“Vårsång” Spring Song, Op. 16

The Medical College of Wisconsin Orchestra
Spring 2024 Concert
“Vårsång” Spring Song, Op. 16
by Jean Sibelius
Conducted by: Alexander Mandl, DMA
The fame of Jean Sibelius rests on his orchestral works, mainly his seven symphonies and the Violin Concerto. He also wrote several symphonic poems, the most important of which are: the earthy Karelia Suite, Op. 11, the Lemminkäinen Suite, Op. 22, based on the Kalevala myths, Finlandia, Op. 26, which became the symbol of Finland's struggle for independence and then of Finland as a nation, and the monumental Tapiola, Op. 112, which was his last major work. The significance of Sibelius for the music not only of Finland but the whole of Europe was encapsulated by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, who wrote in a letter to Sibelius: “You have lit a candle that will never go out.” Tonight, we perform two tone poems by Sibelius, the famous Finlandia and the seldom heard Spring Song.
If ever there was a piece that felt like one of those rare, never-to-be repeated moments in life, blue sky, sun’s warmth on your back, in a picture-perfect landscape of beauty, it is Sibelius’ early tone poem “Vårsång” Spring Song, Op. 16. A little, solitary slice of heaven. Its genesis started in early 1894 as an “improvisation” for orchestra and was premiered on July 21, 1894. The official publishing, in the current orchestration, is dated 1902.
The piece begins with a crack of thunder followed by a comforting melody with the cellos doubled by a clarinet. It uplifts the listener with assurance that the arrival of Spring with the melting snow yields to a kaleidoscopic splendor of tone colors depicted by Sibelius’ orchestration. The melody rises and will then be repeated by the full upper strings as another thunder roll faints in the distance. Intensity will build as more forces join in chorus reaching a climax as the brass joins the declamatory nature of the second theme in a darker key. This intense section pulls and tugs eventually diffusing its tension and ushering the return of the main melody at a higher register. Again, Sibelius builds the tension in a long phrase that is crowned by repeated chords and ringing “church” bells - all stops! The storm has ended and a ray of sunshine beams through the heavens reminding us that Spring is now flourishing in full rebirth. Sibelius then paints a glorious closing of the season in breathless magnificence.