Hymn of the Earth (Sibelius)

Hymn of the Earth (in Finnish: Maan virsi; sometimes translated as Hymn to the Earth), Op. 95, is a single-movement cantata for mixed choir and orchestra written in 1919–1920 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of Eino Leino's Finnish language poem of the same name, is the third in a series of four "little known, but beautiful"[1] cantatas from the composer's mature period—including My Own Land (Op. 92, 1918); Song of the Earth (Op. 93, 1919); and Väinämöinen’s Song (Op. 110, 1926). Hymn of the Earth premiered on 4 April 1920 in Helsinki.

Hymn of the Earth
Cantata by Jean Sibelius
The composer in 1920.
Opus95
TextMaan virsi, by Eino Leino
LanguageFinnish
Composed1919–1920
Premiere
Date4 April 1920

Instrumentation

Hymn of the Earth is scored for the following instruments and voices:[2][3]

History
A 1917 painting (by Akseli Gallen-Kallela) of Eino Leino, whose poem Sibelius set in Hymn of the Earth.

The cantata resulted from a commission by the Finnish choral conductor Heikki Klemetti, who had founded the mixed choir Suomen Laulu in 1900 and desired from Sibelius a new work that the ensemble could perform in the spring of 1920 to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.[4] Sibelius, however, was unenthused, writing in his diary in January 1919: "And then there's the promise I made Klemetti for a work for Suomen Laulu. He is by no means one of my 'admirers'. It annoys me that he only wants to use my name as a decoration".[4] By late December 1919, however, Sibelius's delay tactics ceased and he began work on the piece for Klemetti.

Although the composer had planned to set Suomenmaa by the Finnish poet Aleksis Kivi, he settled on Maan virsi by Eino Leino.[4] It is a patriotic text that celebrates Finland, as well as the natural world. For example, in the third stanza, Leino writes:

Original Finnish English translation[lower-alpha 1]

Maa! sulle kiitosta kantele soikoon,
suvilaulu Suomen,
tuoksussa juhannuskoivun ja tuomen,
rikkaana riemuita virtemme voikoon,
elonhuolet voittaa,
kauneuden korkean sydänkieltä soittaa.

Earth! Let the kantele sing thee its thanks,
Finland’s summer song,
In the scent of the midsummer birch and hawthorn,
Rich may our streams rejoice,
Overcoming the cares of life,
Sounding the inner voice of high beauty.

Sibelius completed the cantata in late January 1920; it premiered a few months later on 4 April 1920 (Easter Sunday) in Helsinki, with Klemetti—its dedicatee—conducting Suomen Laulu and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.[5]

Discography

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Hymn of the Earth:

Conductor Orchestra Chorus Rec.[lower-alpha 2] Time[lower-alpha 3] Venue Label Ref.
Eri Klas Finnish National Opera Orchestra Finnish National Opera Chorus 1990 7:36 Roihuvuori Church Ondine
[lower-alpha 4]
Paavo Järvi Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Estonian National Male Choir 2002 7:41 Estonia Concert Hall Virgin Classics
[lower-alpha 5]
Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra Dominante Choir 2004 5:47 Sibelius Hall BIS
[lower-alpha 6]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes
  1. This translation, by John Skinner, is from the liner notes (pg. 28) to the recording by Eri Klas and the Finnish National Opera. (E. Klas—Ondine (ODE 754-2) 1990)
  2. 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.
  3. All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes. For some recordings, the notes only provide runtimes for the constituent movements; in these cases, the movement runtimes were added to obtain a total duration.
  4. E. Klas—Ondine (ODE 754-2) 1990
  5. P. Järvi—Virgin Classics (7243 5 45589 2 4) 2003
  6. O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1365) 2005

References
  1. Lascar 2003, p. 11.
  2. Goss 1996, p. 379.
  3. Levas 1986, p. 146.
  4. Barnett 2005, p. 6.
  5. Barnett 2005, p. 6–7.

Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2005). Sibelius: Song of the Earth (booklet). Osmo Vänskä, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, & Dominante Choir. BIS. p. 6–7. BIS CD-1365. OCLC 62255940
  • Goss, Glenda Dawn (1996). "Chronology of the Works of Jean Sibelius". The Sibelius Companion. Greenwood Press. p. 323–389. ISBN 9780313283932.
  • Lascar, Pierre-Yves (2003). Sibelius: Cantatas (booklet). Paavo Järvi. Virgin Classics. p. 8–11. 7243 5 45589 2 4. OCLC 52897195
  • Layton, Robert (1993) [1965]. Sibelius. (The Master Musicians Series) (4th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0028713222.
  • Levas, Santeri (1986) [1972]. Jean Sibelius: A Personal Portrait. (Percy Young, English translation) (2nd ed.). Porvo & Juva, Finland: Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. ISBN 9510136085.
  • Okkonen, Jukka (1990). Sibelius: Cantatas (booklet). Eri Klas, Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Ondine. p. 5. ODE 754-2. OCLC 26017670
  • Sirén, Vesa (2005). "Works for Choir and Orchestra". Sibelius.fi. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
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