Six Partsongs

Six Partsongs
Choral works by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1899)
Opus	18
Text	Nos. 1, 4: Kanteletar Nos. 2–3: Kalevala Nos. 5–6: Aleksis Kivi
Language	Finnish
Composed	1893 (1893)–1901
Publisher	piecemeal by several firms[1]

The Six Partsongs (sometimes listed as the Six Songs; deprecated title Nine Partsongs or Nine Songs), Op. 18, is a collection of Finnish-language a cappella choral pieces written from 1893 to 1901 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Originally composed for male choir, the composer subsequently arranged Nos. 1, 3–4, and 6 (under the same catalogue number) for mixed choir. The Six Partsongs are as follows:

• "Sortunut ääni" ("The Broken Voice"), Op. 18/1 (1898–1899, arr. for SATB 1898–1899)^[2]
• "Terve kuu" ("Hail, Moon"), Op. 18/2 (1901)^[3]
• "Venemakta" ("The Boat Journey"), Op. 18/3 (1893, arr. for SATB 1914)^[4]
• "Saarella palaa" ("Fire on the Island"), Op. 18/4 (1895, arr. for SATB 1898)^[5]
• "Metsämiehen laulu" ("The Woodsman's Song"), Op. 18/5 (1899)^[3]
• "Sydämeni laulu" ("Song of My Heart"), Op. 18/6 (1898, arr. for SATB 1904)^[6]

The lyrics for Nos. 2–3 come from Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, while Nos. 1 and 4 draw on its companion book of poetry, the Kanteletar; finally, for Nos. 5–6 Sibelius set excerpts from the novel Seven Brothers (Seitsemän veljestä) by Aleksis Kivi.^[7]

Music

Aleksis Kivi's Seven Brothers (1870), verses from which Sibelius set in Op. 18, Nos. 5–6

Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, verses from which Sibelius set in Op. 18, Nos. 2–3

No. 1: "Sortunut ääni"

• 1898–1899 for male choir; arranged for mixed choir in 1898–1899^[2]
• The tempo marking is: Ei liian hitaasti [Not too slowly; Nicht zu langsam].^[8]
• It has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.^[8]
• The text comes from poem No. LVII (57) of the Kanteletar.^[8]
• Version for male choir premiered on 21 April 1899 in Helsinki by Heikki Klemetti [fi] and the YL Male Voice Choir.^[8]
• The male choir version was published by YL.^[8]
• Dahlström does not report the premiere of the version for mixed choir.
• The mixed choir version was published by K. E. Holm [fi] in 1898 as part of Sävelistö music magazine, edited by Emil Forsström [fi]^[9]

No. 2: "Terve kuu"

• 1901 for male choir^[3]
• The tempo marking is: Reippaasti, musta vakavasti [Briskly, but solemnly; Frisch, aber ernst].^[10]
• It has a duration of about three minutes.^[10]
• The text comes from the Kalevala, Runo XLIX (49) (lines 403–422).^[10]
• Premiered on 30 May 1901 by Klemetti and Suomen Laulu [fi].^[10]
• Published by Fazer & Westerlund [fi] in 1902.^[10]
• Was not arranged for mixed choir.

No. 3: "Venemakta"

• 1893 for male choir; arranged for mixed choir in 1914^[4]
• The tempo marking is: Reippaasti [Briskly; Frisch]^[11]
• It has a duration of about two minutes.^[11]
• The text comes from the Kalevala, Runo XL (40) (lines 1–16).^[11]
• Version for male choir premiered on 4 April 1893 in Helsinki by Jalmari Hahl [fi] and the YL Male Voice Choir.^[11]
• The male choir version was published by K. E. Holm in 1895.^[11]

No. 4: "Saarella palaa"

• Op. 18/4 (1895; arranged for mixed choir in 1898)^[5]
• The text is the Kanteletar
• arr. for SATB

No. 5: "Metsämiehen laulu"

• Op. 18/5 (1899)^[3]
• The tempo marking is: Alla marcia
• The text is from Seven Brothers

No. 6: "Sydämeni laulu"

• Op. 18/6 (1898; arranged for mixed choir in 1904)^[6]
• The tempo marking is: Lento assai
• The text is from Seven Brothers

Partsongs related to Op. 18

The following three partsongs were at one time listed by Sibelius under the Op. 18 catalogue number but were removed subsequently. The deprecated title of Nine Partsongs, then, refers to their inclusion:

• "Isanmaalle" ("To the Fatherland"), JS 98 (1899; revised and arranged for mixed choir 1900; revised version arranged for male choir in 1908)^[3] ... text by Paavo Cajander
• "Veljeni vierailla maalla" ("My Brothers Abroad"), JS 217 (1904)^[3] ... text by Juhani Aho
• "Min rastas raataa" ("Busy as a Thrush"), JS 129 (1898)^[3] ... for mixed choir only ... text from the Kanteletar

Discography

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Op. 18 partsongs, as well as the three related partsongs noted above:

No.	Ensemble	Conductor	Partsong runtime[a]									Rec.[b]	Recording venue	Label	Ref.
			Op. 18/1	Op. 18/2	Op. 18/3	Op. 18/4	Op. 18/5	Op. 18/6	JS 98	JS 129	JS 217
1	YL Male Voice Choir (1)	Matti Hyökki [fi] (1)	1:33	3:28	2:00	1:25	1:40	2:38	2:01	—	3:31	1986	German Church, Helsinki [fi]	Finlandia	[c]
2	Candomino Choir [fi]	Tauno Satomaa [fi]	1:30	—	—	1:34	—	2:09	—	—	—	1987	[Unknown], Espoo	Finlandia	[d]
3	Jubilate Choir [fi] (1)	Astrid Riska (1)	1:24	—	2:17	1:07	—	2:06	—	1:15	—	1992	Järvenpää Hall [fi]	Ondine	[e]
4	Jubilate Choir [fi] (2)	Astrid Riska (2)	1:22	—	2:16	1:12	—	2:56	2:19	1:17	—	1996	Danderyds gymnasium [sv]	BIS	[f]
5	Tapiola Chamber Choir [fi]	Hannu Norjanen	1:25	—	1:51	1:32	—	2:55	2:01	1:22	—	1997	Roihuvuori Church [fi]	Finlandia	[g]
6	Accentus Chamber Choir	Eric Ericson	1:49	—	—	—	—	—	2:11	—	—	2001	Church Notre Dame de Liban	Naive	[h]
7	YL Male Voice Choir (2)	Matti Hyökki [fi] (2)	1:20	3:10	1:34	1:23	1:36	2:12	1:47	—	3:13	2006	New Pavilon [fi], Kauniainen	BIS[i]	[j]
8	Polytech Choir	Juha Kuivanen [fi]	1:09	2:56	—	1:10	—	2:26	—	—	—	2007	Riihimäki Garrison Church [fi]	PK	[k]
9	Dominante Choir [fi]	Seppo Murto [fi]	1:32	—	1:37	1:19	—	3:01	2:03	1:17	—	2010	New Pavilon [fi], Kauniainen	BIS	[l]
10	Klemetti Institute Chamber Choir [fi]	Heikki Liimola	1:37	—	1:43	—	—	—	—	—	—	2010	Tampere Hall	Alba [fi]	[m]
11	Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir	Heikki Seppanen	1:23	—	1:44	1:13	—	2:55	2:05	1:10	—	2014	Järvenpää Hall [fi]	Ondine	[n]
12	Ensemble Nobiles [de]	—	1:46	—	—	—	—	2:32	2:08	—	—	2016	Zur Ratte, Leipzig	Genuin	[o]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes

1. All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
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. YL Male Voice Choir–Finlandia (FACD 205 S) 1987
4. Candomino Choir–Finlandia (FACD 918 S) 1987
5. Jubilate Choir–Ondine (ODE 805–2) 1993
6. Jubilate Choir–BIS (CD–825) 1996
7. Tapiola Chamber Choir–Finlandia (0630–19054–2) 1998
8. Accentus Chamber Choir–Naive (V4924) 2002
9. This recording is of the original 1899 version of Isanmaalle, JS 98
10. YL Male Voice Choir–BIS (CD–1433) 2008
11. Polytech Choir–PK (PKCD20) 2008
12. Dominante Choir–BIS (CD–1889) 2012
13. Klemetti Institute Chamber Choir–Alba (ABCD 329) 2010
14. Estonian Phil. Chamber Choir–Ondine (ODE 1260–2D) 2015
15. Ensemble Nobiles–Genuin (GEN 17469) 2017

References

1. Dahlström 2003, pp. 68–77.
2. Barnett 2007, p. 412.
3. Barnett 2007, p. 413.
4. Barnett 2007, pp. 411, 414.
5. Barnett 2007, pp. 411–412.
6. Barnett 2007, pp. 412–413.
7. Barnett 2007, p. 411–414.
8. Dahlström 2003, p. 68.
9. Dahlström 2003, p. 69.
10. Dahlström 2003, p. 70.
11. Dahlström 2003, p. 71.

Sources

• 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.

External links

• Six Partsongs, Op. 18: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project