Six Humoresques

The Six Humoresques, Opp. 87 and 89, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1917 to 1918 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Despite spanning two opus numbers, the composer—who originally considered calling the humoresques impromptus or lyrical dances—intended them as a suite. They are the:

Humoresque No. 1 in D minor, Op. 87/1. Commodo
Humoresque No. 2 in D major, Op. 87/2. Allegro assai
Humoresque No. 3 in G minor, Op. 89/1. Alla gavotta
Humoresque No. 4 in G minor, Op. 89/2. Andantino
Humoresque No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 89/3. Commodo
Humoresque No. 6 in G minor, Op. 89/4. Allegro

The Six Humoresques premiered on 24 November 1919 in Helsinki, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the soloist was the Russian-Finnish-American violinist Paul Cherkassky. Also on the program was the definitive version of the Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, as well as Song of the Earth, a cantata for mixed choir.
In the autumn of 1940, Sibelius revised No. 1's instrumentation ; the original, while promised to Wilhelm Hansen in February 1917, was never published. The violinist premiered the revised No. 1 on 15 December 1940, with Toivo Haapanen conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Hansen, who had published the other five humoresques in 1923, completed the set in 1942. The 1917 version is extant.

Instrumentation

The Humoresque No. 1 is scored for the following instruments:

Soloist: violin
Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons
Brass: 2 horns
Percussion: timpani
Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses

The Humoresque No. 2 has identical scoring, except for the omission of the entire woodwind section. The Op. 89 pieces are even more delicately scored. In addition to the soloist, Humoresques Nos. 3 and 4 utilize strings only. No. 5 adds to this scoring three woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons, while No. 6 omits the clarinets but retains the flutes and bassoons.

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Six Humoresques:

	Conductor	Orchestra	Soloist		Time	Recording venue	Label
1		Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra			17:10		Vox
2		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1964	20:47	YLE
3		London Symphony Orchestra		1979	20:27	All Saints' Church, Tooting	Decca
4		Philharmonia Orchestra		1979	20:43	EMI Recording Studios	Erato
5		Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin		1980	20:18	Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin	Schwann, Koch
6		Tapiola Sinfonietta		1989	21:53	Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre	Finlandia
7		Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra		1989	20:17	Gothenburg Concert Hall	BIS
8		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1990	20:53	Kulttuuritalo	RCA Red Seal
9		Danish National Symphony Orchestra		2002	18:41	Danish Radio Concert Hall	Virgin Classics
10		Västerås Sinfonietta		2004	22:06
11		Tapiola Sinfonietta		2006	20:50	Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre	Ondine
12				2011	19:54	Kristinehallen, Falun	Naxos
13		Orquestra Vigo 430		2014	22:43	Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music
14		Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra		2014	20:37	Lighthouse, Poole	Somm
15		BBC National Orchestra of Wales		2020	20:48	BBC Hoddinott Hall	Resonus Classics
16		Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra		2023	20:21	Grieg Hall	Chandos