Everyman (Sibelius)

Everyman
Incidental music by Jean Sibelius
The composer in 1913
Native name	Jedermann / Jokamies
Opus	83
Text	Jedermann by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Composed	1916
Duration	Approx. 40 mins.
Premiere
Date	5 November 1916 (1916-11-05)
Location	Finnish National Theatre Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Conductor	Robert Kajanus
Performers	Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

Everyman (in Finnish: Jokamies; in German: Jedermann), Op. 83, is a theatre score—comprising 16 numbers—for soloists, mixed choir, orchestra, piano, and organ by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius; he wrote the music in 1916 to accompany a Finnish-language production of the Austrian author Hugo von Hofmannsthal's 1911 play of the same name.

The play premiered on 5 November 1916 at the Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, with Robert Kajanus conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the theatre director was Jalmari Lahdensuo [fi].

History

Hugo von Hofmannsthal (left) wrote Jedermann in 1911, the year it was first staged by Max Reinhardt. In 1917, the play was translated into English as Everyman.

Composition

On 15 May 1916, the

The essence of Everyman lies in its emphasis on transformation, both bodily and spiritual ... It was this idea of mutability, and of the transience of mortal life, that attracted Hofmannsthal. Sibelius shared [this] acute feeling for a world in transition, of the essentially melancholic, nostalgic experience of passing time and human loss ... Both [men] were concerned with the impression of modernism and modernity as one of slippage ...^[7]

Sibelius began working on the score on 10 July, although by the next day he already was confiding in his diary doubts about the project.^[8] By 13 July, he had broken off work on the project to attend to more pressing matters: the impending marriage of his daughter Ruth [fi] to Jussi Snellman [fi] (both were stage actors at the National Theatre) on 21 July.^[d] Sibelius considered it his responsibility to marry off his daughters "in style ... all this cost money". To address his finances, he "worked like a blacksmith" to compose a handful of piano pieces for the Helsinki-based music publisher R. E. Westerlund [fi].^[8]

Premiere

Jalmari Lahdensuo [fi] (right) directed the first Finnish-language production of Hofmannsthal's Jedermann and commissioned Sibelius to write the incidental music.

On 5 November 1916, the National Theatre's Jedermann premiered at a 2:00 matinée, with a second performance at 8:00 that night.

Writing in Helsingin Sanomat, the theatre critic Erkki Kivijärvi [fi] posited that even though Sibelius's "magnificently generous and wonderfully lucid music" had been the production's "most powerful mood-maker", Hofmannsthal's play remained for the audience merely an "artistic and literary-historical curiosity", its moral comprehensible yet anachronistic:^[11]

[It is] the same aesthetic pleasure as the spiritual pictorial art of past centuries, the reverential beauty of which arouses in us a wistfulness, but fails to make us feel the religious devotion in which it was created ... Audience members felt ... [as if] they had been present at a strange occasion, that they had wandered for a moment into a sanctuary that the feverish pulse of life's everyday hustle and bustle could not penetrate ... Nevertheless, [the play] does not have the power to melt the minds of modern people.^[11]

For the same newspaper, the composer

After the sinking of the SS Kuru (top) on 7 September 1929 led to 136 fatalities, the Tampere Theatre performed Jedermann in memoriam (arranged by Hans Aufrichtig [fi]).

In April 1925, the Berlin-based music publisher Robert Lienau, with whom Sibelius had contracted from 1904 to 1910,^[e] wrote asking the composer for a short orchestral work similar in style to the concert suites for Pelléas et Mélisande (1905) or Belshazzar's Feast (1906).^[14] Sibelius replied that he could make a suite of Jedermann ("From this music I could put together a good suite. I shall write to you about it next season".) Although Lienau agreed enthusiastically, Sibelius abandoned the idea for unknown reasons. The Sibelius biographer Andrew Barnett speculates that Sibelius may have lost interest in reworking Jedermann upon receiving in May a commission from the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen to compose incidental music to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Nevertheless, Sibelius produced three pieces for solo piano from No. II (Episodio. Largo), No. IV (Scena. Allegretto—Moderato), and Nos. VII–IX (Canzone. Andantino), "presumably as an offshoot" of his work for Lienau.^[14][f]

While Sibelius never made Jedermann suitable for the concert hall, a revival of play by Lahdensuo in late 1929 again brought the music to Finnish audiences, albeit outside of the capital. On 7 September, the SS Kuru sank during a storm on Lake Näsijärvi, a tragedy that caused the deaths of 136 people aboard the steamship; as a result, Tampere's Jedermann would serve as a memorial tribute to the deceased.^[1] The production was organized in some haste (rehearsals were a mere two weeks), and because the city did not have large orchestral forces at its disposal, the conductor Hans Aufrichtig [fi]—at Sibelius's request—arranged the score for smaller forces.^[1][g] The next year, Lahdensuo staged Jedermann in Turku, with Tauno Hannikainen conducting the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.^[1]

Glory Leppänen (left) directed the Finnish National Theatre's 1935 revival of Jedermann, which also used Sibelius's music.

On 11 December 1935, the National Theatre revived Jedermann in honor of Sibelius's seventieth birthday. (By then, the composer had unofficially retired, although the music world breathlessly awaited his reportedly-in-progress

Although Jedermann is in one act (without intermission), it roughly subdivides into two de facto, emotionally-distinct sections: before Death reaches Everyman, and after. Sibelius composed 16 numbers, which range from mere seconds (e.g., Nos. I, VI–VII) to ten minutes (No. XI). It features three vocal soloists, who are among the guests at the banquet. A typical performance of the score lasts between 40 and 49 minutes (although the play is two hours in duration).

Synopsis

As a modern adaptation of the medieval morality play Everyman, Hofmannsthal's Jedermann contains several allegorical characters. The play seeks to "teach people that their earthly existence is transitory":^[1] before God, all that matters is one's record of good deeds. However, even at the eleventh hour, repentance of ones sins is possible.

Everyman caresses the Paramour at the banquet (No. IIIa)—there, the candle-lit dining table is lavishly decorated with expensive food and drink (the sin of gluttony). The guests sing and dance (No. IV), but the festive atmosphere sours for Everyman, who senses Death's approach. Paranoid, he runs from the table; when the Paramour goes to calm him, he asks her if she would follow him forever, even in death.^[24] The guests resume singing and dancing (Nos. V–VII), restoring Everyman's good humor. However, during a love song, Everyman alone hears the deathly tolling of the bell (No. VIII). To steady his nerves, he imbibes more wine and listens as the oblivious guests sing a canon (No. IX, a modification of No. VII). At the end of this song, Everyman alone hears the ghostly calling of his name.^[17][24] Again, the guests make merry (No. X) until the arrival of Death, whom they see standing forbiddingly behind Everyman—everyone (including the Paramour) flee, except for the Good Friend, the Fat Cousin, and the Skinny Cousin. Although the spirit permits Everyman to bring a companion on his final journey, all three men refuse—for they, too, would die. Abandoned, Everyman resolves to bring that which he holds most dear, his fortune, but the servants and horses carrying his treasure chest scatter upon seeing Death. Everyman now caresses the chest; the lid opens to reveal Mammon, who ruthlessly disowns and mocks his "slave".^[25][26]

Good Works appears as an sickly woman laying on a filthy bed, symbolizing the lack of compassion and rectitude with which Everyman has lived. In a gentle, soft voice, she tells him that she is too weak to safely guide him on the road to the afterlife, and instructs him to look instead to her sister, Faith, for salvation (No. XII).^[25][27] Under Faith's guidance, Everyman repents his sins and prays for forgiveness; to the sound of an organ chorale, he has a vision of the Mother attending morning mass and realizing her son has been redeemed (No. XIII). Having purified his soul, Everyman—now carrying a pilgrim's staff and clothed in a white robe he has received from the Monk—sets out for his grave accompanied by Faith and Good Works (her health restored).^[27] As a final hurdle, the Devil arrives aggrieved, protesting that because Everyman had lived in sin and never had any use for religion, the soul properly belongs him (No. XIV). However, the two sisters, as well as a group of angels, block his path, and Faith tells the Devil the ringing of the bell now indicates Everyman's eternal life with the Lord God.^[25][28] With Good Works, Everyman enters his tomb (No. XV), as Faith intones: "Now, he has completed his human lot, and appears naked and bare before the Supreme Judge, and only his works will assist him and speak in his favor. Redeem him ..." The play concludes with the angels singing a hymn of praise to the Lord God (No. XVI).^[25]

Music

Jedermann is scored for