The Bard (Sibelius)

{{Short description|Tone poem by Jean Sibelius}}

{{Infobox musical composition

| type = Tone poem

| name = The Bard

| native_name = {{lang|sv|Barden}}

| composer = {{nowrap|Jean Sibelius}}

| image = Jean Sibelius 1911 (a).tif

| image_upright = .9

| caption = The composer ({{c.|1911}})

| border = Yes

| opus = 64

| composed = {{start date|1913}}, {{abbr|rev.|revised}} 1913

| publisher = Breitkopf & Härtel (1914){{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=292}}

| duration = 8 mins.{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=291}}

| premiere_date = {{start date|1913|03|27|df=y}}{{sfn|Dahlström|2003|p=291}}

| premiere_location = Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland

| premiere_conductor = Jean Sibelius

| premiere_performers = Helsinki Philharmonic Society

}}

The Bard (in Swedish: {{lang|sv|Barden}}), Op. 64, tone poem for orchestra written in 1913 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was first performed in Helsinki on 27 March 1913 by the Philharmonic Society Orchestra, conducted by the composer himself, but he revised it in 1914.Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, {{ISBN|0-19-861459-4}} The new version was first performed in Helsinki on 9 January 1916, again under the baton of the composer.

In Britain, Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony Orchestra recorded the tone poem in January 1936 for broadcast.{{Google books|zX6icuyyVJoC|Walter Legge: Words and Music|page=81|keywords=The Bard recorded by Adrian Boult 1936}} The first public performance in the UK was given by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1938.

The tone poem itself provides a profound, yet cryptic glimpse of an elegiac, poetic world: an initial, harp-led stillness and reflection are succeeded by elemental, eruptive surges and, finally, a sense of renunciation or maybe death.