Six Partsongs


The Six Partsongs, Op. 18, is a collection of Finnish-language choral pieces written from 1893 to 1901 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Originally composed for male choir, the composer subsequently arranged Nos. 1, 3–4, and 6 for mixed choir. The Six Partsongs are as follows:
  • "Sortunut ääni", Op. 18/1
  • "Terve kuu", Op. 18/2
  • "Venematka", Op. 18/3
  • "Saarella palaa", Op. 18/4
  • "Metsämiehen laulu", Op. 18/5
  • "Sydämeni laulu", Op. 18/6
The lyrics for Nos. 2–3 come from Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, while Nos. 1 and 4 draw on its companion book of poetry, the Kanteletar; finally, for Nos. 5–6 Sibelius set excerpts from the novel Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi.

Music

No. 1: ""

  • 1898–1899 for male choir; arranged for mixed choir in 1898–1899
  • The tempo marking is: Ei liian hitaasti .
  • It has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.
  • The text comes from poem No. LVII of the Kanteletar.
  • Version for male choir premiered on 21 April 1899 in Helsinki by and the YL Male Voice Choir.
  • The male choir version was published by YL.
  • Dahlström does not report the premiere of the version for mixed choir.
  • The mixed choir version was published by in 1898 as part of Sävelistö music magazine, edited by

    No. 2: ""

  • 1901 for male choir
  • The tempo marking is: Reippaasti, musta vakavasti .
  • It has a duration of about three minutes.
  • The text comes from the Kalevala, Runo XLIX .
  • Premiered on 30 May 1901 by Klemetti and.
  • Published by in 1902.
  • Was not arranged for mixed choir.

    No. 3: ""

  • 1893 for male choir; arranged for mixed choir in 1914
  • The tempo marking is: Reippaasti
  • It has a duration of about two minutes.
  • The text comes from the Kalevala, Runo XL .
  • Version for male choir premiered on 4 April 1893 in Helsinki by and the YL Male Voice Choir.
  • The male choir version was published by in 1895.

    No. 4: ""

  • Op. 18/4
  • The text is the Kanteletar
  • for SATB

    No. 5: ""

  • Op. 18/5
  • The tempo marking is: Alla marcia
  • The text is from ''Seven Brothers''

    No. 6: ""

  • Op. 18/6
  • The tempo marking is: Lento assai
  • The text is from ''Seven Brothers''

    Partsongs related to Op. 18

The following three partsongs were at one time listed by Sibelius under the Op. 18 catalogue number but were removed subsequently. The deprecated title of Nine Partsongs, then, refers to their inclusion:
  • "Isanmaalle", JS 98 ... text by Paavo Cajander
  • "Veljeni vierailla maalla", JS 217 ... text by Juhani Aho
  • "Min rastas raataa", JS 129 ... for mixed choir only... text from the ''Kanteletar''

    Discography

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Op. 18 partsongs, as well as the three related partsongs noted above: