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User:Silence of Järvenpää/Work (d)

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Death
Theatre score & associated works by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1902)
Native nameKuolema
CatalogueJS 113 (score)
Opus
  • 44 (two excerpted concert pieces)
  • 62 (two additions to score)
TextKuolema by Arvid Järnefelt
Composed1903 (score), arr. 1904 (Op. 44), rev. 1906–1911 (Op. 62 additions)
DurationApprox.  mins.
Premiere
Date2 December 1903 (1903-12-02)
Location
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersHelsinki Philharmonic Society

Death (in Finnish: Kuolema), JS 113, is a theatre score originally comprising six numbers written in 1903 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Associated works are Valse triste (Op. 44/1) and Scene with Cranes (Kurkikohtaus, Op. 44/2), as well as Canzonetta (Op. 62b) and Valse romantique (Op. 62b)

Sibelius excerpted and revised the score to produce two concert pieces for orchestra: in 1904, No. 1—Tempo di valse lente – Poco risoluto—as Valse triste (Op. 44/1); and in 1906, the outer sections of No. 3 (Moderato assai and Poco adagio) with No. 4—Andante—as Scene with Cranes (Op. 44/2). In 1904, he also transcribed Valse triste for solo piano.

Finally, for a 1911 production of the play, he wrote two new numbers for a revised version of Järnefelt's play: Canzonetta (Op. 62/1)—originally titled Rondo der Liebenden (Rondo of the Lovers) and written in 1906—and Valse romantique (Op. 62/1)—originally titled Vals-intermezzo.


The Finnish baritone Abraham Ojanperä and the Finnish soprano Hanna Granfelt, respectively, sang Paavali's Song and Elsa's Song (each in Act II) at the 1903 premiere.

Structure and roles

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Death is in three acts, comprising five tableaux. It features two vocal soloists and two songs. A typical performance lasts about ?? minutes.

Roles Appearances Premiere cast
(2 December 1903)[1]
Paavali's mother Act I Katri Rautio [fi]
Paavali (young) Act I Olga Leino [fi]
Paavali (adult) Acts II and III Knut Weckman [fi] (albeit with song sung by Ojanperä)
Witch Act II Mimmi Lähteenoja [fi]
Elsa Acts II and III Hanna Granfelt
Stranger ? Benjamin Leino [fi]
  1. ^ Päivälehti, No. 280 1903, p. 3.