The Dryad (Sibelius)

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The Dryad
Tone poem by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1911)
Native nameDryadi
Opus45/1
Composed1910 (1910)
PublisherBreitkopf & Härtel (1910)[1]
Duration6 mins.[2]
Premiere
Date8 October 1910 (1910-10-08)[2]
LocationKristiania, Norway
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersKristiania Musical Association

The Dryad (in Finnish: Dryadi), Op. 45/1, is a tone poem for orchestra written in 1910 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He completed it between skiing trips. He conducted the first performance in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, on 8 October 1910, together with the premiere of In memoriam. He arranged it for piano in 1910 (Die Dryade). The piece has been regarded as one of the composer's "shortest and most original orchestral works", as an "impressionist miniature", proceeding from fragments to a "dance-like theme".[3]

Structure[edit]

The work is scored for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B), bass clarinet (in B), 2 bassoons, 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in B), 3 trombones, tuba, tambourine, castanets, snare drum, bass drum and strings.[4]


\relative c' \new Staff \with { \remove "Time_signature_engraver" } {
 \key d \major \time 3/4 \tempo ""
  <<
   {
    b''8-. ^\p [ g-.] fis-. eis-. r4 a8-.[ f-.] e-. dis-. r4
    g8-.[ es-.] d-. cis!-. r4 cis8-. c-. b-. ais-. a-. gis-.
   }
  \\
   {
    r4 r8 eis'_\p ( \times 2/3 { fis8\< g gis } a8\! ) r r dis,( \times 2/3 { e8\< f fis }
    g8\! ) r r cis,( \times 2/3 { d8\< es e } dis8\! ) dis-. dis-. dis-. dis-. dis-.
   }
  >>
}

Discography[edit]

The Finnish conductor Nils-Eric Fougstedt and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of The Dryad in 1959 for the Society of Finnish Composers [fi] (in Finnish: Suomen Säveltäjät).[2] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Conductor Ensemble Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Nils-Eric Fougstedt Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 1959 ? ? Suomen Säveltäjät [fi]
2 Sir Charles Groves Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 1975 6:01 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall EMI Classics
3 Sir Alexander Gibson Royal Scottish National Orchestra 1977 5:44 Glasgow City Halls Chandos
4 Neeme Järvi Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra 1985 5:41 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
5 Vassily Sinaisky Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra 1991 5:43 Mosfilm Studios Brilliant Classics
6 Shuntaro Sato Kuopio Symphony Orchestra [fi] 2002 6:02 Kuopio Music Centre [fi] Finlandia
7 Osmo Vänskä Lahti Symphony Orchestra 2000 5:07 Sibelius Hall BIS
8 Pietari Inkinen New Zealand Symphony Orchestra 2007 5:46 Michael Fowler Centre Naxos

In addition, the Finnish pianist Erik T. Tawaststjerna made the world premiere studio recording of Sibelius's piano transcription of The Dryad in 1987 for BIS. The table below includes this and other commercially available recordings:

No. Pianist Rec.[j] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Erik T. Tawaststjerna 1987 5:45 Danderyd Grammar School BIS
2 Folke Gräsbeck [fi] 2007 5:10 Kuusankoski Hall [fi] BIS

Notes, references, and sources[edit]

Notes
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ N. Fougstedt–Suomen Säveltäjät (SS 8) 1959
  3. ^ C. Groves–EMI Classics (5 85532 2) 2003
  4. ^ A. Gibson–Chandos (CHAN 8395/6) 1985
  5. ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–359) 1987
  6. ^ V. Sinaisky–Brilliant Classics (BC9212) 2010
  7. ^ S. Sato–Finlandia (0927–49598–2) 2003
  8. ^ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1225) 2002
  9. ^ P. Inkinen–Naxos (8.570763) 2008
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ E. Tawaststjerna–BIS (CD–366) 1987
  12. ^ F. Gräsbeck–BIS (CD–1909/11) 2008
References
  1. ^ Dahlström 2003, p. 206.
  2. ^ a b c Dahlström 2003, p. 205.
  3. ^ Siren.
  4. ^ Score, Sibelius: The Dryad, Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, 1910
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.
  • Siren, Visa. "Other orchestral works / The Dryad". Jean Sibelius. Finnish Club of Helsinki. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

External links[edit]