Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas II

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Coronation Cantata
Cantata by Jean Sibelius
The young composer (c. 1896)
Native nameKruunajaiskantaatti
CatalogueJS 104
TextPaavo Cajander
LanguageFinnish
Composed1896
Duration18 minutes[1]
Movements2
Premiere
Date2 November 1896 (1896-11-02)[1]
LocationHelsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
Performers

The Cantata for the Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II (in Finnish: Kantaatti ilo- ja onnentoivotusjuhlassa marraskuun 2 päivänä 1896; sometimes referred to as Coronation Cantata (in Finnish: Kruunajaiskantaatti) for short), JS 104, is a two-movement cantata for mixed choir and orchestra written in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is chronologically the second of Sibelius's nine orchestral cantatas, and belongs to a series of three such pieces—along with the Promotional Cantata of 1894 (JS 105) and the Promotional Cantata of 1894 (JS 106)—that he wrote on commission from his employer at the time, the Imperial Alexander University (today the University of Helsinki). Sibelius composed the cantata in honor of Nicholas II's accession to the Russian thrown, because the University, as a state-financed institution, was required to pay its respects to the new sovereign. (At the time, Finland was a grand duchy in the tsar's possession.) The piece premiered on 2 November 1896 during a ceremony in Helsinki, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society and an amateur chorus.

In 1896, Sibelius arranged for orchestra a section of Movement I as the Coronation March (Kröningsmarsch). Finally, in 1913, he arranged a portion of Movement I (bars 115–153) as Hail, O Princess (Terve ruhtinatar), for female choir (or children's choir) a cappella.[2][3]

Instrumentation[edit]

The Coronation Cantata is scored for the following instruments and voices,[1] organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):

Structure[edit]

The Finnish author Paavo Cajander (left) wrote the text to Coronation Cantata honoring Nicholas II (right); both he and Sibelius, as Fennomans, likely resented the commission.

The Coronation Cantata is in two movements. They are:

  1. Allegro; "Hail, young prince ..." ("Terve nuori ruhtinas ...")
  2. Allegro; "In the sure security of justice ..." ("Oikeuden varmassa turvassa ...")

The cantata remains in manuscript, although will eventually be published as part of the Jean Sibelius Works (JSW) critical edition, an ongoing collaborative project between the National Library of Finland, Breitkopf & Härtel, and the Sibelius Society of Finland. (Begun in 1996, the series is projected at 52 volumes and will eventually cover all of Sibelius's completed original compositions and arrangements, including relevant JS-designated works.)[4]

Discography[edit]

The Finnish conductor Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, joined by the Finnish Philharmonic Choir, made the world premiere studio recording of the Coronation Cantata in April 1999 for Ondine.[1] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Conductor Orchestra Chorus Rec.[a] Time[b] Venue Label Ref.
1 Leif Segerstam Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Finnish Philharmonic Choir 1999 17:13 Finlandia Hall Ondine
[c]
2 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra Jubilate Choir [fi] 2001 18:37 Sibelius Hall BIS
[d]

In addition, the Finnish choral director Hannu Norjanen and the Tapiola Chamber Choir [fi] made the world premiere studio recording of the Hail, O Princess for female choir a cappella c. 1997 for Finlandia.[3] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Choral director Ensemble Runtime[b] Rec.[a] Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Hannu Norjanen Tapiola Chamber Choir [fi] 0:49 1997 Roihuvuori Church [fi] Finlandia
[e]
2 Astrid Riska Jubilate Choir [fi] 0:48 1998 Tapiola Hall BIS
[f]
3 Seppo Murto [fi] Dominante Choir [fi] 1:18 2010 New Pavilon [fi], Kauniainen BIS
[g]
4 Heikki Seppanen [fi] Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir 0:50 2014 Järvenpää Hall [fi] Ondine
[h]

Finally, the Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording (and, to date, only) of the Coronation March in January 2002 for BIS. The table below contains additional details about this recording:

No. Conductor Orchestra Runtime[b] Rec.[a] Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra 2002 2:10 Sibelius Hall BIS
[i]

Notes, references, and sources[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ a b c Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  2. ^ a b c All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
  3. ^ L. Segerstam—Ondine (ODE 936–2) 1999
  4. ^ O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1265) 2004
  5. ^ Tapiola Chamber Choir—Finlandia (0630–19054–2) 1998
  6. ^ Jubilate Choir—BIS (CD–998) 1999
  7. ^ Dominante Choir—BIS (CD–1889) 2012
  8. ^ Estonian Phil. Chamber Choir—Ondine (ODE 1260–2D) 2015
  9. ^ O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1445) 2003
References
  1. ^ a b c d Dahlström 2003, p. 561.
  2. ^ Barnett 2007, pp. 107, 228.
  3. ^ a b Dahlström 2003, p. 562.
  4. ^ Sibelius Society.
Sources
  • "The critical edition: Jean Sibelius Works". sibeliussociety.fi. Sibelius Society of Finland. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
  • Tiilikainen, Jukka; Salmenhaara, Erkki (1999). Sibelius: Cantata for the Concerment Ceremony of 1894 / Coronation Cantata / Academic March / Andante festivo / Finlandia (booklet). Translated by Hallberg-Rautalin, Irma. Leif Segerstam, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, & Finnish Philharmonic Choir. Ondine. ODE 936-2. 
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