| In memoriam | |
|---|---|
| Funeral march byJean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1911) | |
| Opus | 59 |
| Composed | 1909 (1909),rev. 1910 |
| Publisher | Breitkopf & Härtel (1910)[1] |
| Duration | 9 mins. (orig. 10 mins.)[2] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 8 October 1910 (1910-10-08)[3] |
| Location | Kristiania,Norway |
| Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
| Performers | Kristiania Musical Association |
In memoriam,Op. 59, is a single-movementfuneral march fororchestra written in 1909 by the Finnish composerJean Sibelius. It was written in memory ofEugen Schauman. However, he revised the piece in 1910. He conducted the first performance inKristiania (now Oslo) on 8 October 1910. The piece was also performed at his own funeral.
The work was written to commemorateEugen Schauman who had in 1904 shot Governor-GeneralNikolay Bobrikov and then killed himself.[4] Sibelius mentioned on New Year's Day of 1905 "that he intended to write a requiem in memory of Eugen Schauman and that he had already started to work on it. – I just hope it will be worthy of its subject matter! After all, it will be the only monument that we can raise for him!"[4]
Only in 1909, after his throat surgery which made him think of death, he returned to the idea.Erik Tawaststjerna assumes that he wrote it also for himself. He composed a first version in 1909, completed on 14 December 1909.[4] His models were the funeral marches of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" and Wagner'sGötterdämmerung. The work insonata form is introduced by the violins and violas, with a main theme developing "like the approach of a distant cortege".[5] He sent the work to the publisherBreitkopf.[5]
Reading the proofs, Sibelius was not satisfied, especially with the instrumentation. He revised the piece, completing the work in March 1910. Sibelius first performed it on 8 October 1910, played by the Musikforeningen, in concerts in Kristiania, Norway.[4]
In memoriam was played at the funeral of Sibelius in 1957.[4]
In its revised form,In memoriam is scored for the following instruments,[6] organized by family (woodwinds,brass,percussion, andstrings):
The original version of the piece called for 1 piccolo in addition to the orchestra forces above.[7]
The British conductorSir Thomas Beecham and theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording ofIn memoriam in 1938 forHis Master's Voice.[6] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Conductor | Ensemble | Rec.[a] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir Thomas Beecham | London Philharmonic Orchestra | 1938 | 9:03 | Koch | ||
| 2 | Jussi Jalas | Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra | c. 1975 | 8:51 | [Unknown], Budapest | Decca | |
| 3 | Neemi Järvi | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | 1986 | 7:57 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS | |
| 4 | Atso Almila | Kuopio Symphony Orchestra [fi] | 1998 | 8:48 | Kuopio Music Centre [fi] | Finlandia | |
| 5 | Leif Segerstam (1) | Danish National Symphony Orchestra | 1990 | 13:38 | Danish Radio Concert Hall (old) | Chandos | |
| 6 | Osmo Vänskä (1) | Lahti Symphony Orchestra (1) | 2000 | 11:21 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |
| † | Osmo Vänskä (2) | Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2) | 2004 | 10:25 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |
| 7 | Leif Segerstam (2) | Turku Philharmonic Orchestra | 2014 | 13:15 | Turku Concert Hall | Naxos |
† = original version (1904)
