In 1894, Sibelius completed Rakastava, a cycle of four a cappella songs for men's chorus on a Finnish text in Book 1 of the collection of Finnish folk poems, the Kanteletar.[1][2] He first set it in 1894, as an entry for a local competition. He won the second prize, while the first prize went to his former teacher.[3] Sibelius arranged the cycle for men's chorus and string orchestra in 1894, and for mixed choir in 1898.[1]
Sibelius used the cycle as the basis for the orchestral suite Rakastava for string orchestra, percussion and triangle, to which he assigned the opus number 14. He completed it in 1912, when he also wrote his Fourth Symphony.[1][4] Sibelius often conducted the suite together with his symphonies because the piece "captivated audiences".[1]
Rakastava, Andante con moto (common time, D minor)
Rakastetun tie (The way of the lover), Allegretto (3 4, B♭ major)
Hyvää iltaa ... Jää hyvästi (Good evening, farewell), Andantino (cut time, F major & D minor)[5]
In the first movement, the strings sound light and beautiful. The choral part of the second movement was changed to "murmurs on the strings and wonderfully flexible melodic progressions."[1] The third movement is deeply emotional as its model.[1]
