We are approaching 1st May, a time when Spring Song often appears on concert programmes in Finland.

Any opinions on this glorious, life-affirming work? Or favourite recordings? (I have always been fond of the one by Sir Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool PO on EMI.)

The only rendition I've heard of this piece is with Jarvi:



I like En Saga on that recording for it's very deliberate and steady pace, but I find the Spring Song heavy and slow.

I don't actually find Järvi's DG Spring Song too slow, but it is curiously stodgy and lacking in vitality - almost as if it were being played note by note rather than phrase by phrase (or, better still, as one big sweep). His earlier BIS version was more spotaneous.

Like Andrew B, I to was always fond of Groves recording, but things changed on 19th Sept, 1983 when I chanced to tape a broadcast performance by the Danish conductor Ole Schmidt with the BBC Scottish s.o. and it was a major revelation! this was no lightweight early example of Sibelian romantisism but a profound outpouring of nature mystism in a concentrated vision of the nordic spring. Tempo's were extreemly slow but the music never sounded sluggish, perhaps I could compare this performance to Kajanus and Colin Davis in the middle movement of the third symphony. Schmidt certainly changed my conception of Spring song, from a piece of minor inportance to a work of real achievement.--kullervopete

Andrew B wrote:

(I have always been fond of the one by Sir Charles Groves and the Royal Liverpool PO on EMI.)

... I so very rarely buy CDs, I hardly ever listen to anything except concertos for professional reasons ...

But today, I picked this up on a whim in

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in Prague:

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I seemed to have remembered someone saying something about Groves here on the forum, I thought it was DJ... I did a quick forum

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(click) and fount that it was Actually Andrew B. Anyhow, I picked up the recording mainly for the fact that it includes 2 suites from The Tempest, which I am looking forward to greatly.

Thus far, I have only listened to Spring Song, and it is indeed a very beautiful rendition.

I wonder why they chose a picture of Norway for the cover, though.

Some people in the UK are terribly vague. Nordic must mean mountains, fjords, mountain kings and cow dung.

And it's impossible to teach them that Finland isn't in Scandinavia, either... any more than Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain, or indeed Canada part of the USA. For Finland, stick to 'Nordic' and you'll be safe. Unless you speak German where the word has some historical baggage and is avoided for reasons of political correctness...

Oh why did I bring this up?

Anyway: enjoy the Groves CDs. I like his Tempest and In memoriam also very much; the Lemminkäinen Suite is a bit underpowered for my taste.

I was in the back garden yesterday and I noticed that the frogs were out doing what they do in the pool. This is always a sign for me that Spring is round the corner. Its been one of the coldest winters for some years but the days are lengthening by a few minutes every day. Today I played Sibelius's Spring Song [Schmidt] it came across as powerful as ever. Interesting how he introduces bells towards the end- I wonder if he had a church in mind?--kp

kullervopete wrote:

I was in the back garden yesterday and I noticed that the frogs were out doing what they do in the pool.

Swimming?

kullervopete wrote:

I was in the back garden yesterday and I noticed that the frogs were out doing what they do in the pool.

Playing bagpipes?

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- -kp