Sibelius the Storyteller (2/4)

Last month the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total Immersion day "Sibelius the Storyteller" ventured into the literary and cultural hinterland of one of the 20th century’s great symphonists. No genius creates in a vacuum, and while Sibelius’s seven symphonies are landmarks of 20th-century orchestral music, they have deep roots. Today, over four concerts, we venture into the forests (both real and legendary) that nourished Sibelius’s imagination: the words, the landscapes, the colleagues and the traditions that formed the bedrock on which he built his distinctive musical vision.

In this second concert, "Songs and Seasons: Spring Dreams, Summer Fires, Winter Nights", we explore Finland’s choral tradition, as Owain Park and the BBC Singers present songs by Sibelius and his pupils - with readings of the poetry. No artist works in isolation, and Sibelius’s struggle to tell Finland’s stories opened a path for a generation of his compatriots. There are radiant, intensely romantic partsongs by two of Sibelius’s most gifted pupils, as well as Sibelius’s own Rakastava (The Lover). It’s a world of changing seasons, of glowing landscapes and – burning beneath the music’s lush textures and radiant harmonies – an unmistakable passion. Toivo Kuula died tragically young, just months after Finland won its independence; Madetoja went on to follow in Sibelius’s footsteps as a symphonist. But their choral music, like Sibelius’s own, finds them making music for (and with) their fellow-Finns: and speaking straight from the heart.

Jean Sibelius: 'Venematka', 'Saarella palaa', 'Sortunut' and 'Sydameni Laulu' from Part Songs, Op 18
Leevi Madetoja: No 6 'Metsän kuninkaalle', Op 13
No 2 'Erkki-paimen' from 3 Songs, Op 30a
No 3 'Kevätunta' and No 1 'Kehtolaulu', Op 50
Toivo Kuula: 'Tuuti lasta Tuonelahan', 'Hautalaulu', 'Keinutan kaikua' from Part Songs, Op 11
Jean Sibelius: Rakastava

BBC Singers
Owain Park conductor
Laura Lake Adebisi narrator
Hughie O'Donnell narrator

Recorded at Milton Court, Barbican Centre, on 9 October.