The Five Pieces (in French: Cinq Morceaux),[2]Op. 85, is a collection of compositions for piano written from 1916 to 1917 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The Five Pieces, however, is more commonly referred to by its informal nickname The Flowers due to the fact that the descriptive titles of the five pieces share a thematic link.
An 1892 sketch of Sibelius at the piano by his future brother-in-law Eero Järnefelt
Sibelius (1927) plays the Steinway grand piano at his home, Ainola.
Structure and music
No. 1: The Daisy
The Daisy (in French: Bellis; in Finnish: Kaunokki) was published in 1921 by the London-based firm of Augener & Co.. Marked Presto – Allegretto, it has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.[2]
No. 2: The Carnation
The Carnation (in French: Œillet; in Finnish: Neilikka) was also published in 1921 by Augener. Marked Con moto, it has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.[2]
No. 3: The Iris
The Iris (in French: Iris; in Finnish: Iiris) was published in 1921 by London's J. & W. Chester. Marked Allegretto e deciso, it has a duration of about three minutes.[3]
No. 4: The Columbine
The Columbine (in French: Aquileja; in Finnish: Akileija) was also published in 1921 by Chester. Marked Allegretto, it has a duration of about 1.75 minutes.[4]
No. 5: The Campanula
The Campanula (in French: Campanula; in Finnish Kellokukka) was also published in 1921 by Chester. Marked Andantino, it has a duration of about 2.25 minutes.[4]
Reception
Discography
The Japanese pianist Izumi Tateno made the world premiere studio recording of the Op. 85 Five Pieces in 1971, albeit across two labels: Toshiba Records (TA 60103) released The Daisy and The Carnation (Nos. 1–2), while EMI (5E 063–34472) released The Iris, The Columbine, and The Campanula (Nos. 3–5).[5] The sortable table below lists, in addition to the aforementioned Tateno traversal, other commercially available recordings of The Flowers, as a whole:
^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.
Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN978-0-300-11159-0.
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. ISBN3-7651-0333-0.
Layton, Robert (1993) [1965]. Sibelius. (The Master Musicians Series) (4th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN0028713222.