Spring Song (Sibelius)

The piece was initially composed as Improvisation for Orchestra, in the key of D major. It was premiered on 21 July 1894{{sfn|Barnett|2007|page=91}} at an outdoor festival in Vaasa, organized by the {{ill|Society for Popular Education|fi|Kansanvalistusseura}} ({{lang|fi|Kansanvalistusseura|italics=no}}). Short, lyrical, and delicately scored, Sibelius's piece was ill-suited for the open-air concert, and the audience received it less enthusiastically than another work on the program: Korsholm, by Sibelius's brother-in-law and friend Armas Järnefelt. Shortly therefore, Sibelius withdrew Improvisation for revision. In 1895, he recast it in F major and retitled the work Spring Song ({{lang|sv|Vårsång}}), appending the subtitle "The Sadness of Spring" to that (unpublished) version.{{sfn|Tawaststjerna|2008|p=142}}

The work is scored for 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B{{music|flat}}), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in F), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, glocken, violins, violas, cellos, and double basses.Score, Sibelius: Vårsång (Frühlingslied), Breitkopf und Härtel, Leipzig, 1903 Spring Song takes about 8 minutes to play.

\relative c' \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {

\key f \major \time 3/4 \tempo ""

r4^\markup \italic cantabile c\mp ( d) c4.\( bes8( d bes) c4\) f--( e-- f) c2

d4-- \( e8\> ( d e4\! d4.) \) \< c8( \> \( e c\! ) d2.\) \< d2.*5/6 s8\!

}

The tempo marking is: Tempo moderato e sostenuto. The piece contains an optimism that is relatively rare among Sibelius' works. It is known for its prominent use of bells at the end of the song.{{sfn|Barnett|2007}}

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of Spring Song:

;{{large|Notes}}

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;{{large|References}}

{{Reflist}}

;{{large|Sources}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Barnett|first1=Andrew|year=2007|title=Sibelius|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-11159-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Dahlström|first=Fabian|author-link=:sv:Fabian Dahlström|title=Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke|trans-title=Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works|date=2003|publisher=Breitkopf & Härtel|location=Wiesbaden|language=de|isbn=3-7651-0333-0}}
• {{cite book|first=Erik|last=Tawaststjerna|author-link=Erik Tawaststjerna|title=Sibelius: Volume I, 1865–1905|date=2008|orig-date=1965/1967; {{abr|trans.|translation}} 1976|translator-first=Robert|translator-last=Layton|translator-link=Robert Layton (musicologist)|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=978-0-571-24772-1}}
• {{cite book |last=Vernon |first=David |date=2024 |title=Sun Forest Lake: The Symphonies & Tone Poems of Jean Sibelius |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Candle Row Press |isbn=978-1739659943 |ref=none}}

{{refend}}

• {{IMSLP2|work=Spring_Song%2C_Op.16_(Sibelius%2C_Jean)|cname=Spring Song (Vårsång), Op. 16}}
• {{allMusic|first=Blair |last=Johnston |class=composition |id=mc0002371213}}

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Category:Tone poems by Jean Sibelius

Category:1894 compositions

Category:Compositions in F major

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