Tapiola undoubtedly reveals Sibelius at the height of his powers. Tapio is the forest God in Finnish mythology and Tapiola his realm and as I remarked elswhere, Tapiola reaches to something deep in our psyche from a distant past, but most surely points to the future. The work is dedicated to Walter Damrosch who commisioned it and gave the premier on December 26th, 1926 in NewYork.
The piece is in some ways even more desolate than The Fourth Symphony. Following a rap on the Timpani we hear the basic cell of the entire work, a theme similar in character to a Karelian Rune. With this basic material seemingly anchered to B minor, Sibelius explores the terror, magic, peace, exaltation and the tempest, a storm of such overwhelming power that no living thing could seemingly survive it. When the storm subsides we hear probably the most profound 'sigh' from nature and as the music finally reaches B major a deep desire for human contact before we reach the silence, perhaps the most profound silence in music.

Any thoughts on this great work--kullervopete.

Thank you, kullervopete, for yet another great CD liner-note... I mean that with the sincerest admiration.

I like to summarize (very briefly) my feelings about Tapiola this way:

While my favourite Sibelius piece is his 5th Symphony, I believe Tapiola is the best piece that he wrote... if one can accept that distinction.

Glad that you like my writing style Kurki. Yes I can accept your distinction regarding 'best' and 'favourite'. I love and admire Tapiola but my favourite of the Tone Poems is Nightride and Sunrise. But I think that Tapiola was 50 years ahead of its time, it reveals the influence of Debussy and even looks forward to such figures as Ligeti.
Ernest Newman even went so far as to describe Tapiola as a Symphony, having recently clashed with Andrew B on the possibility of Pohjola's Daughter being seen as a Symphony, I think I will pass on this!.--kullervopete.

Yep, you guessed it, I think Ernest Newman's remark is a bit fanciful!

I'd also point out that the theme heard at the outset is a perfect example of the 'S-motif' found throughout Sibelius's work.

Click

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for Harri M's article.

Yes, Harri M's article on this 'S-motive' is facinating stuff but I do find it a bit heavy going. Its 45 years since I played the cornet in a local band! But lets not forget that Tapiola for all its craftmanship and mastery, is above all 'A Poem'.--kullervopete.

This has to be my favorite piece of Sibelius', period (though maybe the seventh... nah). Just the way the themes evolve seemingly effortlessly one to the next, taking even the slightest motif from the previous measure and turning it into something absolutely spellbinding... it's a life-cycle, put simply. Tapiola to me is nature in music like no other piece has ever reached.

I agree that it is not in any way a symphony. There are no distinguished sections, principally among the reasons. I think Sibelius made a really good point by writing this at about the same time as the seventh symphony, which is almost the same length. It makes that thin line between symphony and tone poem very visible.

Certainly in Tapiola, Sibelius shows perhaps his greatest originality in the handling of the orchestra. His ability to move simultaneously at two different tempo's, his use of pedal points in Tapiola is unsurpassed. The work is as organic as any of the Symphonies and everything grows from the brief theme heard at the outset. Tapiola never leaves B Minor, is this perhaps why it is not a Symphony? it is as motionless as the vast Northern forests that it depicts.
But The Seventh Symphony never really strays from its tonality of C, why then is it a symphony. The 7th is able to suggest movement on a cosmic scale, as composer Robert Simpson suggests 'The Symphony is like a great planet in orbit, its movement vast, inexorable, seemingly imperceptible to its inhabitants. But, you may object, the Finnish forests of Tapiola are also on the surface of such a planet, revolving. Yes, but we never leave them, we are filled with expectation, and nothing but a great wind arises. There is no real sense of movement'.
It seems that were the 7th is action, Tapiola is the expression of condition. That is why Sibelius called it a Tone Poem. In a work such as Nightride and Sunrise the music is symphonically active and it is significant that Sibelius called this piece a Symphonic Fantasia.--kullervopete.

Well I have finally received the score in the mail today. It's one of the more interesting scores I've seen; as with Mahler's scores I notice a lot of very intricate details that I probably just took for granted while listening.

One of the things I looked for and noticed the most, however, was starting at rehearsal "Q," the first brass entrance during the storm. At this point it is "Allegro," but at the point where most conductors slow down some 17 bars later, it says "Allegro moderato." Still, I rather highly doubt that any conductor is quite justified in some of the massively stretched tempi that I've heard... especially with Colin Davis/BSO. And Berglund with the Bournemouth group take some rather heavy liberties with the score... at "G," I think it is, he doesn't need to speed up that much, a thing I found rather problematic before I even knew I could get the score.

Other than the massive slow-down I mentioned in Colin Davis' recording, I actually find it rather good now that I've revisited it (when was the last time I listened to it anyway? Quite some time, I think). He doesn't take the weird speeding-up at "G" (about 4:20 in this recording, by the way) that is present in Berglund's recording. He seems to be at least somewhat more intent on creating the world Sibelius wanted to be created, rather than focusing on his "let's be proper" attitude that so mars the symphonies and Finlandia, though it still lingers somewhat in the distinctly farther-Western way he varies each repetition of each phrase... it breaks the spell for me.

I was listening to Tapiola the other night, so to mark my 1,000th post here are a few thoughts on this great piece of music.

Tapiola undoubtedly explores the darker recesses of the human spirit. Sibelius seems to tap into a primeval past and confronts our own fear and foreboding of the unknown. According to Sigmund Freud there are three types of individual who are in rebellion against society: The neurotic, the criminal and the genius. The differences between the three are that the neurotic rebels in secret, or unconsciously, the criminal openly, and the genius by his creative work is able to sublimate his conflicts in art or literature or even to change society nearer to his hearts desire.

Looking at the genesis of Tapiola I would contend that this music expresses fears and anxietys that go right back to our earliest childhood. Most of us still hold memories of being alone in a darkened room and seeing that shadow move, or perhaps hiding under the bed sheets to the sound of distant thunder. Freud explored the meaning of dreams and in Jean Sibelius he would have found a remarkable subject.

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Karl Ekman in his Biography has related memories of Walter Von Konow who was a childhood friend of the young Sibelius and I quote:
'Janne was a great dreamer. He had a lively imagination that reacted to external impressions. It drew rich nourishment from his intense love of nature. He was fond of making long expeditions in the vicinity of Tavastehus and in the woods at Saaksmaki. His imagination endowed everything round him with life. In the dusk he amused himself by searching for fairy creatures in the darkest of the woods. If his imagination happened to be inclined towards gruesome things, it was at times quite uncanny wandering with him through a gloomy wood inhabited by hob goblins and witches and other horrible things. It happened sometimes that our imaginations got so heated that, as darkness fell we saw terrifying shapes appearing from their hiding-places then we took to our heels as fast as we could. As we ran towards the safety of home, Janne would whisper in a gasping voice 'I can hear steps behind us'.....

Sibelius explores these anxietys in Tapiola, but in doing so he shows us that the process of overcoming these fears can bring about an almost numinous shift from a state of terror to a state of complete oneness with nature.--kp

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A hearty congratulations to kullervopete for this fine post and the monumental achievement of number 1000!

Congrats to the new "Conductor in Residence!" 1000 posts...way to go, Pete!

I remember reading that passge myself in Ekman's book, and thought it quite interesting. I think these feelings of darkness are quite common in Sibelius. Not that Sibelius is a "gruesome" composer, but certainly an eerie one. In a work like Tapiola, one does get the the feeling that the footsteps are always behind you in the dark...and they are likely not human! Could it be a goblin or a sprite?

Yep, congratulations on the 1000! And thank heavens for all those fairy creatures in the Sääksmäki forest…

First of all a warm congratulations to kullervopete and a big thank you for being part of this forum.

I find Tapiola unique in that it conveys a broad universality and an intensely personal experience all at the same time. The piece can speak to everyone about their innermost secrets, but will tell each and every person a different story.

Hello everyone!
This is my first post on this forum. I hope there will be many more!
I will never forget my first Tapiola on a Decca LP with En saga on he reverse, with van Beinum conducting the Concertgebouw (I got it about 40 years ago)I played both sides to death!
Since then I have heard and bought many recordings, and I find this music virtually indestructible in that it can be taken fast (Oramo CBSO and Berglund HPO) or slow (Segerstam DSRSO, Karajan, C.Davis) and still work its magic. Is there a bad performance of this work out there?

Hi Martin [hangos] and welcome again!
I too have the Van Beinum on a Decca ace of Clubs LP--a great account. Its interesting that you are equally happy with both fast and more expansive renditions of Tapiola. I find that most Sibelians tend to prefare one or the other approach. Are you as flexible with other Sibelius works? I must admit that on the whole I don't like my Sibelius too fast, for me the music must breath!--kp

kullervopete wrote:

Hi Martin [hangos] and welcome again! I too have the Van Beinum on a Decca ace of Clubs LP--a great account. Its interesting that you are equally happy with both fast and more expansive renditions of Tapiola. I find that most Sibelians tend to prefare one or the other approach. Are you as flexible with other Sibelius works? I must admit that on the whole I don't like my Sibelius too fast, for me the music must breath!--kp

Hi Pete!
Thanks for the warm welcome, which is much appreciated.My tempo preference varies from work to work - some, like Pohjola's daughter, hardly vary by more than 10% (amazingly) so I have no preference here!
The one symphony where I definitely prefer speed is no.2 - of all the recordings I have, Jarvi's 1980s BIS is my choice (the opening allegretto as with Kajanus, around 8'14") whereas I find Segerstam/HPO and Koussevitzky/BSO 1935 far too slow,turgid and sluggish!
I also prefer the first movement of no.3 on the fast side (but not quite as fast as Gibson,Maazel or Ashkenazy!!!!) whereas I love the 2nd movement as slow (Vanska,Segerstam) as possible.
Overall, I find Sibelius's music virtually indestructible (only Colin Davis humming along loudly can spoil it for me!

I hope you enjoy the forum, hangos!

As regards tempi in Tapiola, I generally like the slower end of the spectrum, but some quicker ones (like Vanska) I've been known to really love.

Overall, I've preferred slower tempi in most music (exceptions being Beethoven and Mahler most of the time). I like Sibbe's 3rd at a slower tempo pretty much across the board, the slow movement (as with hangos) as slowly as possible, but consistent so the "con moto" isn't completely lost.

Tapiola, I agree, is one of the most invincible of Sibelius' masterpieces; any reasonable tempo works perfectly fine.

One of my first choices in Tapiola is Boult and LPO from 1956 on Vanguard Classics and he is quite swift at 17'-52 compared to say Segerstam's Danish account on Chandos [21'-02''] I do enjoy both these two readings so hangos may be right in saying that Tapiola can work both fast and slow. I also agree that in No.2 the opening Allegretto can sound sluggish if taken to slowly, but in the huge finale I prefare spaciousness in the manner of Barbirolli or Stokowski. Maestro Toscanini generates tremendous voltage but drives the music to hard. I attended the Lahti Sibelius festival in 2005 and maestro Vanska took the opening of No.1 at breakneck speed. It came across to me as terribly rushed. Here I prefare Barbirolli with Halle on EMI, who still manages to generate urgency within a broader timescale.--kp

kullervopete wrote:

One of my first choices in Tapiola is Boult and LPO from 1956 on Vanguard Classics and he is quite swift at 17'-52 compared to say Segerstam's Danish account on Chandos [21'-02''] I do enjoy both these two readings so hangos may be right in saying that Tapiola can work both fast and slow. I also agree that in No.2 the opening Allegretto can sound sluggish if taken to slowly, but in the huge finale I prefare spaciousness in the manner of Barbirolli or Stokowski. Maestro Toscanini generates tremendous voltage but drives the music to hard. I attended the Lahti Sibelius festival in 2005 and maestro Vanska took the opening of No.1 at breakneck speed. It came across to me as terribly rushed. Here I prefare Barbirolli with Halle on EMI, who still manages to generate urgency within a broader timescale.--kp

Re Boult's recording of the tone poems (now available at hmv.com on 2 discs for under £10)- I've read in many places that the performances are great, but what is the sound quality like?
Another question - are you familiar with Ormandy's 1950s recordings of the Four Legends and several tone poems? I downloaded the 2CDs'worth for the princely sum of £3.98, from play.com, I think - and they are great (if you like your Sibelius "brisk") I also downloaded his 1954 take on Symphonies 4 & 5, which again is pretty good - and the sound for that era is marvellous, incredibly detailed. Well worth a look at play.com (just about all their other downloads are pricey, but these naxos historical ones are going cheap for some reason!

hangos wrote:

Re Boult's recording of the tone poems (now available at hmv.com on 2 discs for under £10)- I've read in many places that the performances are great, but what is the sound quality like? Another question - are you familiar with Ormandy's 1950s recordings of the Four Legends and several tone poems? I downloaded the 2CDs'worth for the princely sum of £3.98, from play.com, I think - and they are great (if you like your Sibelius "brisk") I also downloaded his 1954 take on Symphonies 4 & 5, which again is pretty good - and the sound for that era is marvellous, incredibly detailed. Well worth a look at play.com (just about all their other downloads are pricey, but these naxos historical ones are going cheap for some reason!

I have Boults Sibelius tone poems on an excellent Vanguard Classics two Cd set which also includes Maurice Abravanel's accounts of Symphonies 5, 6 and 7. If you don't mind 1956 mono sound, the recordings are remarkably vivid and natural. Pohjola's Daughter is especially superb with forward woodwind. In fact I prefare the sound over many modern recordings.

I have Ormandy's Four Legends on LP [Phillips] recorded 1978 EMI superb performance, but apart from The Swan of Tuonela [2nd April, 1950] did Ormandy record a complete set of the Legends in the 1950's?

I have a much loved LP of Ormandy's Sibelius 4 and 5 which was issued to commemorate the composer's big 90 [Philips ABL 3084] pity he never went near No. 3.--kp