Symphony No. 5 (Sibelius)
Encyclopedia
Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op.
82 is a major work for orchestra in three movements
by Jean Sibelius
.
government
in honor of his 50th birthday, which had been declared a national holiday. The symphony was originally composed in 1915. It was revised first in 1916 and then again in 1919.
The original version was premiered by Sibelius himself with the Helsinki City Orchestra on his own 50th birthday, 8 December 1915. The second version (only part of which has survived) was first performed by the Orchestra of Turun Soitannollinen Seura in Turku
exactly one year later. The final version, which is the most commonly performed today, was premiered by Sibelius conducting the Helsinki City Orchestra on 24 November 1919.
The 1910s were a decade of change for the symphonic form which had existed for over a century. In 1909 Schoenberg
continued pushing for more dissonant and chromatic harmonies in his Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16
. From 1910-1913 Igor Stravinsky
premiered three revolutionary ballets The Firebird
, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring
(Le Sacre du Printemps). Ravel
and Debussy
were at work developing and performing their Impressionistic
forms. And in 1911 the premiere of Richard Strauss
's opera Der Rosenkavalier
further pushed music toward a new style. Though having spent nearly 30 years in the public spotlight, Jean Sibelius
found his works receiving poor reviews for the first time with the 1911 premiere of his Fourth Symphony
and, as James Hepokoski
theorized, the composer “was beginning to sense his own eclipse as a contending modernist.”
These events perhaps brought Sibelius to a point of crisis in his career, maybe forcing him to choose between changing his style to fill the more modern desires of audiences or continue composing as he felt best fit. The first version of this symphony kept his orchestral style (consonant sonorities, woodwind lines in parallel thirds, rich melodic development, etc.) while further developing his structural style. Hepokoski
calls this structural development “sonata deformation” or the change and development of sonata form itself. The success of this change is reflected in the popularity of the Fifth Symphony to the present day.
The first version of the Fifth Symphony still has much in common with the more modernist Fourth Symphony as it features some bitonal passages; the version from 1919 seems to be more straightforward and classicistic. Sibelius commented on his revision: "I wished to give my symphony another - more human - form. More down-to-earth, more vivid."
s, 2 oboe
s, 2 clarinet
s, 2 bassoon
s, 4 horns
, 3 trumpet
s, 3 trombone
s, timpani
, and strings
.
The form of the symphony is symmetrical when it comes to tempo: the first movement starts in a slow tempo but ends with the fast "scherzo". The second movement is a neither slow nor fast movement; it forms a calm "intermezzo". Then follows the third movement, which begins in a fast tempo but ends slowly. The duration is approximately 32 minutes.
" section to create a single form. The movement opens with a "horn call", containing much of the musical material of the work.
Though written in sonata form
, the first movement of Sibelius's Fifth can structurally be analyzed in many different ways. Many Sibelian scholars – Cecil Gray (1935), Gerald Abraham
(1947), Simon Parmet (1955), Robert Layton (1965), and Hepokoski
(1993) – each have their disagreements and own individual ideas as to the formal divides of the movement. They argue such points as its separation into two movements, the existence of two expositions, how to functionally describe the Scherzo
and Trio
, and the exact location of the beginning of the recapitulation
and coda
.
in his discussion, yet refers to the existence of two different subjects that seems to imply that he feels the movement is in sonata form. Abraham is one of the first to analyze the work in terms of sonata form and clearly lays out where he believes each section begins and why. He shows that the work opens with a double exposition, each with distinct A- and B-group material, then moves into the development
of this material. He explains the distinctly melodic section beginning at the ‘’Allegro moderato’’ as a Scherzo and Trio used as a substitute for the second half of the development. However, Layton disagrees with Abraham and considers the Scherzo to be the beginning of the recapitulation.
Most musicologists agreed with this formal analysis until Hepokoski's research, published in his 1993 text Sibelius: Symphony No. 5, offered an altogether different interpretation. He explains that the Symphony can only be analyzed in terms of what he has called “rotational form.” Here, he maintains the same divisional sections of the movement – double exposition, Scherzo, and recapitulation – however he has created new vocabulary for its analysis. Hepokoski shows how Sibelius allows the material itself to determine form in many of his works, developing by the necessity of the music and not by a pre-ordained eighteenth or nineteenth century form. From here, Sibelius uses a circular form of rotation or strophe
that passes through sections of material, further developing it with each rotation. Through this he maintains the general location of sectional changes as described by the earlier musicologists and agrees that the movement can roughly be analyzed in sonata form.
The first analytical point at which musicologists have disagreed is how to confront the clear separation of the first movement of Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 into two parts. In fact, in the first two versions of the work, Sibelius grouped his symphony into four movements with the Allegro moderato section of what is now the first movement separated to form a Scherzo movement. In the final 1919 version, the character changes at this point with what Gray describes as “superficial dissimilarity and independence of each other.” Earlier musicologists like Parmet analyzed the movement as two separate parts while Gray stressed the separateness of these sections while acknowledging their coexistence in one movement. They did so because of the clear meter change from 12/8 to 3/4. Furthermore, after this meter change, where rehearsal letter
s should continue from N to the end of the alphabet, they return back to A, thus showing a clear sign for a beginning of a new movement at this point.
More recent musicologists however disagree with this separation into two movements on the basis that both sections are based on the same material and in combination allow for analysis in sonata form. Abraham cites as precedent the fusion of these sections in Sibelius's Symphony No. 2
and Symphony No. 3
where the Scherzo and Finale movements have been combined into one. Notationally, there is source for this fusion as well. Though there is a change in meter at measure 114, the tempo and compound division of the beat do not change: four measures of the 3/4 Allegro moderato correspond to one measure of the previous section. The gradual accelerando, which begins at the end (the climax) of the opening Tempo molto moderato and which leads into the Allegro moderato Scherzo, continues uninterrupted to the end of the movement; indeed, without access to a score, it is difficult for the listener to identify exactly where the Scherzo section begins. Most importantly, the clear use and development of the same materials throughout indicate that this is indeed one movement. In fact, Sibelius himself most likely thought of it as one movement as he published and performed the first movement of his final 1919 version without break.
The second point that musicologists have disputed regarding the first movement of the symphony is the existence of two expositions. The symphony begins with soft calls in the horns, the first horn playing what becomes the main material of the A-group while the others play long notes below. The music has its own rhythmic character ("long-short-short-long") and is centred on the interval of the perfect fourth. This first theme continues in the horns and bassoons while increasingly, the music is developed by the woodwinds playing sixteenth-notes in parallel third motion until the second theme is presented and eventually takes over in measure 9. It is agreed that the B-group begins by measure 18. At this point a third theme is heard in the woodwinds – like the first theme also built on the perfect fourth interval but this time with the defining rhythm "short-long-short" - with tremolo accompaniment in the strings. At measure 28, the fourth theme enters still in G major and distinguished by its duple (equal) subdivision of the beat in the horns and woodwinds as a chorale-like chord progression. This exposition concludes with the return of the third theme, now rhythmically in diminution and melodically circular, fading away to an afterthought.
Hepokoski finds it important to point out that one would expect the end of an exposition to come with a clear cadence in the new key, in this case G major. However, as the third theme fades away it is replaced in measure 36 by the first theme of the A-group here still in G major. Though this next section proceeds in an unexpected key – G major then changing back to the tonic E-flat in measure 41 – Abraham and Layton both consider it to be a second or “counter” exposition, as equivalent to the eighteenth century repeat of the exposition. They both reference the recurrence of both the A- and B-groups almost in their entirety, though here they are used to emphasize the tonic.
Hepokoski disagrees with this analysis and instead uses his rotational form terminology to talk about these two sections as “Rotation 1, bars 3-35 (referential statement: ‘expositional space’)” and “Rotation 2, bars 36-71 (complementary rotation/‘developmental exposition’)” respectively. He does so based on Sibelius's choice of keys and the inclusion of developmental qualities that are used to lead toward the climax of the movement. First, whereas the A-group of the first rotation contains no accompaniment, the A-group of the second rotation contains tremolo accompaniment in the strings. Secondly, the key changes much earlier than previously. In measure 41 Sibelius goes back to E-flat major while still in the middle of the A-group and concludes this exposition section in this tonic key as no sonata form exposition would. Finally is the degree to which the second theme in the woodwinds is developed. Here, the sixteenth-note runs are heard sooner and become much longer than before. This section ends just as the previous one does with the third theme in diminution fading away to nothing without cadence in the strings and woodwinds. What follows is a developmental section (or what Hepokoski calls Rotation 3) based on the insignificant transition that anticipated the string entrance before the B-group in the first exposition. This is followed by the development of B-group material which is brought back as the mood changes to Largamente in measure 92.
At the Allegro moderato in measure 114, the music changes as the second half of the movement begins in Scherzo style. Though all musicologists talk about this next section as a Scherzo, Abraham and Preston Stedman analyze it as well as a continuation of the development. This has created yet another point at which musicologists have disagreed on the structural analysis of the movement. The new melodic theme that pervades the first half of the Scherzo is ingeniously developed out of the second theme material of the A-group yet based on material from the first theme. These sixteenth-notes act as the pick-ups to this new theme. Though acting statically before, one can almost believe they were always meant to develop into this new material. The key returns to E-flat major at measure 158 (rehearsal letter B) while the Scherzo continues to develop the same material.
Like any traditional Scherzo, Abraham explains that this too has a Trio section that begins at measure 218 (rehearsal letter D). This starts out in E-flat major with an apparently new and distinctive trumpet melody (the timpani reinforcing the rhythm), though quickly changes to B major (bassoon and horns). This section is characterized by this new melodic material, which develops what was heard earlier and is also closely related to material from the A-group. This section can also be considered developmental space as this melody is passed around the orchestra in a quasi-fugal manner. Other musicologists have analyzed these Scherzo and Trio sections very differently.
The most contested point musicologists make is the location of the beginning of the recapitulation. Hepokoski points out this ambiguity early in his analysis as consequence of “sonata deformation”. Abraham explains that the Scherzo repeat after the conclusion of the Trio in measure 298 also acts as the movement’s recapitulation. This section is still very Scherzo-like but is based on transformed material of the A-group. In measure 274 (rehearsal letter G), the key returns to E-flat major. The texture also changes as the melody fades away and the strings begin a long rising tremolo figure as related to the woodwinds’ sixteenth-note pattern of the second theme. In some ways this key change acts as a transition back to the main Scherzo section. Stedman adds to Abraham’s analysis by explaining that this return to the Scherzo acts as a recapitulation to the overall sonata form structure. This can be seen in measure 324, with the rising perfect fourth motive in the violins, the A-group is stated once more in a new form in the home key of E-flat. This material is increasingly passed around the orchestra and developed into a staccato quarter-note arpeggiated figure that by measure 401 (rehearsal letter L) completely takes over the texture, leaving the previous material behind. In measure 471 (rehearsal letter O) the second half of Abraham’s recapitulation begins with the duple subdivision of the B-group theme still in E-flat major.
Layton disagrees with Abraham’s analysis saying that the recapitulation begins in measure 114 with the beginning of the first Scherzo section. He explains that “while not denying the Scherzo-like character of many episodes in the second half of the movement, there is no doubt that it does in fact correspond in broad outline to the recapitulation normal in sonata form.” He cites the return to the tonic in E-flat in measure 159 (rehearsal letter B) and the clear origin of the A-group material for both the Scherzo and Trio.
Hepokoski takes an altogether different approach to the recapitulation. First, he structurally considers the Scherzo and recapitulation through the conclusion of the movement to all be part of the fourth and final rotation that he calls “Rotation 4, bars 106-586 (‘Scherzo’; ‘recapitulatory space’)”. When defining the location of the recapitulation within this rotation, he is unable to give specific measure numbers because it enters in a staggered manner. He shows how “the four defining ‘recapitulatory’ features, however – theme, tempo
, Scherzo character, and ‘tonic colour’ – are set into place not simultaneously but one after another.” The return of the “theme” happens at measure 106 with the A-group materials heard in the brass with woodwind sixteenth-notes above. What he means by “tempo” and “Scherzo character” is the accelerando into the 3/4 Allegro moderato section. Finally, he shows how “tonic colour” returns in measure 158 (rehearsal letter B), putting into place all elements of the recapitulation. With the entry of the Trio section, the recapitulation is put on hold until the Scherzo returns.
Finally, short debate again surrounds the beginning of the coda: whether it starts in measure 507 at the Presto or measure 555 at the Più Presto as analyzed by Abraham and Hepokoski respectively. An equally plausible starting place is measure 497 (6 before Q) (at the end of the final statement of the chordal duple-rhythm B-group theme (which begins at measure 487, letter P)) with its fff syncopated trombone statement of the first four rising notes of the A-group (with which the work began) and the beginning of the E-flat pedal which continues to the end of the movement. This entire ending section races in quarter-note arpeggios towards the conclusion, thus making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the beginning of the coda.
(1963); "On My Own" by Peach Union
(1996), and the song "Stories" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
). Straightforward appropriation can be heard in the coda of "Beach Baby" by The First Class
(1974); "Since Yesterday" by Strawberry Switchblade
(1984); "I Don't Believe in Miracles" by Sinitta (1988), and "Oh What A Life" by Play People (2008), More recently, the theme has appeared - somewhat inconspicuously - in "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz
. The opening of the first movement is quoted in the opening to John Coltrane
's A Love Supreme
. It is believed that Coltrane did not directly quote Sibelius, instead quoted Leonard Bernstein
's "On the Town" which, in turn, quoted from the symphony.
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
82 is a major work for orchestra in three movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
by Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
.
History
Sibelius was commissioned to write this symphony by the FinnishFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
in honor of his 50th birthday, which had been declared a national holiday. The symphony was originally composed in 1915. It was revised first in 1916 and then again in 1919.
The original version was premiered by Sibelius himself with the Helsinki City Orchestra on his own 50th birthday, 8 December 1915. The second version (only part of which has survived) was first performed by the Orchestra of Turun Soitannollinen Seura in Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
exactly one year later. The final version, which is the most commonly performed today, was premiered by Sibelius conducting the Helsinki City Orchestra on 24 November 1919.
The 1910s were a decade of change for the symphonic form which had existed for over a century. In 1909 Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
continued pushing for more dissonant and chromatic harmonies in his Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16
Five Pieces for Orchestra
The Five Pieces for Orchestra Op. 16 was composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1909. The titles of the pieces, reluctantly added by the composer after the work's completion upon the request of his publisher, are as follows:...
. From 1910-1913 Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
premiered three revolutionary ballets The Firebird
The Firebird
The Firebird is a 1910 ballet created by the composer Igor Stravinsky and choreographer Michel Fokine. The ballet is based on Russian folk tales of the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor....
, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
(Le Sacre du Printemps). Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
and Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
were at work developing and performing their Impressionistic
Impressionist music
Impressionism in music was a tendency in European classical music, mainly in France, which appeared in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Similarly to its precursor in the visual arts, musical impressionism focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere...
forms. And in 1911 the premiere of Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's opera Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
further pushed music toward a new style. Though having spent nearly 30 years in the public spotlight, Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
found his works receiving poor reviews for the first time with the 1911 premiere of his Fourth Symphony
Symphony No. 4 (Sibelius)
The Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is one of seven completed symphonies composed by Jean Sibelius. Written between 1910 and 1911, it was premiered in Helsinki on 3 April 1911 by the Philharmonia Society, with Sibelius conducting....
and, as James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
theorized, the composer “was beginning to sense his own eclipse as a contending modernist.”
These events perhaps brought Sibelius to a point of crisis in his career, maybe forcing him to choose between changing his style to fill the more modern desires of audiences or continue composing as he felt best fit. The first version of this symphony kept his orchestral style (consonant sonorities, woodwind lines in parallel thirds, rich melodic development, etc.) while further developing his structural style. Hepokoski
James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
calls this structural development “sonata deformation” or the change and development of sonata form itself. The success of this change is reflected in the popularity of the Fifth Symphony to the present day.
The first version of the Fifth Symphony still has much in common with the more modernist Fourth Symphony as it features some bitonal passages; the version from 1919 seems to be more straightforward and classicistic. Sibelius commented on his revision: "I wished to give my symphony another - more human - form. More down-to-earth, more vivid."
Instrumentation
The symphony is scored for 2 fluteFlute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, 4 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, 3 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
Structure
This symphony is unusual in its structure:- Tempo molto moderato - Allegro moderato (ma poco a poco stretto) - Vivace molto - Presto - Più Presto
- Andante mosso, quasi allegretto - Poco a poco stretto - Tranquillo - Poco a poco stretto - Ritenuto al tempo I
- Allegro molto - Misterioso - Un pochettino largamente - Largamente assai - Un pochettino stretto
The form of the symphony is symmetrical when it comes to tempo: the first movement starts in a slow tempo but ends with the fast "scherzo". The second movement is a neither slow nor fast movement; it forms a calm "intermezzo". Then follows the third movement, which begins in a fast tempo but ends slowly. The duration is approximately 32 minutes.
First movement
Sibelius had originally intended this to be two separate movements, but manages to link the slower introduction with the faster, waltz-like "scherzoScherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
" section to create a single form. The movement opens with a "horn call", containing much of the musical material of the work.
Though written in sonata form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, the first movement of Sibelius's Fifth can structurally be analyzed in many different ways. Many Sibelian scholars – Cecil Gray (1935), Gerald Abraham
Gerald Abraham
Gerald Ernest Heal Abraham, CBE, FBA was an English musicologist; he was President of the Royal Musical Association, 1970-74.- Career :* Assistant Editor, Radio Times, 1935–39* Deputy Editor, The Listener, 1939–42...
(1947), Simon Parmet (1955), Robert Layton (1965), and Hepokoski
James Hepokoski
James Hepokoski earned his Masters and PhD in Music History from Harvard University and has been professor at the Yale Department of Music since 1999...
(1993) – each have their disagreements and own individual ideas as to the formal divides of the movement. They argue such points as its separation into two movements, the existence of two expositions, how to functionally describe the Scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
and Trio
Trio (music)
Trio is generally used in any of the following ways:* A group of three musicians playing the same or different musical instrument.* The performance of a piece of music by three people.* The contrasting section of a piece in ternary form...
, and the exact location of the beginning of the recapitulation
Recapitulation (music)
In music theory, the recapitulation is one of the sections of a movement written in sonata form. The recapitulation occurs after the movement's development section, and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movement's exposition...
and coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
.
Differing analytical views
Gray, the first musicologist to write on the structure of the Fifth Symphony, makes no mention of sonata formSonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
in his discussion, yet refers to the existence of two different subjects that seems to imply that he feels the movement is in sonata form. Abraham is one of the first to analyze the work in terms of sonata form and clearly lays out where he believes each section begins and why. He shows that the work opens with a double exposition, each with distinct A- and B-group material, then moves into the development
Musical development
In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same...
of this material. He explains the distinctly melodic section beginning at the ‘’Allegro moderato’’ as a Scherzo and Trio used as a substitute for the second half of the development. However, Layton disagrees with Abraham and considers the Scherzo to be the beginning of the recapitulation.
Most musicologists agreed with this formal analysis until Hepokoski's research, published in his 1993 text Sibelius: Symphony No. 5, offered an altogether different interpretation. He explains that the Symphony can only be analyzed in terms of what he has called “rotational form.” Here, he maintains the same divisional sections of the movement – double exposition, Scherzo, and recapitulation – however he has created new vocabulary for its analysis. Hepokoski shows how Sibelius allows the material itself to determine form in many of his works, developing by the necessity of the music and not by a pre-ordained eighteenth or nineteenth century form. From here, Sibelius uses a circular form of rotation or strophe
Strophe
A strophe forms the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. In its original Greek setting, "strophe, antistrophe and epode were a kind of stanza framed only for the music," as John Milton wrote in the preface to Samson Agonistes, with the strophe...
that passes through sections of material, further developing it with each rotation. Through this he maintains the general location of sectional changes as described by the earlier musicologists and agrees that the movement can roughly be analyzed in sonata form.
Fusion of movements
The first analytical point at which musicologists have disagreed is how to confront the clear separation of the first movement of Sibelius's Symphony No. 5 into two parts. In fact, in the first two versions of the work, Sibelius grouped his symphony into four movements with the Allegro moderato section of what is now the first movement separated to form a Scherzo movement. In the final 1919 version, the character changes at this point with what Gray describes as “superficial dissimilarity and independence of each other.” Earlier musicologists like Parmet analyzed the movement as two separate parts while Gray stressed the separateness of these sections while acknowledging their coexistence in one movement. They did so because of the clear meter change from 12/8 to 3/4. Furthermore, after this meter change, where rehearsal letter
Rehearsal letter
A rehearsal letter is a boldface letter of the alphabet in an orchestral score, and its corresponding parts, that provides a convenient spot from which to resume rehearsal after a break. Rehearsal letters are most often used in scores of the Romantic era, beginning with Louis Spohr...
s should continue from N to the end of the alphabet, they return back to A, thus showing a clear sign for a beginning of a new movement at this point.
More recent musicologists however disagree with this separation into two movements on the basis that both sections are based on the same material and in combination allow for analysis in sonata form. Abraham cites as precedent the fusion of these sections in Sibelius's Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2 (Sibelius)
Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 43 was started in Winter 1900 in Rapallo, Italy, and finished in 1902 in Finland. It was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 8 March 1902, with the composer conducting...
and Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 3 (Sibelius)
The Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52, by Jean Sibelius is a symphony in three movements composed in 1907. Coming between the romantic intensity of Sibelius's first two symphonies and the more austere complexity of his later symphonies, it is a good-natured, triumphal, and deceptively...
where the Scherzo and Finale movements have been combined into one. Notationally, there is source for this fusion as well. Though there is a change in meter at measure 114, the tempo and compound division of the beat do not change: four measures of the 3/4 Allegro moderato correspond to one measure of the previous section. The gradual accelerando, which begins at the end (the climax) of the opening Tempo molto moderato and which leads into the Allegro moderato Scherzo, continues uninterrupted to the end of the movement; indeed, without access to a score, it is difficult for the listener to identify exactly where the Scherzo section begins. Most importantly, the clear use and development of the same materials throughout indicate that this is indeed one movement. In fact, Sibelius himself most likely thought of it as one movement as he published and performed the first movement of his final 1919 version without break.
Double exposition
The second point that musicologists have disputed regarding the first movement of the symphony is the existence of two expositions. The symphony begins with soft calls in the horns, the first horn playing what becomes the main material of the A-group while the others play long notes below. The music has its own rhythmic character ("long-short-short-long") and is centred on the interval of the perfect fourth. This first theme continues in the horns and bassoons while increasingly, the music is developed by the woodwinds playing sixteenth-notes in parallel third motion until the second theme is presented and eventually takes over in measure 9. It is agreed that the B-group begins by measure 18. At this point a third theme is heard in the woodwinds – like the first theme also built on the perfect fourth interval but this time with the defining rhythm "short-long-short" - with tremolo accompaniment in the strings. At measure 28, the fourth theme enters still in G major and distinguished by its duple (equal) subdivision of the beat in the horns and woodwinds as a chorale-like chord progression. This exposition concludes with the return of the third theme, now rhythmically in diminution and melodically circular, fading away to an afterthought.
Hepokoski finds it important to point out that one would expect the end of an exposition to come with a clear cadence in the new key, in this case G major. However, as the third theme fades away it is replaced in measure 36 by the first theme of the A-group here still in G major. Though this next section proceeds in an unexpected key – G major then changing back to the tonic E-flat in measure 41 – Abraham and Layton both consider it to be a second or “counter” exposition, as equivalent to the eighteenth century repeat of the exposition. They both reference the recurrence of both the A- and B-groups almost in their entirety, though here they are used to emphasize the tonic.
Hepokoski disagrees with this analysis and instead uses his rotational form terminology to talk about these two sections as “Rotation 1, bars 3-35 (referential statement: ‘expositional space’)” and “Rotation 2, bars 36-71 (complementary rotation/‘developmental exposition’)” respectively. He does so based on Sibelius's choice of keys and the inclusion of developmental qualities that are used to lead toward the climax of the movement. First, whereas the A-group of the first rotation contains no accompaniment, the A-group of the second rotation contains tremolo accompaniment in the strings. Secondly, the key changes much earlier than previously. In measure 41 Sibelius goes back to E-flat major while still in the middle of the A-group and concludes this exposition section in this tonic key as no sonata form exposition would. Finally is the degree to which the second theme in the woodwinds is developed. Here, the sixteenth-note runs are heard sooner and become much longer than before. This section ends just as the previous one does with the third theme in diminution fading away to nothing without cadence in the strings and woodwinds. What follows is a developmental section (or what Hepokoski calls Rotation 3) based on the insignificant transition that anticipated the string entrance before the B-group in the first exposition. This is followed by the development of B-group material which is brought back as the mood changes to Largamente in measure 92.
Scherzo
At the Allegro moderato in measure 114, the music changes as the second half of the movement begins in Scherzo style. Though all musicologists talk about this next section as a Scherzo, Abraham and Preston Stedman analyze it as well as a continuation of the development. This has created yet another point at which musicologists have disagreed on the structural analysis of the movement. The new melodic theme that pervades the first half of the Scherzo is ingeniously developed out of the second theme material of the A-group yet based on material from the first theme. These sixteenth-notes act as the pick-ups to this new theme. Though acting statically before, one can almost believe they were always meant to develop into this new material. The key returns to E-flat major at measure 158 (rehearsal letter B) while the Scherzo continues to develop the same material.
Like any traditional Scherzo, Abraham explains that this too has a Trio section that begins at measure 218 (rehearsal letter D). This starts out in E-flat major with an apparently new and distinctive trumpet melody (the timpani reinforcing the rhythm), though quickly changes to B major (bassoon and horns). This section is characterized by this new melodic material, which develops what was heard earlier and is also closely related to material from the A-group. This section can also be considered developmental space as this melody is passed around the orchestra in a quasi-fugal manner. Other musicologists have analyzed these Scherzo and Trio sections very differently.
Recapitulation
The most contested point musicologists make is the location of the beginning of the recapitulation. Hepokoski points out this ambiguity early in his analysis as consequence of “sonata deformation”. Abraham explains that the Scherzo repeat after the conclusion of the Trio in measure 298 also acts as the movement’s recapitulation. This section is still very Scherzo-like but is based on transformed material of the A-group. In measure 274 (rehearsal letter G), the key returns to E-flat major. The texture also changes as the melody fades away and the strings begin a long rising tremolo figure as related to the woodwinds’ sixteenth-note pattern of the second theme. In some ways this key change acts as a transition back to the main Scherzo section. Stedman adds to Abraham’s analysis by explaining that this return to the Scherzo acts as a recapitulation to the overall sonata form structure. This can be seen in measure 324, with the rising perfect fourth motive in the violins, the A-group is stated once more in a new form in the home key of E-flat. This material is increasingly passed around the orchestra and developed into a staccato quarter-note arpeggiated figure that by measure 401 (rehearsal letter L) completely takes over the texture, leaving the previous material behind. In measure 471 (rehearsal letter O) the second half of Abraham’s recapitulation begins with the duple subdivision of the B-group theme still in E-flat major.
Layton disagrees with Abraham’s analysis saying that the recapitulation begins in measure 114 with the beginning of the first Scherzo section. He explains that “while not denying the Scherzo-like character of many episodes in the second half of the movement, there is no doubt that it does in fact correspond in broad outline to the recapitulation normal in sonata form.” He cites the return to the tonic in E-flat in measure 159 (rehearsal letter B) and the clear origin of the A-group material for both the Scherzo and Trio.
Hepokoski takes an altogether different approach to the recapitulation. First, he structurally considers the Scherzo and recapitulation through the conclusion of the movement to all be part of the fourth and final rotation that he calls “Rotation 4, bars 106-586 (‘Scherzo’; ‘recapitulatory space’)”. When defining the location of the recapitulation within this rotation, he is unable to give specific measure numbers because it enters in a staggered manner. He shows how “the four defining ‘recapitulatory’ features, however – theme, tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, Scherzo character, and ‘tonic colour’ – are set into place not simultaneously but one after another.” The return of the “theme” happens at measure 106 with the A-group materials heard in the brass with woodwind sixteenth-notes above. What he means by “tempo” and “Scherzo character” is the accelerando into the 3/4 Allegro moderato section. Finally, he shows how “tonic colour” returns in measure 158 (rehearsal letter B), putting into place all elements of the recapitulation. With the entry of the Trio section, the recapitulation is put on hold until the Scherzo returns.
Coda
Finally, short debate again surrounds the beginning of the coda: whether it starts in measure 507 at the Presto or measure 555 at the Più Presto as analyzed by Abraham and Hepokoski respectively. An equally plausible starting place is measure 497 (6 before Q) (at the end of the final statement of the chordal duple-rhythm B-group theme (which begins at measure 487, letter P)) with its fff syncopated trombone statement of the first four rising notes of the A-group (with which the work began) and the beginning of the E-flat pedal which continues to the end of the movement. This entire ending section races in quarter-note arpeggios towards the conclusion, thus making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the beginning of the coda.
Second movement
This quiet movement is a set of variations on a theme of flute heard at the beginning on the strings, played pizzicato with chirping woodwinds to create a cheerful feel.Third movement
This movement begins with a fast melody in the strings, played tremolando. After this is developed, a swaying, triple-time motif begins in the horns, which is said to have been inspired by the sound of swan-calls, as well as a specific instance when the composer witnessed 16 of them taking flight at once. Over this, Sibelius has the flutes and strings play one of his most famous melodies. Both this and the motif are developed, until in the final section the motif returns majestically in the home key. The symphony ends with one of Sibelius's most original ideas — the six chords of the final cadence, each separated by silence.In popular culture
The 'swan-call' motif has been appropriated for a number of pop songs, though some alleged borrowings are too fleeting or too approximate to be other than coincidental resemblances (e.g. "Popsicles and Icicles" by The MurmaidsThe Murmaids
The Murmaids were a one-hit wonder all-female vocal trio composed of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer; and Sally Gordon from Los Angeles, California who, in January 1964 reached #3 with "Popsicles and Icicles".-Background:...
(1963); "On My Own" by Peach Union
Peach Union
Peach were a pop/dance/electronic trio who formed in London, England and had several UK and U.S. pop and dance chart hit singles in the late 1990s. In the US, the act was forced to alter its name to Peach Union as there was already a rock band named Peach...
(1996), and the song "Stories" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Beauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a 1997 animated holiday special produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is a midquel that takes place within the timeline of the original Beauty and the Beast...
). Straightforward appropriation can be heard in the coda of "Beach Baby" by The First Class
The First Class
The First Class was a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter.-Career:The First Class was the studio creation of the British singer-songwriter John Carter and singers Tony Burrows and Chas Mills as an outlet for material Carter wrote with his...
(1974); "Since Yesterday" by Strawberry Switchblade
Strawberry Switchblade
Strawberry Switchblade was a female pop rock band formed in Scotland in 1981 by Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, best known for their song "Since Yesterday" in 1985.-Before being signed:...
(1984); "I Don't Believe in Miracles" by Sinitta (1988), and "Oh What A Life" by Play People (2008), More recently, the theme has appeared - somewhat inconspicuously - in "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
. The opening of the first movement is quoted in the opening to John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
's A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme
A Love Supreme is a studio album recorded by John Coltrane's quartet in December 1964 and released by Impulse! Records in February 1965...
. It is believed that Coltrane did not directly quote Sibelius, instead quoted Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's "On the Town" which, in turn, quoted from the symphony.
External links
- Program notes from the Kennedy Center
- Program notes by Paul Serotsky
- Original Music manuscript, 1919 It is the 8th treasure.
- http://www.archive.org/details/SibeliusSymphonyNo.51941 Recording by the Cleveland OrchestraCleveland OrchestraThe Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, conducted by Artur RodzinskiArtur RodzinskiArtur Rodziński was a Polish conductor of opera and symphonic music. He is especially noted for his tenures as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic in the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:...
.]