| Swedish: Snöfrid | |
| Type: | Melodrama |
| Image Upright: | .9 |
| Border: | Yes |
| Language: | Swedish |
| Opus: | 29 |
| Publisher: | Hansen (1929) |
| Duration: | 13 mins. |
| Premiere Location: | Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Premiere Conductor: | Jean Sibelius |
Swedish: Snöfrid, Op. 29, is a melodrama or "improvisation for narrator, mixed choir and orchestra" by Jean Sibelius. He completed it in 1900 on a text by Viktor Rydberg. It was first performed in Helsinki on 20 October 1900, with the Orchestra of the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by the composer.
Swedish: Snöfrid is scored for the following instruments and voices, organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
The poem had previously been set in full by Wilhelm Stenhammar (Op. 5) in 1891.[1] Sibelius composed the work in the fall of 1900 on a poem by Viktor Rydberg. He later noted: "I wrote Snöfrid more or less at one sitting after I came home from three days of lively celebrations." The plot on which it is based is inspired by old Scandinavian balladic stories. A female protagonist appeals to her compatriots, in particular a hero, to fight for freedom as a higher goal than fortune, fame and pleasure. Sibelius was inspired by several works by Rydberg, including solo songs and Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph). He liked Rydberg's free verse, expressing both erotic and political ideas. The heroic element possibly appealed to his own battles "with everybody and everything". Sibelius chose dramatic scenes from the poem, such as Snöfrid's "If you choose me, then you choose the tempest." The instrumental prelude depicts a storm at night, with whining strings, howling brass, thundering percussion, but "dominated by melodic and harmonic elements".
The work was first performed in Helsinki on 20 October 1900, with the Orchestra of the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by Sibelius. The occasion was a lottery to finance a tour of the orchestra to Paris. An unsigned review in the newspaper Päivälehti noted:
Later Sibelius composed the last movement on a different text, Volter Kilpi's Ylistys taiteelle. This version was first performed on 9 April 1902.
The Estonian conductor Eri Klas and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus made the world premiere studio recording of the Swedish: Snöfrid in 1990 for Ondine; the narrator was the Finnish-Swedish actress Stina Rautelin. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| Conductor | Orchestra | Chorus | Narrator | Time | Venue | Label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finnish National Opera Orchestra | Finnish National Opera Chorus | 1990 | 12:31 | Ondine | |||||
| 2 | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2001 | 14:15 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |||||
| 3 | Estonian National Symphony Orchestra | Estonian National Male Choir | 2002 | 11:23 | Estonia Concert Hall | Virgin Classics |
A review notes that the "galloping early pages" are reminiscent of the Second Symphony and continues:
sv:Fabian Dahlström
. Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke. Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works. 2003. Breitkopf & Härtel. Wiesbaden. de. 3-7651-0333-0.