Sibelius Lemminkainens Return
Sibelius Lemminkainens Return Program Notes
Swedes or Russians governed the Finns for centuries, and Sibelius’s choices – a distinct musical style, Finnish language and folk-legends – parallel the nationalism of Smetana, Dvořák, Grieg and others, and contributed to Finland’s independence coalescence into a nation that declared independence in 1917. Finnish oral tradition of epic poetry concerned heroic figures like Lemminkainen, and was collected and published by Elias Lönnrot (a district health officer, but more importantly an amateur anthropologist) in the mid-1800s, as the Kalevala. The tone poem begins in a brooding, driving C minor – Sibelius writes con fuoco, or Dzwith fire.dz In orchestral writing, C minor is a fairly dark key, and Lemminkainen is coming from a dark place. Defeated in battle, he was cut into pieces Dztill the sharpened axe strikes flint-sparks from the rocks.dz Luckily for Lemminkainen, his mother trawls him from the lake where he was thrown, and using magical skills, reassembles and returns him to life. Presumably, he’s taking some motherly advice to go home: On horseback (the energetic writing throughout the orchestra), with the wind whistling past the hero – the brass writing could only be heard as heroic – the music moves through several harmonic centers, ending in the triumphant key of E-flat major, the same as Beethoven’s Eroica (heroic) symphony and the relative major of the opening C-minor. Born: December 8, 1865, Hämeenlinna, Finland Died: September 20, 1957, Ainola, Järvenpää, FinlandLemminkäinen's Return is the fourth and final movement of the Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22, composed by Jean Sibelius and based on legends from the Finnish national epic the Kalevala. It is a thrilling, headlong rush of orchestral energy depicting the hero's triumphant homeward journey.
Sibelius composed the Lemminkäinen Suite in 1895 and it was premiered in Helsinki on April 13, 1896, conducted by the composer. He revised the suite significantly in 1897 and again in 1939.
A typical performance of Lemminkäinen's Return alone lasts approximately 6 to 7 minutes.
From the very first bar the music is in breathless motion — a relentless forward drive in the strings that never lets up. Listen for the thrilling brass writing and the way the tempo seems to accelerate toward a blazing conclusion. It is among the most exhilarating finales in the orchestral repertoire.
Sibelius was deeply absorbed in Finnish mythology throughout his career, and the Kalevala provided inspiration for many of his most important works. His engagement with these national legends was both artistically genuine and politically significant at a time when Finland was asserting its cultural identity against Russian imperial domination.
