There are many good ones, but perhaps my favorite is Den första kyssen (The First Kiss) op. 37/1.

Not only do I find the melody intriguing, but the words by J.L. Runeberg are quite powerful:

(Translated from the original Swedish)

The evening star sat
On the edge of a silver cloud,
From the dusk of the grove
A maiden asked her:
Tell me, evening star,
What is thought in heaven
When the first kiss is given to a lover?

And heaven's shy daughter
Was heard to reply:
The angelic host of light
looks down onto the earth
And it sees its own joy reflected;
Only death turns its eyes aside and weeps.

Wow.

Many good ones indeed, not least Den första kyssen. Ultimately I would have to plump for the two pantheistic masterpeieces from Op.38 - Höstkväll and På verandan vid havet (both written in 1903 to Rydberg’s words) - because they plumb such depths both musically and psychologically.

On the lighter side, the duet Tanken, JS 192 (1915), a Runeberg setting (not to be confused with the much early a cappella choral work to the same poem), has a grace comparable to the 'Miranda' movement in 'The Tempest'. The words could be construed as having a nationalist meaning but the piece was composed Eero and Saimi Järnefelt’s silver wedding so one shouldn't overstress the patriotic element.

Speaking of "The First Kiss", does anyone else hear a similarity between the main motive and Grieg's Solveig's Song?

Unfortunately, I do not know the Op. 38 pieces at all. I know the songs through a Karita Mattila recording, which do not include Op. 38.



From the works offered therein, my favourite is the haunting Norden, Op. 90 No. 1.

I can't say I'd been particularly struck by a similarity between Den första kyssen and Solveig's Song - if there is one, perhaps it's more in rhythm than anything else (unless I'm missing something!). Harmonically I find much more Wagner in it.

For me the influence of Grieg is easier to spot in works like the F major Violin Sonata, JS 178 (1889). I'm hugely glad, though, that Sibb didn't follow Grieg's example and write a seemingly endless succession of Peasant Songs, Cow Calls and the like.

Sibelius wrote some glorious songs, on my short list 'Arioso' the sheer sweep of its melody is heart wrenching.
'The diamond on the march snow', utterly magical.
'Autumn Evening', one of his greatest songs and Victor Rydberg's poem sums up Sibelius's art.

The sun is setting, and the clouds are wandering mournfully across the sky low over the windswept lake while murmuring forests grow dusky... Alone in desolate nature among the rocks and spindrift, a wanderer stands transfixed, rapt and exultant. He feels his soul at one with the song of the wind in the starless night. Does his sorrow die like a cry lost in the autumn's mighty lament?

For me Kirsten Flagstad vintage 1958 is the one to go for.--kullervopete.