Impromptu | |
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Choral piece by Jean Sibelius | |
Opus | 19 |
Text |
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Language | Swedish |
Composed | 1902 |
Publisher | Breitkopf & Härtel (1912) [2] |
Duration | 7 mins. ( orig. 6 mins.) [3] |
Premiere | |
Date | 8 March 1902[1] |
Location | Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland |
Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
Performers | Helsinki Philharmonic Society |
The Impromptu, Op. 19, is a single- movement work for female choir and orchestra written in 1902 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of the Swedish poet Viktor Rydberg's poem Unge hellener (Young Hellenics), premiered in Helsinki on 8 March 1902, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society and an amateur choir. The Impromptu was the middle item a program that also included two other first performances: the Overture in A minor ( JS 144), which served as the opener; and the Second Symphony (Op. 43). [4] [1]
Sibelius extensively revised the Impromptu in the spring of 1910, reducing the instrumentation and altering both the beginning and ending of the piece, the former of which now incorporated a second Rydberg poem, Bacchospräster (The Priests of Bacchus). [2] [5] This version of the Impromptu received its premiere in Helsinki on 29 March 1912, with Sibelius conducting the Philharmonic Society; [6] "Nuori Laulu" and the Arbetets vänner female choir sang the choral part. [2]
The revised version of the Impromptu is scored for the following instruments and voices, [2] organized by family ( vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
The original version of the piece called for much larger orchestral forces, including 2 trumpets, cymbals, bass drum, tambourine, and castanets. [1]
The Estonian conductor Eri Klas and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of the Impromptu in 1990 for Ondine. [2] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
No. | Conductor | Ensemble | Chorus | Rec. [a] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
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1 | Eri Klas | Finnish National Opera Orchestra | Finnish National Opera Chorus | 1990 | 6:59 | Roihuvuori Church | Ondine | |
2 | Osmo Vänskä (1) | Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1) | Dominante Choir (1) | 2004 | 6:57 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |
† | Osmo Vänskä (2) | Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2) | Dominante Choir (2) | 2004 | 5:27 | Sibelius Hall | BIS |
† = original version (1902)