Seven Songs, Op. 17 (Sibelius)

Collection of art songs by Jean Sibelius (1891–1904)

Seven Songs, Op. 17

Song collection by Jean Sibelius

The composer (c. 1895)

Opus| 17
Language|

* Swedish (Nos. 1–5)
* Finnish (Nos. 6–7)

Composed| 1891 (1891)–1904; No. 1 orch. 1903
External audio

Sung by Anne Sofie von Otter,
accompanied by Bengt Forsberg
1) "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera"
2) "Sov in!"
3) "Fågellek"
4) "Vilse"
5) "En slända"
6) "Illalle"
7) "Lastu lainehilla"

The Seven Songs, Op. 17,[a] is a collection of five Swedish-language and two Finnish-language art songs for vocal soloist and piano written from 1891 to 1904 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.[b]

## Constituent songs

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Ordered by catalogue number, the Op. 17 songs are as follows:

* "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera" ("Since Then I Have Questioned No Further"), Op. 17/1 (1891–92); text by the Finnish poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg[3]
* "Sov in!" ("Go to Sleep!"), Op. 17/2 (1891–92); text by the Finnish poet Karl August Tavaststjerna [fi][3]
* "Fågellek" ("Play of the Birds"), Op. 17/3 (1891); text by Tavaststjerna[4]
* "Vilse" ("Astray"), Op. 17/4 (1898, revised 1902); text by Tavaststjerna[5]
* "En slända" ("A Dragonfly"), Op. 17/5 (1904); text by the Swedish poet Oscar Levertin[6]
* "Illalle" ("To Evening"), Op. 17/6 (1898); text by the Finnish poet August Valdemar Koskimies (né Forsman)[7]
* "Lastu lainehilla" ("Driftwood"), Op. 17/7 (1902); text by the Finnish poet Ilmari Kianto (né Calamnius)[8]

### Orchestral version of No. 1

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In 1903, Sibelius arranged "Se'n har jag ej frågat mera" for vocalist and orchestra.

## Notes, references, and sources

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### Notes

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1. ^ Because Sibelius's Op. 17 songs are sung in Swedish and Finnish, this article gives preference to each song's native title, rather than the English translation.
2. ^ All but a few of Sibelius's songs are settings of Swedish-language poems (quantitatively, his favorite poets were Ernst Josephson, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Viktor Rydberg, and Karl August Tavaststjerna [fi])[1] and are with piano accompaniment. While many are of high quality, they largely have been neglected outside the Nordic realm, due to the limited coverage (in terms of number of speakers) of Swedish (relative to, for example, German or French).[2]

### References

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1. ^ Layton 1993, pp. 160–161.
2. ^ Layton 1993, pp. 159–160.
3. ^ a b Barnett 2007, p. 404; Dahlström 2003, p. 61.
4. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 405; Dahlström 2003, pp. 61–62.
5. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 405; Dahlström 2003, pp. 62–63.
6. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 405; Dahlström 2003, pp. 65–66.
7. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 406; Dahlström 2003, pp. 65–66.
8. ^ Barnett 2007, p. 406; Dahlström 2003, pp. 66–67.

### Sources

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* Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16397-1.
* 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

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* Seven Songs, Op. 17: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

* v
* t
* e

Jean Sibelius

* List of compositions
* Discography of symphony cycles

Symphonies|

* Kullervo (1892)
* Symphony No. 1 (1899, rev. 1900)
* Symphony No. 2 (1902)
* Symphony No. 3 (1907)
* Symphony No. 4 (1911)
* Symphony No. 5 (1915, rev. 1916, 1919)
* Symphony No. 6 (1923)
* Symphony No. 7 (1924)
* Symphony No. 8 (mid 1920s–c. 1938, abandoned)

Concertante|

* Violin Concerto (1904, rev. 1905)
* Two Serenades (1912–1913)
* Two Serious Melodies (1914–1915)
* Six Humoresques (1917–1918, No. 1 rev. 1940)
* Suite for Violin and String Orchestra (1929)

Tone poems|

* En saga (1892, rev. 1902)
* Spring Song (1894, rev. 1895)
* The Wood Nymph (1895)
* Lemminkäinen Suite
* 1895, rev. 1897, 1900, 1939; includes The Swan of Tuonela
* Finlandia (1899)
* Pohjola's Daughter (1906)
* Nightride and Sunrise (1909)
* The Dryad (1910)
* The Bard (1913)
* Luonnotar (1913)
* The Oceanides (1914, rev. 1914)
* Tapiola (1926)

Opera & theatre|

* The Building of the Boat (1893–1894, abandoned)
* The Maiden in the Tower (1896)
* King Christian II (1898)
* Kuolema
* 1903; includes Valse triste
* Pelléas et Mélisande (1905)
* Belshazzar's Feast (1906)
* Swanwhite (1908)
* The Lizard (1909)
* The Language of the Birds (1911)
* Scaramouche (1913)
* Everyman (1916)
* The Tempest (1925)

Cantatas|

* Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1894
* Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas II (1896)
* Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897
* The Origin of Fire (1902, rev. 1910)
* The Captive Queen (1906)
* My Own Land (1918)
* Song of the Earth (1919)
* Hymn of the Earth (1920)
* Väinämöinen's Song (1926)

Other voice(s) & orchestra|

* The Rapids-Rider's Brides (1897)
* The Breaking of the Ice on the Oulu River (1899)
* Snöfrid (1900)
* Marjatta (1905, abandoned)
* Impromptu (1902, rev. 1910)
* The Raven (1910, abandoned)

Other orchestral|

* Overture in E major (1891)
* Ballet Scene (1891)
* Karelia Suite (1893)
* Rakastava (1894, arr. 1912)
* Scènes historiques I (1899, arr. 1911)
* Overture in A minor (1902)
* Romance in C major (1904)
* Cassazione (1904, rev. 1905)
* Pan and Echo (1906)
* In memoriam (1909, rev. 1910)
* Scènes historiques II (1912)
* Suite mignonne (1921)
* Suite champêtre (1922)
* Suite caractéristique (1922)

String quartets|

* String Quartet in E-flat major (1885)
* String Quartet in A minor (1889)
* String Quartet in B-flat major (1890)
* String Quartet in D minor, Voces intimae (1909)
* Andante festivo (1922, orch. 1938)

Piano trios|

* Piano Trio in A minor, Hafträsk (1886)
* Piano Trio in D major, Korpo (1887)
* Piano Trio in C major, Lovisa (1888)

Other chamber|

* Water Droplets (c. 1875–1881)
* Pieces for brass septet (1889–1899)
* Piano Quintet (1890)
* Malinconia (1900)
* Violin Sonatina (1915)

Piano|

* Six Impromptus (1893)
* Piano Sonata (1893)
* Ten Pieces, Op. 24 (1895–1903)
* Kyllikki (1904)
* Three Sonatinas (1912)
* The Bells of Kallio Church (1912, arr. 1912)
* Two Rondinos (1912)
* Five Pieces, The Trees, Op. 75 (1914)
* Five Pieces, The Flowers, Op. 85 (1916–1917)
* Five Esquisses (1929)

Songs|

* Seven Runeberg Songs, Op. 13 (1891–1892)
* "Serenad", JS 168 (1894–1895)
* Six Songs, Op. 36 (1899–1900)
* Five Songs, Op. 37 (1900–1902)
* Seven Songs, Op. 17 (1891–1904)
* Five Songs, Op. 38 (1903–1904; includes "Höstkväll")
* Six Songs, Op. 50 (1906)
* Two Songs, Op. 35 (1908)
* "Kom nu hit, död", Op. 60/1 (1909, orch. 1957)
* "Arioso", Op. 3 (1911)
* Five Christmas Songs, Op. 1 (1897–1913; includes "Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt")
* Six Runeberg Songs, Op. 90 (1917)

Choral works|

* Hymn, Op. 21 (1896, rev. 1898)
* Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotional Cantata (arr. 1898)
* Finlandia Hymn (1899, arr. 1938–1940)
* Six Partsongs, Op. 18 (1893–1901)
* Jäger March (1917)

Family|

* Ainola (home)
* Aino Sibelius (wife)
* Ruth Snellman [fi] (daughter)
* Heidi Blomstedt (daughter)
* Christian Sibelius (brother)
* Aulis Blomstedt (son-in-law)
* Jussi Jalas (son-in-law)
* Jussi Snellman [fi] (son-in-law)
* Alexander Järnefelt (father-in-law)
* Elisabeth Järnefelt (mother-in-law)
* Armas Järnefelt (brother-in-law)
* Arvid Järnefelt (brother-in-law)
* Eero Järnefelt (brother-in-law)
* Kasper Järnefelt [fi] (brother-in-law)

Teachers|

* Helsinki Music Institute: Martin Wegelius (theory, composition)
* Mitrofan Vasiliev (violin)
* Hermann Csillag [de] (violin)
* Post-graduate studies: Albert Becker
* Robert Fuchs
* Karl Goldmark

Pupils|

* Toivo Kuula
* Leevi Madetoja
* Bengt de Törne [fi]

Colleagues & friends|

* Juhani Aho
* Aino Ackté
* Granville Bantock
* Ferruccio Busoni
* Axel Carpelan [fi] (patron)
* Olin Downes
* Ida Ekman
* Richard Faltin [fi]
* Ida Flodin [fi]
* Karl Flodin [fi]
* Akseli Gallen-Kallela
* Heikki Klemetti [fi]
* Santeri Levas (secretary)
* Erkki Melartin
* Oskar Merikanto
* Rosa Newmarch
* Abraham Ojanperä
* Selim Palmgren
* Adolf Paul
* Wilhelm Stenhammar
* Karl Wasenius [fi]

Select interpreters|

* Sir Thomas Beecham
* Paavo Berglund
* Sir Colin Davis
* Neeme Järvi
* Paavo Järvi
* Robert Kajanus
* Herbert von Karajan
* Serge Koussevitzky
* Hannu Lintu
* Sakari Oramo
* Eugene Ormandy
* Sir Simon Rattle
* Jukka-Pekka Saraste
* Georg Schnéevoigt
* Leif Segerstam
* Leopold Stokowski
* Osmo Vänskä

Select biographers|

* Fabian Dahlström [fi]
* Karl Ekman [fi]
* Erik Furuhjelm [fi]
* Glenda Dawn Goss
* Cecil Gray
* Robert Layton
* Nils-Eric Ringbom [fi]
* Erik W. Tawaststjerna

Namesakes|

* International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition
* Jean Sibelius Quartet
* Sibelius (2003 film)
* Sibelius (scorewriter)
* Sibelius Academy
* Sibelius Academy Quartet
* Sibelius Glacier
* Sibelius Hall
* Sibelius Medal
* Sibelius Monument
* Sibelius Museum
* Sibelius Piano Trio
* Sibelius Society of Finland
* 1405 Sibelius (asteroid)
* Wihuri Sibelius Prize

Category

Portal:

* Classical Music

*[c.]: circa
*[orch.]: orchestrated
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*[rev.]: revised
*[arr.]: arranged