The Rapids-Rider's Brides

The Rapids-Rider's Brides
Orchestral song by Jean Sibelius
The young composer (c. 1896)
Native nameKoskenlaskijan morsiamet
Opus33
TextKoskenlaskijan morsiamet, by A. Oksanen[1]
LanguageFinnish
Composed1897 (1897), transcribed 1897–1899, arranged 1943
PublisherFazer & Westerlund (1899)[2][a]
Duration~9 minutes[1]
Premiere
Date1 November 1897 (1897-11-01)[1]
LocationHelsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
Performers

The Rapids-Rider's Brides (Finnish: Koskenlaskijan morsiamet; sometimes translated as The Ferryman's Brides or The Rapids-Shooter's Brides), Op. 33, is a song for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and orchestra, composed in 1897 by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Sibelius later created two arrangements of The Rapids-Rider's Brides: first, a version for voice and piano (1897–1899), and later, an arrangement for male choir and orchestra (1943).[4]

Instrumentation

The Rapids-Rider's Brides is scored for the following instruments and voices,[1] organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):

Discography

The Finnish conductor Jorma Panula and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Finnish baritone Jorma Hynninen, made the world premiere studio recording of The Rapids-Rider's Brides in May 1984 for BIS.[1] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Conductor Orchestra Baritone Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Jorma Panula Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Jorma Hynninen (1) 1984 9:00 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
2 Leif Segerstam Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra Jorma Hynninen (2) ? 9:06 ? Ondine
3 Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Gerald Finley 2016 9:44 Grieg Hall Chandos
No. Conductor Orchestra Ensemble Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra YL Male Voice Choir 2005 8:36 Sibelius Hall BIS

In 2008, the Swedish baritone Gabriel Suovanen and the Finnish pianist Folke Gräsbeck made the world premiere studio (and, to date, only) recording of Sibelius transcription of The Rapids-Rider's Brides for BIS. The table below contains additional details about this recording:

No. Baritone Piano Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Gabriel Suovanen Folke Gräsbeck 2008 11:31 Kuusankoski Concert Hall BIS

Notes, references, and sources

Notes
  1. ^ On 20 July 1905, the Helsinki-based music publisher Fazer & Westerlund (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) sold its Sibelius holdings (the publishing rights and printing plates) to the German firm Breitkopf & Härtel.[3]
  2. ^ a b c 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.
  3. ^ a b c All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
  4. ^ J. Panula—BIS (CD–270) 1985
  5. ^ L. Segerstam—Ondine (ODE 823–2) 2007
  6. ^ E. Gardner—Chandos (CHSA 5178) 2017
  7. ^ O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1525) 2007
  8. ^ G. Suovanen—BIS (CD–1918/20) 2008
References
  1. ^ a b c d e Dahlström 2003, p. 145.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 96.
  3. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
  4. ^ Barnett 2007, pp. 113, 344.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.