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Six Humoresques

The Six Humoresques, Opp. 87 and 89,[a] are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1917 to 1918 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Despite spanning two opus numbers (due to publishing technicalities), the composer—who originally considered calling the humoresques impromptus or lyrical dances—intended them as a suite. They are the:

  • Humoresque No. 1 in D minor, Op. 87/1. Commodo
  • Humoresque No. 2 in D major, Op. 87/2. Allegro assai
  • Humoresque No. 3 in G minor, Op. 89/1. Alla gavotta
  • Humoresque No. 4 in G minor, Op. 89/2. Andantino
  • Humoresque No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 89/3. Commodo
  • Humoresque No. 6 in G minor, Op. 89/4. Allegro
Six Humoresques
Concertante pieces by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1918)
Opus87 & 89
Composed1917 (1917)–1918; No. 1 rev. 1940
PublisherHansen (1922–1923, Nos. 2–6; 1942, No. 1)[1]
Duration22.5 mins.[2]
Premiere
Date24 November 1919 (1919-11-24)[3]
LocationHelsinki, Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
Performers

The Six Humoresques premiered on 24 November 1919 in Helsinki, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the soloist was the Russian-Finnish-American violinist Paul Cherkassky.[5] Also on the program was the definitive version of the Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major (Op. 82), as well as Song of the Earth (Op. 93), a cantata for mixed choir.[6][7]

In the autumn of 1940, Sibelius revised No. 1's instrumentation (most notably, he eliminated the harp part); the original, while promised to Wilhelm Hansen in February 1917, was never published. The violinist Arvo Hannikainen [fi] premiered the revised No. 1 on 15 December 1940, with Toivo Haapanen conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.[5] Hansen, who had published the other five humoresques in 1923, completed the set in 1942.[5] The 1917 version is extant.[7]

Instrumentation

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The Humoresque No. 1 is scored for the following instruments:[5]

The Humoresque No. 2 has identical scoring, except for the omission of the entire woodwind section.[5] The Op. 89 pieces are even more delicately scored. In addition to the soloist, Humoresques Nos. 3 and 4 utilize strings only.[5] No. 5 adds to this scoring three woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets (in B♭), and 2 bassoons, while No. 6 omits the clarinets but retains the flutes and bassoons.[5]

Recordings

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The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the complete Six Humoresques:

No. Conductor Orchestra Soloist Rec.[b] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Tibor Szöke Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra Aaron Rosand c. 1957 17:10 [Unknown] Vox
[c]
2 Paavo Berglund Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1) Heimo Haitto 1964 20:47 YLE Finlandia Classics
[d]
3 Sir Colin Davis London Symphony Orchestra Salvatore Accardo 1979 20:27 All Saints' Church, Tooting Decca
[e]
4 Charles Dutoit Philharmonia Orchestra Pierre Amoyal 1979 20:43 EMI Recording Studios Erato
[f]
5 Vernon Handley Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin Ralph Holmes 1980 20:18 Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin Schwann, Koch
[g]
6 Juhani Lamminmäki [fi] Tapiola Sinfonietta (1) Leonidas Kavakos 1989 21:53 Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre Finlandia
[h]
7 Neeme Järvi Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Dong-Suk Kang 1989 20:17 Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS
[i]
8 Jukka-Pekka Saraste Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2) Joseph Swensen 1990 20:53 Kulttuuritalo RCA Red Seal
[j]
9 Thomas Dausgaard Danish National Symphony Orchestra Christian Tetzlaff 2002 18:41 Danish Radio Concert Hall (old) Virgin Classics
[k]
10 Pekka Kuusisto Tapiola Sinfonietta (2) Pekka Kuusisto 2006 20:50 Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre Ondine
[l]
11 Bjarte Engeset Dala Sinfonietta [sv] Henning Kraggerud 2011 19:54 Kristinehallen, Falun Naxos
[m]
12 Alejandro Garrido Porras Orquestra Vigo 430 Nicolas Dautricourt 2014 22:43 Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music La Dolce Volta [fr]
[n]
13 John Carewe Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Efi Christodoulou 2014 20:37 Lighthouse, Poole Somm
[o]
14 George Vass BBC National Orchestra of Wales Fenella Humphreys 2020 20:48 BBC Hoddinott Hall Resonus Classics
[p]
15 Sir Edward Gardner Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra James Ehnes 2023 Grieg Hall Chandos
[q]

Notes, references, and sources

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Notes
  1. ^ The four Op. 89 humoresques are typically designated with the letters a–d. However, this article follows the Urtext Edition (2016) of the Six Humoresques, which utilizes the numbers 1–4.[4] Thus, for example, the Humoresque No. 3 in G minor, Op. 89/a, becomes Op. 89/1.
  2. ^ 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. ^ T. Szöke–Vox (PL 11.600) 1959
  4. ^ P. Berglund–Finlandia (FINCLA 2) 2013
  5. ^ C. Davis–Decca (Eloquence 482 5097) 2016
  6. ^ C. Dutoit–Erato (0630–12746–2) 1995
  7. ^ V. Handley–Koch-Schwann (CD 311 003 F1) 1988
  8. ^ J. Lamminmäki–Finlandia (4509–95859–2) 1991
  9. ^ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–472) 1990
  10. ^ J. Saraste–RCA Red Seal (19439704812 (8)) 2020
  11. ^ T. Dausgaard–Virgin Classics (7243 5 45534 2 4) 2002
  12. ^ P. Kuusisto–Ondine (ODE 1074–5) 2006
  13. ^ B. Engeset–Naxos (8.572827) 2012
  14. ^ A. Garrido Porras–La Dolce Volta (LDV 23) 2015
  15. ^ J. Carewe–Somm (SOMMCD 0153) 2015
  16. ^ G. Vass–Resonus (RES10277) 2021
  17. ^ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHAN 5267) 2024
References
  1. ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 377, 384–386.
  2. ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 376–377, 384–386.
  3. ^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 356, 376–377, 384–386.
  4. ^ Eskola 2016, pp. ii, xii.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Eskola 2016, pp. xii.
  6. ^ Tawaststjerna 2008, p. 162.
  7. ^ a b Barnett 2007, p. 284.
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.
  • Eskola, Jari (2016). Jean Sibelius: Six Humoresques for Violin and Orchestra, Opp. 87 & 89. Translated by Jaako; Mäntyjärvi (Urtext ed.). Painojussit, Kerava: Fennica Gehrman. ISMN 979-0-55011-261-2.
  • Tawaststjerna, Erik (2008) [1978/1988; trans. 1997]. Sibelius: Volume III, 1914–1957. Translated by Layton, Robert. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-24774-5.
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