The Swan of Tuonela

The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22/2, is a single-movement tone poem for cor anglais solo and orchestra written from 1893 to 1895 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is part of the Lemminkäinen Suite, a collection of four tone poems based on legends from the Kalevala, Finland's national epic.
The Swan of Tuonela was originally composed in 1893 as the prelude to a projected opera called The Building of the Boat. Sibelius revised it two years later, making it the second section of his Lemminkäinen Suite of four tone poems, which was premiered in 1896. He twice further revised the piece, in 1897 and 1900. Sibelius left posterity no personal account of his writing of the tone poem, and its original manuscript no longer exists. The work was first published by K. F. Wasenius in Helsingfors, Finland, in April 1901. The German firm Breitkopf & Härtel also published it in Leipzig, also in 1901. The work was recorded for the first time by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in May 1929.

Instrumentation

The Swan of Tuonela is scored for the following instruments, organized by family :

Soloist: cor anglais
1 oboes, 1 bass clarinet, and 2 bassoons
4 horns and 3 trombones
Timpani and bass drum
Violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and harp

The cor anglais is the voice of the swan, and its solo is one of the best known solos in the orchestral literature for that instrument. The string section is divided.

Structure

The music paints a gossamer, transcendental image of a mystical swan floating through Tuonela, the realm of the dead. Lemminkäinen, the hero of the epic, has been tasked with killing the sacred swan, but on the way he is shot with a poisoned arrow and dies. In the next part of the story he is restored to life.
The piece has the tempo marking of Andante molto sostenuto and is in time. It is in the key of A minor.

Discography

The British conductor Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of The Swan of Tuonela in 1929 for His Master's Voice.

	Conductor	Orchestra	Cor anglais		Time	Recording venue	Label
1		Philadelphia Orchestra		1929	8:33		Guild Historical
2		Chicago Symphony Orchestra			?	?	Columbia Masterworks
3		Philadelphia Orchestra		1940	8:21	Academy of Music, Philadelphia	RCA Red Seal
4		NBC Symphony Orchestra		1940	9:54	Rockefeller Center	Naxos Historical
5		NBC Symphony Orchestra		1944	9:19	Studio 8H, New York	RCA Red Seal
6		New York Philharmonic		1945	9:47	Carnegie Hall	Guild Historical
7		Philadelphia Orchestra		1950^†	9:44	Academy of Music, Philadelphia	Sony Classical
8		Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra	?	1952^†	6:57	?	Metronome
9		Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1953^†	7:38	Danish Radio Concert Hall	Decca
10		Berlin Philharmonic		1954	7:46		Deutsche Grammophon
11		Hallé Orchestra		1955	8:30	Free Trade Hall	Warner Classics
12		London Philharmonic Orchestra		1956	9:45	Walthamstow Assembly Hall	Omega Classics
13		London Symphony Orchestra			?	?	MGM
14		Leopold Stokowski Orchestra		1957	7:55	Riverside Plaza Hotel	EMI Classics
15		Royal Philharmonic Orchestra		1957	8:24	Walthamstow Assembly Hall	Beulah
16		Philadelphia Orchestra		1960	9:50	Broadwood Hotel, Philadelphia	Sony Classical
17		Vienna Philharmonic		1961	9:00	Musikverein	EMI Classics
18		Morton Gould Orchestra		1962	8:33	Manhattan Center	RCA Red Seal
19		Berlin Philharmonic		1965	7:42		Deutsche Grammophon
20		Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra		1965	9:33	Grand Hall, Moscow Conservatory	Scribendum
21		Hallé Orchestra		1966	7:51	Abbey Road Studio No. 1	EMI Classics
22		Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra		1968^†	8:41	Kleinhans Music Hall	Nonesuch
23		Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra		1972	8:46	Southampton Guildhall	EMI Classics
24		Philadelphia Orchestra		1973	9:48	Scottish Rite Cathedral, Philadelphia	RCA Victor Silver Seal
25		New York Philharmonic		1973	9:55	CBS 30th Street Studio	Sony Classical
26		Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra		1973^†	8:09	Budapest Recording Studios	Decca
27		Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra		1974^†	7:43	Liverpool Philharmonic Hall	EMI Classics
28		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1975^†	8:23	Finlandia Hall	Deutsche Grammophon
29		National Philharmonic Orchestra		1976	8:14	West Ham Central Mission	Sony Classical
30		Boston Symphony Orchestra		1976	9:19	Symphony Hall, Boston	Decca Records
31		Berlin Philharmonic		1976	8:27	Berlin Philharmonie	EMI Classics
32		Philadelphia Orchestra		1978^†	9:03	The Old Met, Philadelphia	EMI Classics
33		Scottish National Orchestra		1978^†	8:16	Usher Hall	Chandos
34		L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande		1980^†	7:24	Victoria Hall	Decca
35		Philharmonia Orchestra		1982	9:40	St. John's, Smith Square	EMI
36		Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra		1983	9:02		Brilliant Classics
37		Berlin Philharmonic		1984	7:50	Berlin Philharmonie	Deutsche Grammophon
38		Academy of St Martin in the Fields		1984	8:17	, London	Philips
39		Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra		1985^†	8:49	Gothenburg Concert Hall	BIS
40		Czechoslovak Radio Symphony Orchestra		1988	7:49	Czechoslovak Radio Concert Hall	Naxos
41		London Symphony Orchestra		1988	9:47	Abbey Road Studio No. 1	Regis
42		Royal Philharmonic Orchestra		1989^†	9:15	St John's, Smith Square	Collins Classics
43		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1989^†	8:53	Kulttuuritalo	RCA Red Seal
44		Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra		1991^†	9:27	Royce Hall	Sony Classical
45		Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra		1991^†	7:58	Mosfilm Studios	Brilliant Classics
46		Atlanta Symphony Orchestra		1992	8:17	Woodruff Arts Center	Telarc
47		Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra		1992	8:35	Oslo Concert Hall	EMI Classics
48		Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège		1995^†	7:13	Royal Conservatory of Liège	Auvidis
49		Turku Philharmonic Orchestra		1995	8:37	Turku Concert Hall	Naxos
50		Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra		1995^†	9:56		Ondine
51		Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra		1996^†	9:49	Stockholm Concert Hall	Virgin Classics
52		Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra		1996	8:17	Stockholm Concert Hall	Finlandia
53		Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra		1996^†	7:37	Gothenburg Concert Hall	Deutsche Grammophon
54		Royal Philharmonic Orchestra		1996	8:18	CTS Studios, Wembley	Intersound
55		Iceland Symphony Orchestra		1997^†	9:07	University Hall, Reykjavík	Naxos
56		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1998^†	8:26	Konzerthaus, Vienna	Classica
57		Toronto Symphony Orchestra		1998^†	9:02	Massey Hall	Finlandia
58		Lahti Symphony Orchestra		1999^†	9:27	Ristinkirkko	BIS
59		Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra		1999^†	10:11	Berwald Hall	Ondine
60		London Symphony Orchestra		2000^†	10:53	Watford Colosseum	RCA Red Seal
61		Estonian-Finnish Symphony Orchestra		2001	9:02	Estonia Concert Hall	Finlandia
62		Minnesota Orchestra		2002	9:30	Orchestral Hall, Minneapolis	Reference Recordings
63				2004	8:27	Ristinkirkko	Potentia Sinfonica
64		London Philharmonic Orchestra		2006	9:12	Queen Elizabeth Hall	LPO
65		Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra		2007	8:45	Stockholm Concert Hall
66		Lahti Symphony Orchestra		2007^†	9:10	Sibelius Hall	BIS
67		BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra		2009	8:45	Glasgow City Halls	BBC Music Magazine
68		Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra		2013	8:16	Grieg Hall	Chandos
69		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra		2014^†	9:07	Helsinki Music Centre	Ondine
70		Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra		2014	10:14	Kleinhans Music Hall	Beau Fleuve
71		Berlin Philharmonic		2014	8:57	Great Hall, Berliner Philharmonie	Supraphon
72		BBC Symphony Orchestra		2018^†	8:52	Watford Colosseum	Chandos
73		BBC National Orchestra of Wales		2018	9:12	BBC Hoddinott Hall	Linn
74		Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra		2023^†	9:43	Helsinki Music Centre	BIS

† = Part of a recording of the entire ''Lemminkäinen Suite''