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*Hymn*
Hymn
Choral song by Jean Sibelius
	The young composer (c. 1896)
Opus	21
Text	Fridolf Gustafsson [fi]
Language	Latin
Composed	1896, rev. 1898
Publisher	Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (1898)
Premiere
Date	26 May 1896
Location	Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Conductor	Jean Sibelius
Performers	amateur male choir

The Hymn (in Latin: Hymne; in Finnish: Hymni),^[3] Op. 21, is a choral song for male choir (TTBB) a cappella written in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece is a setting of the Latin-language text "Natus in curas ..." by the Finnish philologist Fridolf Gustafsson [fi].

History

Sibelius's Hymn, to a text by Fridolf Gustafsson [fi] (left), was written for a 26 May 1896 ceremony commemorating the obstetrician J. A. J. Pippingsköld [fi] (right).

The piece premiered on 26 May 1896 in Helsinki during a ceremony dedicating a memorial stone to Josef Pippingsköld [fi], the late professor of obstetrics at the Imperial Alexander University in Finland (now the University of Helsinki) and member of Finnish Diet; Sibelius conducted a small amateur choir in the old university graveyard.^[3]

The ceremony began with a performance of "Integer vitæ", a funereal choral song (1811) by the German composer and medical doctor Friedrich Ferdinand Flemming [fi], which Sibelius conducted. Following this, the university's docent, Gustaf Heinricius [fi] gave a tribute that celebrated Pippingsköld's life and accomplishments, and the memorial event concluded with the performance of Sibelius's new choral piece.^[4]^[5] The newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reviewed Sibelius's Hymn as follows: "The simple opening act was brought to a particularly impressive end by a hymn Jean Sibelius had composed for the occasion in the old Italian style. This did not fail to affect those present".^[4]

In 1898, Sibelius made minor revisions to the Hymn.^[6] Helsinki's Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) published the revised version in 1898, although this first edition was superseded in 1906 when the German-based firm of Breitkopf & Härtel—having bought Fazer's Sibelius contracts and plates in 1905—issued a reprint.^[7] The original, however, is extant, and each version takes about four minutes to perform.^[3]

Music

The tempo marking is Moderato, the time signature is ³
₂, and the key is with one sharp. Eventually, the song transitions to a middle section marked Un pochissimo allegro and with no sharps or flats. The Hymn then concludes as it began.

Notes, references, and sources

Notes

^ On 20 July 1905, the Helsinki-based music publisher Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) sold its Sibelius holdings (the publishing rights and printing plates) to the German firm of Breitkopf & Härtel.^[2]

References

^ Dahlström 2003, p. 83.
^ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Dahlström 2003, p. 82.
^ ^a ^b Hufvudstadsbladet, No. 140 1896, p. 3.
^ Nya Pressen, No. 140 1896, p. 2.
^ Barnett 2007, pp. 106, 120.
^ Dahlström 2003, pp. xxiv, 83.

Sources

"Statsrådet J. Pippingskölds" [State Councilor J. Pippingsköld]. Hufvudstadsbladet (in Swedish). No. 140. 26 May 1896. p. 3.
"Invigningen af statsrådet J.A.J. Pippingskölds grafvärd" [The Inauguration of State Councilor J.A.J. Pippingsköld's Gravestone]. Nya Pressen (in Swedish). No. 140. 26 May 1896. p. 2.
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.