| Spring Song | |
|---|---|
| Tone poem byJean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1895) | |
| Native name | Vårsång |
| Opus | 16 |
| Composed | 1894 (1894),rev. 1895 |
| Publisher | Fazer & Westerlund [fi] (1903)[1][a] |
| Duration | 8 mins. (orig. 10 mins.)[3] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 21 June 1894 (1894-06-21)[4] |
| Location | Vaasa,Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
| Performers | Orchestra of the Song Festival |
Spring Song (in Swedish:Vårsång; in Finnish:Kevätlaulu),Op. 16, is a single-movementtone poem fororchestra written in 1894 by the Finnish composerJean Sibelius.
The piece was initially composed asImprovisation for Orchestra, in the key ofD major. It was premiered on 21 July 1894[5] at an outdoor festival inVaasa, organized by theSociety for Popular Education [fi] (Kansanvalistusseura). Short, lyrical, and delicately scored, Sibelius's piece was ill-suited for the open-air concert, and the audience received it less enthusiastically than another work on the program:Korsholm, by Sibelius's brother-in-law and friendArmas Järnefelt. Shortly therefore, Sibelius withdrewImprovisation for revision. In 1895, he recast it inF major and retitled the workSpring Song (Vårsång), appending the subtitle "The Sadness of Spring" to that (unpublished) version.[6]
The work is scored for 2flutes (both doublingpiccolo), 2oboes, 2clarinets (in B♭), 2bassoons, 4horns (in F), 3trumpets (in F), 3trombones,tuba,timpani,glocken,violins,violas,cellos, anddouble basses.[7]Spring Song takes about 8 minutes to play.
The tempo marking is: Tempo moderato e sostenuto. The piece contains an optimism that is relatively rare among Sibelius' works. It is known for its prominent use of bells at the end of the song.[8]
The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings ofSpring Song:
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