Hymn | |
---|---|
Choral song by Jean Sibelius | |
Opus | 21 |
Text | Fridolf Gustafsson |
Language | Latin |
Composed | 1896 | , rev. 1898
Publisher | Fazer & Westerlund (1898) [1] [a] |
Premiere | |
Date | 26 May 1896[3] |
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 .
The piece premiered on 26 May 1896 in Helsinki during a ceremony dedicating a memorial stone to Josef Pippingsköld , 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 , which Sibelius conducted. Following this, the university's docent, Gustaf Heinricius 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Fazer & Westerlund (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) published the revised version in 1898, although this first edition was superseded in 1906 when the German-based firm of Breitkopf & Härtel—having bought Fazer's Sibelius contracts and plates in 1905—issued a reprint.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]
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.