Rakastava


Rakastava, Op. 14, is a suite by Jean Sibelius. He completed it in 1912, scored for string orchestra, percussion and triangle. He based it on his earlier composition of the same name, a song cycle of four movements for men's chorus a cappella completed in 1894. The works are based on a Finnish text from Book 1 of Kanteletar.

History

Sibelius completed in 1894 Rakastava, a cycle of four songs for men's chorus a cappella on a Finnish text from Book 1 of the collection of Finnish folk poetry Kanteletar. He first set it in 1894, as an entry for a local competition. He won the second prize, while the first went to his former teacher. Sibelius arranged the cycle for men's chorus and string orchestra in 1894, and for mixed choir in 1898.
Sibelius used the cycle as the basis for an orchestral suite Rakastava for string orchestra, percussion and triangle, to which he assigned the opus number. 14. He completed it in 1912 when he also wrote his Fourth Symphony. Sibelius conducted the Rakastava suite often together with his symphonies to the 1920s, because the piece "captivated audiences".

Music

Structure of the song cycle

  1. Miss' on kussa minun hyväni
  2. Eilaa, eilaa
  3. Hyvää iltaa lintuseni
  4. Käsi kaulaan, lintuseni

    Structure of the suite

  5. Rakastava, Andante con moto
  6. Rakastetun tie, Allegretto
  7. Hyvää iltaa... Jää hyvästi, Andantino
In the first movement, the strings sound light and beautiful. The choral part of the second movement was changed to "murmurs on the strings and wonderfully flexible melodic progressions." The third movement is deeply emotional as its model.

Recordings

The orchestral work was recorded along with other music by Sibelius, including Snöfrid, the Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas II, Oma maa and Andante Festivo. On volume 54 of a complete Sibelius Edition by BIS, Osmo Vänskä conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. A review notes the works "ethereal polyphony" and compares it to the melancholy of the Sixth Symphony.

Literature