sibelius had revised the piece in 1919. Marked Stretto – Lento – Risoluto – Lento, it has a duration of about three minutes.[6]
Reception
edit.jpg)
Discography
editThe 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.[7] 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).[8] The sortable table below lists, in addition to the aforementioned Gothoni traversal, other commercially available recordings of The Trees, as a whole:
| No. | Pianist | Runtimes[a] | Rec.[b] | Recording venue | Label | Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Op. 75/1
|
Op. 75/2
|
Op. 75/3
|
Op. 75/4
|
Op. 75/5
|
Total
| ||||||
| 1 | Ralf Gothoni (1) | 1971 | [unknown], Helsinki | EMI | |||||||
| 2 | Izumi Tateno (1) | 1:45 | 2:30 | 2:30 | 1:25 | 3:00 | 11:10 | 1971 | EMI | ||
| 3 | Liisa Karhilo | 10:33 | Musical Heritage Society | ||||||||
| 4 | Erik T. Tawaststjerna | 1:52 | 2:03 | 2:23 | 1:25 | 2:53 | 11:01 | 1983 | Studio BIS, Djursholm | BIS | |
| 5 | Izumi Tateno (2) | 1988 | Järvenpää Hall | Canyon Classics | |||||||
| 6 | Marita Viitasalo | 1:55 | 2:42 | 2:50 | 1:35 | 3:28 | 12:30 | 1992 | Järvenpää Hall | Finlandia | |
| 7 | Annette Servadei | 2:09 | 2:15 | 3:39 | 1:27 | 2:35 | 12:05 | 1994 | St George's Church, Brandon Hill | Olympia | |
| 8 | Izumi Tateno (3) | 1:42 | 2:18 | 2:36 | 1:32 | 3:00 | 11:08 | 1994 | Ainola | Canyon Classics | |
| 9 | Ralf Gothoni (2) | 1995 | Järvenpää Hall | Ondine | |||||||
| 10 | Risto Lauriala | 1:45 | 2:50 | 2:18 | 1:44 | 3:40 | 12:17 | 1995 | Järvenpää Hall | Naxos | |
| 11 | Eero Heinonen (1) | 1:51 | 2:43 | 2:40 | 1:41 | 3:32 | 12:27 | 1996 | YLE M2 Studio, Helsinki | Finlandia | |
| 12 | Kyoko Tabe | 2:00 | 2:44 | 2:21 | 1:41 | 3:20 | 12:13 | 1999 | New Broadcasting House, Manchester | Chandos | |
| 13 | Håvard Gimse | 1:51 | 2:43 | 2:20 | 1:41 | 3:32 | 12:07 | 2000 | St Martin's Church, East Woodhay | Naxos | |
| 14 | Katriina Korte | 2001 | Järvenpää Hall | Alba | |||||||
| 15 | Tuija Hakkila | 2008 | Nya Paviljongen | Alba | |||||||
| 16 | Folke Gräsbeck | 1:55 | 3:05 | 2:43 | 1:32 | 3:17 | 12:49 | 2009 | Kuusankoski Hall | BIS | |
| 17 | Janne Mertanen (1) | Presence | |||||||||
| 18 | Joseph Tong | 1:40 | 2:14 | 2:19 | 1:38 | 3:01 | 10:52 | 2014 | Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building | Quartz | |
| 19 | Janne Mertanen (2) | 1:44 | 2:29 | 2:14 | 1:35 | 3:07 | 11:09 | 2015 | [Unknown], Helsinki | Sony Classical | |
| 20 | Eero Heinonen (2) | 1:46 | 2:37 | 2:20 | 1:39 | 4:40 | 13:02 | 2015 | Sello Hall, Espoo | Piano Classics | |
Notes, references, and sources
edit- Notes
- ^ All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
- ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
- ^ R. Gothóni–EMI (E063–34283) 1971
- ^ I. Tateno–EMI (7491062) 1988
- ^ L. Karhilo–Musical Heritage (MHS 3401) 1977
- ^ E. Tawaststjerna–BIS (CD–230) 1987
- ^ I. Tateno–Canyon Classics (C28L0001) 1988
- ^ M. Viitasalo–Finlandia (4509–95874–2) 1993
- ^ A. Servadei–Olympia (OCD 634) 1997
- ^ I. Tateno–Canyon Classics (PCCL–00243) 1994
- ^ R. Gothóni–Ondine (ODE 847–2) 1995
- ^ R. Lauriala–Naxos (8.553661) 1996
- ^ E. Heinonen–Finlandia (8573–80776–2) 2000
- ^ K. Tabe–Chandos (CHAN 9833) 2000
- ^ H. Gimse–Naxos (8.555363) 2003
- ^ K. Korte–Alba (ABCA 159) 2001
- ^ T. Hakkila–Alba (ABCD 297) 2010
- ^ F. Gräsbeck–BIS (CD–1927/29) 2010
- ^ J. Mertanen–Presence (PRECD–025) 2010
- ^ J. Tong–Quartz (QTZ 2111) 2015
- ^ J. Mertanen–Sony Classics (888751614222) 2015
- ^ E. Heinonen–Piano Classics (PCL10220) 2020
- References
- ^ a b Dahlström 2003, pp. 325–329.
- ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 325.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 326.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 327.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 328.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 329.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 325–326, 328.
- ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 327, 329.
- Sources
- Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
- Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
- Layton, Robert (1993) [1965]. Sibelius. (The Master Musicians Series) (4th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0028713222.
External links
edit- Five Pieces, Op. 75: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
