Impromptu (Sibelius)

{{short description|Choral piece with orchestra by Jean Sibelius}}

{{Infobox musical composition

| name = Impromptu

| type = Choral piece

| composer = {{nowrap|Jean Sibelius}}

| image = JSibelius 1900.jpg

| image_upright = .9

| caption = The composer ({{c.|1902}})

| border = Yes

| text = {{unbulleted list|{{lang|sv|Unge hellener}} and {{lang|sv|Bacchospräster}}|by Viktor Rydberg{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=78}}}}

| language = Swedish

| opus = 19

| composed = {{start date|1902}}

| publisher = Breitkopf & Härtel (1912){{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=79}}

| duration = 7 mins. ({{abbr|orig.|originally}} 6 mins.){{sfn|Dahlström|2003|pp=78–79}}

| premiere_date = {{start date|1902|03|08|df=y}}{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=78}}

| premiere_location = Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland

| premiere_conductor = Jean Sibelius

| premiere_performers = Helsinki Philharmonic Society

}}

The Impromptu, Op. 19, is a single-movement work for female choir and orchestra written in 1902 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of the Swedish poet Viktor Rydberg's poem {{lang|sv|Unge hellener}} (Young Hellenics), premiered in Helsinki on 8 March 1902, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society and an amateur choir. The Impromptu was the middle item a program that also included two other first performances: the Overture in A minor (JS 144), which served as the opener; and the Second Symphony (Op. 43).{{sfn|Barnett|2007|pp=146, 148}}{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=78}}

Sibelius extensively revised the Impromptu in the spring of 1910, reducing the instrumentation and altering both the beginning and ending of the piece, the former of which now incorporated a second Rydberg poem, {{lang|sv|Bacchospräster}} (The Priests of Bacchus).{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=79}}{{sfn|Barnett|2007|p=205}} This version of the Impromptu received its premiere in Helsinki on 29 March 1912, with Sibelius conducting the Philharmonic Society;{{sfn|Barnett|2007|p=220}} "Nuori Laulu" and the {{ill|Arbetets vänner|sv}} female choir sang the choral part.{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=79}}

{{stack|File:JSibelius Symphony2&Imprompru&OvertureAmin UusiSuometar 08Mar1902.png for the premiere of Jean Sibelius's Impromptu]]}}