Pelléas et Mélisande (Sibelius)
{{Short description|Incidental music by Jean Sibelius}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name = Pelléas et Mélisande
| type = Incidental music
| composer = {{nowrap|Jean Sibelius}}
| image = File:Sibelius edelfeldt.jpg
| image_upright = 0.7
| caption = The composer in 1904, by Albert Edelfelt
| border = Yes
| opus = 46 (concert suite)
| catalogue = JS 147 (threatre score)
| composed = {{start date|1905}}
| performed = {{start date|1905|03|17|df=y}}
| duration =
| movements = 10
| scoring = orchestra
}}
File:JSibelius PelleasMelisande 17Mar1905 Hufvudstadsbladet.png promoting Sibelius's incidental music to Pelléas och Mélisande]]
Pelléas et Mélisande (Pelléas och Mélisande), JS 147 is incidental music by Jean Sibelius for Maurice Maeterlinck's 1892 play Pelléas and Mélisande. Sibelius composed in 1905 ten parts, overtures to the five acts and five other movements. It was first performed at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki on 17 March 1905 to a translation by Bertel Gripenberg, conducted by the composer.
Sibelius later slightly rearranged the music into a nine movement suite, published as Op. 46, which became one of his most popular concert works.
Movements of the suite
The movements were derived from the following numbers:
{{Ordered list|type=upper-roman
| At the Castle Gate (Prelude from Act I, scene 1)
:The opening movement of the suite for orchestra is called "At the Castle Gate". The strings introduce an atmospheric, brief theme, which is then restated with help from the woodwind. This introduction is closed by austere chords. This section is familiar to British television viewers as the theme of the world's longest-running TV programme (1957–present), the BBC's The Sky at Night, first presented by Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012) and presently by Chris Lintott and Maggie Aderin-Pocock.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| Mélisande (Prelude from Act I, scene 2)
:The character Mélisande is introduced with characteristically strong material presented by a cor anglais solo. This is succeeded by a brief intermezzo, "At the Seashore," which Sibelius regarded as dispensable in concert performances.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| At the Seashore (Melodrama from Act I, scene 4)
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| A Spring in the Park (Prelude from Act II, scene 1)
:The strings present the dense sonorities of the melodic material of "A Spring in the Park".
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| The Three Blind Sisters (Mélisande's Song from Act III, scene 2)
:In "Three Blind Sisters" another cor anglais solo is answered by monolithic orchestral harmonies.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| Pastorale (Melodrama from Act III, scene 4)
:The sixth movement, "Pastorale," is scored for woodwind and string instruments and exhibits the subtlety of chamber music.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| Mélisande at the Spinning Wheel (Prelude from Act III, scene 1)
:The seventh, "Mélisande at the Spinning Wheel," presents the largest and most dramatic image heard so far. This immense movement could serve as a symphonic finale in its own right but the pace of the drama demands an epilogue.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| Entr'acte (Prelude from Act IV, scene 1)
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
| The Death of Mélisande (Prelude from Act V, scene 2).{{cite book | author=Levas, Santeri | title=Jean Sibelius: Muistelma suuresta ihmisestä | trans-title=Jean Sibelius: Memoir of a Great Man | edition=2nd | location=Helsinki | publisher=WSOY | year=1986 | page=466 | isbn=951-0-13306-X | language=Finnish }}
:With the moving "The Death of Mélisande," the tragic story of the doomed love affair reaches its conclusion.
:File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf
}}
Excluded from the suite is Prelude to Act IV, scene 2, as well as the vocal version of No. 5, Mélisande's Song. Sibelius later made a transcription of the suite for solo piano, excluding the 'At the Seashore' movement.{{cn |date=March 2025}}
Orchestration
References
{{reflist
| refs =
|url = http://www.bis.se/bis_pages/PDF/BIS-CD-1912-14_contents.pdf
|title = Pelléas och Mélisande
|trans-title=Pelléas and Mélisande
|publisher = BIS
|access-date = 8 December 2015
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923190926/http://www.bis.se/bis_pages/PDF/BIS-CD-1912-14_contents.pdf
|archivedate = 23 September 2015}}
| url = http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/nayttamo_pelleas.htm
| title = Incidental music / Op. 71 Pelléas et Mélisande
| work = Jean Sibelius
| publisher = Finnish Club of Helsinki
| access-date = 8 December 2015
}}
}}
Additional reading
{{ref begin}}
- {{cite web|first=Eija|last=Kurki|url=https://sibeliusone.com/music-for-the-theatre/pelleas-et-melisande/|title=Pelléas et Mélisande: Sibelius's Incidental Music and Maeterlinck's Play|date=2018|website=SibeliusOne.com|publisher=Sibelius One|access-date=5 September 2023}}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{IMSLP2|work=Pelléas et Mélisande, suite, Op.46 (Sibelius, Jean)|cname=Pelleas and Melisande, suite, Op.46}}
{{Jean Sibelius}}
{{Pelleas and Melisande}}
{{Portalbar|Classical Music}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelleas Et Melisande (Sibelius)}}
Category:Suites by Jean Sibelius
Category:Incidental music by Jean Sibelius