Compositions for organ by Jean Sibelius

Late in his career from 1925 to 1931, the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote six pieces for solo organ, chronologically as follows: Intrada, Op. 111a (1925); Preludium and Postludium, JS 153/1–2 (1926); Avaushymni (in English: Opening Hymn) and Surumarssi (in English: Funeral March; in French: Marche funèbre), respectively Nos. 1 and 10 from the Op. 113 Masonic Ritual Music (Vapaamuurareiden rituaalimusiikkia; 1927, revised 1948); and Surusoitto (in English: Funeral Music), Op. 111b (1931). Of the six, the most important and oft-recorded is Intrada, which over the decades has become "something of a display piece" for domestic organists.

In August 1925, Sibelius paused work on hs major project at the time, the incidental music to the The Tempest (Op. 109) to compose an occasional piece for solo organ—a genre that he had never before attempted. The event was the state visit of King Gustav V of Sweden, who was scheduled to attend a special church service at Helsinki Cathedral (then known as Nikolai Church).^[1] Sibelius responded with Intrada, "a monumental, hugely dignified piece",^[1] that the Finnish organist John Sundberg—with whom the composer had consulted on the capabilities of the cathedral's organ—premiered on 22 August.^[2][1]

Intrada takes about 5 minutes to play; its time signature is ³
₂ and its tempo marking is Largamente molto (poco adagio).^[2] Stylistically, it is related to the Symphony No. 7 (Op. 105) from the previous year, as well as Prospero from The Tempest (Suite No. 2, Movement IV; 1926).^[1] It has since become one of the most performed pieces in the Finnish organ repertoire—indeed, "something of a display piece" for domestic organists.^[1] The Finnish firm R. E. Westerlund published the double pedal version of Intrada in 1943 and the single-pedal version in 1957.^[3][a]

On 7 March 1931, Sibelius's longtime friend, the Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela, died. At the request of the family,^[5] Sibelius contributed a new piece for solo organ, Surusoitto, which the Finnish organist Elis Mårtenson premiered during the 19 March funeral at St. John's Church.^[6] Sibelius, despite his aversion to funerals, served as a pallbearer.^[5] Westerlund published Surumarssi in 1955,^[6] and this differs in some respects from the autograph manuscript. These changes probably trace to Mårtenson, although it is possible that they came at Sibelius's request given the time crunch to meet his deadline. At any rate, their provenance cannot be established.^[5]

Surusoitto takes about 5.5 minutes to play; ; its time signature is ³
₄ and it is without a tempo marking.^[3][b] Stylistically, it may relate to Sibelius's subsequently abandoned Eighth Symphony (JS 190, 1924–c. late 1930s–1945), given the mystery of how he could have managed to compose such a "captivating and exciting", large-scale work for organ in the span of a few days. Indeed, the Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen speculated to Aino Sibelius, Sibelius's widow, that be might have used material considered for the Eighth, which she found plausible. Barnett, however, has countered that at that point in the symphony's life, Sibelius had by no means given up on the project, and reusing material from viable, still-gestating symphonic work in another piece "would [have gone] against all the precedents ... he had established over almost fifty years". Instead, Barnett posits that while Sibelius may have considered material that ended up in Surusoitto for the Eighth, ultimately he must have had "already rejected [it] in a symphony context".^[7]

A manuscript among Sibelius's estate (now in possession of the National Library of Finland) indicates that from 1925 to 1926, he intended to compose a five-number suite for organ, comprising the following titles:

• Preludium
• 'Interludium'
• 'Toos Hilarion Arioso'
• 'Intrada'
• Postludium.^[8][9][c]

In the end, Sibelius wrote just two of the planned numbers: Preludium and Postludium, neither of which he designated with an opus number or sought to publish. (They are now known, respectively, as JS 153/1 and JS 153/2.)^[9] It is not possible based on existing evidence to determine if the 'Intrada' movement that Sibelius planned for the suite is the same as the Op. 111a piece of the same name. As the Sibelius biographer Andrew Barnett has noted, the manuscript indicates the key of E major for the suite 'Intrada', which is the same key as the Op. 111a Intrada. However, the latter is "a much more extensive and spectacular piece ... written for a much larger organ" than the suite's two extant numbers, leading to a perceived imbalance. It is possible that Sibelius, then, might have planned to "abbreviate and simplify" the Op. 111a Intrada, accordingly.^[10]

The Finnish organist Folke Gräsbeck premiered Preludium and Postludium on 15 June 2000 at Espoo Cathedral.^[9] They are in ⁶
₄ time and ²
₂ time, respectively; neither has a tempo marking.^[9] In 2001, Warner/Chappell Music Finland Oy published the two pieces, each of which takes about two-to-three minutes to play.^[9]

In 1922, freemasonry returned to Finland with the founding of the Finnish Lodge No. 1 (Suomi Loosi n:o 1) by Toivo Nekton and J. E. Tuokkola.^[11] Sibelius was among the inaugural class of 27 inductees, who were initiated on 18 August. The Lodge possessed a Mannborg harmonium, which Sibelius played.^[11] In 1927, Sibelius composed his Op. 113 Masonic Ritual Music (or, alternatively, Musique religieuse) for tenor and organ accompaniment (or harmonium, given the Lodge's own instrument) which the Finnish freemasons could use during meetings. This consisted of eight numbers, of which No. 1 Avaushymni and No. 8 Surumarssi were for solo organ.^[12][11] The former is in ³
₂ time and is marked Adagio,^[13] whereas the latter is in ⁴
₄ time and is without tempo marking.^[14][d]

The Masonic Ritual Music was first published in 1936 by Galaxy Music in New York; this version contains nine numbers, with Surumarssi as No. 9, due to the addition of the song for male choir and organ.^[12] In 1948, however, Sibelius substantially overhauled the score, most notably adding three additional numbers that include male choir; this moved Surumarssi to No. 10.^[17] At this time, Sibelius also revised Avaushymni from its original key of E-flat major to G major; in addition, to both Avaushymni and Surumarssi, he made minor alterations to dynamics, phrasings, etc. Galaxy Music published the revised version in 1950.^[18]

Sibelius's six pieces for organ received their premiere recordings in a piecemeal fashion, chronologically as follows:

• Avaushymni and Surumarssi (as part of the Masonic Ritual Music) in c. 1962 by Finnish organist Janne Raitio for Decca Records^[19]
• Intrada in 1975 during the Internationale Orgeltage Düsseldorf by the Finnish organist Folke Forsman^[2]
• Surusoitto in c. 1980 by the Finnish organist Matti Vainio for Finlandia Records^[6]
• Preludium and Postludium in 2004 by the Finnish organist Kalevi Kiviniemi for Fuga Records^[e]

As of 2025, three organists have recorded all six pieces: Kiviniemi (2004, Fuga), Harri Viitanen (2010, BIS Records), and Jan Lehtola (2010, Alba Records). The sortable table below lists these and other commercially available recordings of Sibelius's organ pieces:

Notes

References

Sources

• Two Pieces, Op. 111: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project