Cassazione (Sibelius)
| Cassazione | |
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Helsinki Philharmonic Society |
Cassazione, Op. 6, is a single-movement concert piece for orchestra written in 1904 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Its title refers to the cassation, a genre similar to the serenade, that was popular in the eighteenth century. Sibelius originally structured the work in five "episodes," although upon revision in 1905 he reduced this to four. Although his opus numbers were already in the forties, he assigned the unused number Op. 6 to this work, implying an earlier composition date.[3]
History
In early 1904, Sibelius labored on his first
A review by Oskar Merikanto evaluated Cassazione as "fairly insignificant". Sibelius revised the work in 1905, but left a note "Bör omarbetas" ("Must be revised").[3]
Instrumentation
In its revised form, Cassazione is scored for the following instruments,[6] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, and strings):
- 2 flutes and 2 clarinets
- 2 horns, 1 trumpet, and 1 trombone
- Violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
The original version of the piece called for much larger orchestral forces, including 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, timpani, and five additional brass players (2 horns, 1 trumpet, and 2 trombones).[2]
Reviews
The beginning of the music, in a chromatic "suspense-filling way", has been compared to the similar opening of Monty Norman's Dr No, the first James Bond film from 1962.[7] Rob Barnett notes in a review of a recording by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä as part of a complete recording of the composer's works: "Sibelius must have had a sense of humour to call this work a 'cassation'".[8] He describes it as a ballade for orchestra, beginning: "stern, relentlessly insistent, ferocious and triple forte".[8] He points out a "Balakirev-style clarinet solo", an "Elgarian serenade", and a "chaste oboe solo", concluding: "The piece is played and recorded with wit, rapacious energy and gripping concentration."[8]
Discography
The Estonian-American conductor
| No. | Conductor | Ensemble | Rec.[a] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neemi Järvi
|
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | 1989 | 12:55 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS | |
| 2 | Atso Almila | Kuopio Symphony Orchestra | 1998 | 12:27 | Kuopio Music Centre | Finlandia
|
|
| 3 | Tuomas Hannikainen | Tapiola Sinfonietta | 2000 | 10:28 | Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre | Ondine | |
| † | Osmo Vänskä | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2002 | 12:14 | Sibelius Hall | BIS |
† = original version (1904)
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.
- ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–448) 1989
- ^ A. Almila–Finlandia (3984–23391–2) 1999
- ^ T. Hannikainen–Ondine (ODE 952–2) 2000
- ^ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1445) 2003
References
- ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Dahlström 2003, p. 19.
- ^ a b "Other orchestral works / Cassazione". Jean Sibelius. Finnish Club of Helsinki. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ Barnett 2007, p. 156.
- ^ a b Barnett 2007, p. 260.
- ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 20.
- ^ Service, Tom (15 September 2010). "Jean Sibelius meets James Bond". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ a b c Barnett, Rob (2003). "Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16397-1.
- ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
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