The Cambridge Companion to Sibelius (Cambridge Companions to Music) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2004-02-26T03:00:00+00:00

Sibelius’s new vein continues in Kyllikki, three lyrical pieces for piano op. 41 (1904), which is perhaps Sibelius’s pianistically most advanced and demanding solo work. Though based on episodes from the Kalevala, it is not so much programme music as a triptych based on the three successive states of mind of its female protagonist – although the very aggressive and masculine character of the opening movement may refer also to Lemminkäinen.47

The Sibelian Satz technique, described above and in relation to Exx. 9.3 and 4 below, is used everywhere, and it is at its most apparent at the beginning and end of the second movement, Andantino, where the melody is doubled in tenths and tonic and dominant pedal notes are used simultaneously.

The Ten Pieces of op. 58 (1909) are arguably Sibelius’s most individual and satisfying set of piano miniatures, yet Layton’s verdict is merciless: ‘they are at best undistinguished’.48 If Kyllikki combines features of Sibelius’s Romantic period (the dark Romantic colouring of the first and second movements) with a more classical orientation (the playfulness of the dance-like closing movement), in the Ten Pieces we are in the midst of his modernist phase. Although traditional features appear now and then, the music strives towards a more polyphonic and linear mode of writing, characterised by sparse textures, concise and concentrated expression, and experimental harmony with dissonant clashes. The movements are no longer conventional late Romantic character pieces, which could be characterised as inferior salon or domestic music.49 They are altogether more individual, and challenge both the fingers and mind of the pianist. Sibelius himself was aware of the progress, and noted in his diary that he ‘thought the op. 58 pieces an improvement technically on his earlier piano writing’.50

The very first number, ‘Rêverie’, is strikingly modern. The texture is mostly in two parts, and the seeming independence of the left hand from the vague rhythmic and tonal ambivalence of the right hand creates an enigmatic atmosphere. Although the middle section and the strongly varied return of the opening contain more traditional elements and are texturally thicker, the piece satisfies both intellectual and musical curiosity. The ‘Scherzino’ (no. 2) makes a strong impression with its slight bimodality and liveliness, and has ‘something of the character of Benvenuto Cellini about it’.51 The ‘Air varié’ (no. 3) is a remarkable achievement with its tonal adventurousness and Bachian two-part-Invention textures. ‘The Shepherd’ (no. 4) charms with its pastoralism, and the clash between the 2/4 accompaniment figure and the prevailing 3/4 metre. The E minor ‘Tempo di Minuetto’ (no. 7) is filled with ‘melancholy of the old times’. The way in which Sibelius juxtaposes the gloomy main section with the music-box-like textures of the contrasting episodes is ingenious and lends the piece an estranged character, reflecting perhaps the thoughts of the composer at a certain nostalgic moment. The same sense of estrangement can be heard in the restless and ‘disturbing’ right-hand trills of the ‘Ständchen’ (no. 9).

The products of Sibelius’s deepening classicism, the Three Sonatinas op. 67 (1912) and the Two Rondinos op.

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