The poem had previously been set in full by Wilhelm Stenhammar (Op. 5) in 1891.[4] Sibelius composed the work in the fall of 1900 on a poem by Viktor Rydberg. He later noted: "I wrote Snöfrid more or less at one sitting after I came home from three days of lively celebrations."[3] The plot on which it is based is inspired by old Scandinavian balladic stories. A female protagonist appeals to her compatriots, in particular a hero, to fight for freedom as a higher goal than fortune, fame and pleasure.[5] Sibelius was inspired by several works by Rydberg, including solo songs and Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph). He liked Rydberg's free verse, expressing both erotic and political ideas.[5] The heroic element possibly appealed to his own battles "with everybody and everything".[6] Sibelius chose dramatic scenes from the poem, such as Snöfrid's "If you choose me, then you choose the tempest."[6] The instrumental prelude depicts a storm at night, with whining strings, howling brass, thundering percussion, but "dominated by melodic and harmonic elements".[6]
The work was first performed in Helsinki on 20 October 1900, with the Orchestra of the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by Sibelius.[2] The occasion was a lottery to finance a tour of the orchestra to Paris.[3] An unsigned review in the newspaper Päivälehti noted:
However, the most glorious piece of the whole evening was the last work in the programme, Sibelius's latest composition, a melodrama set to the words of Viktor Rydberg's "Snöfrid". ... This most recent of Sibelius's products marks a concrete advance in every respect, both as regards its warm, harmonious atmosphere and the use of visual arts and choir. The work as a whole makes such a warm, heart-felt impression and feels so lucid and inspired that it is indisputably one of Sibelius's masterpieces. Hopefully it will soon be performed again."[3]
Later Sibelius composed the last movement on a different text, Volter Kilpi's Ylistys taiteelle. This version was first performed on 9 April 1902.[3]
A review notes that the "galloping early pages" are reminiscent of the Second Symphony and continues:
It is an unusual piece with two turbulently majestic and sometimes idyllic choral sections framing an episode in which a female narrator speaks as the heroine Snöfrid. The orchestral fabric behind the closely-recorded voice is minimal (a soft dark breathing pulse from the brass) similar in approach to much of the instrumental underpinning in Luonnotar.[7]
Notes, references, and sources
Notes
^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. Yale University Press. p. [page needed]. ISBN9780300111590. Unlike Stenhammar, who had set this poem to music in 1891, Sibelius selected only extracts from the poem.
Tomi Mäkelä: "Jean Sibelius und seine Zeit" (in German), Laaber-Verlag, Regensburg 2013
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.
