The Rapids-Rider's Brides

The Rapids-Rider's Brides
Orchestral song by Jean Sibelius
The young composer (c. 1896)
Native nameKoskenlaskijan morsiamet
Opus33
Text
LanguageFinnish
Composed1897 (1897), trans. 1897–1899, arr. 1943
PublisherFazer & Westerlund [fi] (1899)[2][a]
Duration9 mins.[1]
Premiere
Date1 November 1897 (1897-11-01)[1]
LocationHelsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
Performers

The Rapids-Rider's Brides (in Finnish: Koskenlaskijan morsiamet; sometimes translated to English variously as The Ferryman's Brides or The Rapids-Shooter's Brides), Op. 33, is a song for baritone (or mezzo-soprano) and orchestra written in 1897 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Sibelius later made two arrangements of The Rapids-Rider's Brides: in 1897–1899, for voice and piano; and in 1943, for male choir and orchestra.[4]

Instrumentation

A newspaper advertisement (in Finnish) from Uusi Suometar for the premiere of The Rapids-Rider's Brides

The Rapids-Rider's Brides is scored for the following instruments and voices,[1] organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):

Discography

The Finnish conductor Jorma Panula and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Finnish baritone Jorma Hynninen, made the world premiere studio recording of The Rapids-Rider's Brides in May 1984 for BIS.[1] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Conductor Orchestra Baritone Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Jorma Panula Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Jorma Hynninen (1) 1984 9:00 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
[d]
2 Leif Segerstam Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra Jorma Hynninen (2) ? 9:06 ? Ondine
[e]
3 Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Gerald Finley 2016 9:44 Grieg Hall Chandos
[f]
No. Conductor Orchestra Ensemble Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra YL Male Voice Choir 2005 8:36 Sibelius Hall BIS
[g]

In 2008, the Swedish baritone Gabriel Suovanen [fi] and the Finnish pianist Folke Gräsbeck [fi] made the world premiere studio (and, to date, only) recording of Sibelius transcription of The Rapids-Rider's Brides for BIS. The table below contains additional details about this recording:

No. Baritone Piano Rec.[b] Time[c] Venue Label Ref.
1 Gabriel Suovanen [fi] Folke Gräsbeck [fi] 2008 11:31 Kuusankoski Concert Hall [fi] BIS
[h]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes
  1. ^ On 20 July 1905, the Helsinki-based music publisher Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel) sold its Sibelius holdings (the publishing rights and printing plates) to the German firm of Breitkopf & Härtel.[3]
  2. ^ a b c Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  3. ^ a b c All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
  4. ^ J. Panula—BIS (CD–270) 1985
  5. ^ L. Segerstam—Ondine (ODE 823–2) 2007
  6. ^ E. Gardner—Chandos (CHSA 5178) 2017
  7. ^ O. Vänskä—BIS (CD–1525) 2007
  8. ^ G. Suovanen—BIS (CD–1918/20) 2008
References
  1. ^ a b c d e Dahlström 2003, p. 145.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 96.
  3. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. xxiv.
  4. ^ Barnett 2007, pp. 113, 344.
Sources
  • Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
  • Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.