Two Serious Melodies

The Two Serious Melodies, Op. 77, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1914 to 1915 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They are:Cantique, Op. 77/1 ; subtitled "Laetare anima mea". Moderato assaiDevotion, Op. 77/2 ; subtitled "Ab imo pectore". Tempo molto moderato
Sibelius originally called No. 1 Lofsången. In 1915, he made transcriptions of each piece for violin and piano. In 1916, he arranged both pieces for cello and orchestra and transcribed them, too, for cello and piano.
Each piece is dedicated to the Finnish cellist.

Instrumentation

Cantique is scored for the following instruments:

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

Devotion is scored for the following instruments:

Soloist: violin
Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons
Brass: 4 horns and 3 trombones
Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses

Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Two Serious Melodies:

	Conductor	Orchestra	Soloist		Time	Recording venue	Label
1		Philharmonia Orchestra		1979	7:23	Kingsway Hall	Decca
2		Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra		1980	9:31	Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin	Schwann, Koch
3		Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra		1980	8:24	Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin	Parnass
4		Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra		1989	8:28	Gothenburg Concert Hall	BIS
5		Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra					Finlandia
6		Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra					Arion Music
7		Danish National Symphony Orchestra		2002		Danish Radio Concert Hall	Virgin Classics
8		Lahti Symphony Orchestra		2004		Sibelius Hall	BIS
9		Turku Philharmonic Orchestra		2014	10:17	Turku Concert Hall	Naxos
10		Orquestra Vigo 430		2014	9:15	Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music
11		Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra		2023	8:03	Grieg Hall	Chandos