University of Helsinki
2015 is the 150th birthday of Jean Sibelius, marking another reason to celebrate for the Jean Sibelius Works, the project which produces a critical edition of the composer’s oeuvre. This year, the project will pass the halfway mark in its effort to publish more than 50 individual volumes. Still other volumes are currently being edited and are scheduled for publication within the next two years. If these are also included, the total number of completed publications and publications on the homestretch will be more than 30 volumes.
By Timo Virtanen, Editor-in Chief Jean Sibelius Works, the National Library of Finland
The 150th anniversary of the Finnish national composer is a suitable occasion to take a look at the publications produced in the Jean Sibelius Works project. By summer 2015, Sibelius’ works for solo voice will have been published in their entirety (four volumes), as will be his original works for piano (four volumes) and works for a cappella mixed choir (one volume). As to his orchestral oeuvre, four symphonies have been published (the first, second, third and seventh) as well as Kullervo (four volumes), Lemminkäinen with early versions (two volumes), En Saga (with early version, one volume), Aallottaret with early version and Tapiola (both in one volume), Skogsrået and Vårsång with early version (one volume) and Cassazione in two versions (one volume). The latest volume of orchestral works includes the two versions of the Violin Concerto. In 2015, the project will publish works for male choir a cappella and the orchestral suites Scènes historiques (“Historical scenes”) I and II.
Breitkopf & Härtel, the esteemed German publisher of the Jean Sibelius Works, has published several separate editions, including miniature scores and conductor’s scores as well as editions of individual piano works and orchestral parts. This means that the first and second symphonies, En saga and soon Skogsrået, are published as new, affordable soft-cover scores, and Kullervo, Skogsrået and Luonnotar, performed for decades from problematic, hand-copied material, will be available as meticulously edited and easy-to-use orchestral materials. New orchestral parts have also been produced of the abovementioned symphonies as well as En saga and Skogsrået. Especially interesting is the early version of the Violin Concerto. During the anniversary year, this version will be performed a few times and published separately. The orchestral parts of the version will also be made available.[1]
The production of new scores and performance materials has immediately caused a significant upswing in performances and recordings. For example, before the publication of the critical edition and the associated orchestral material, Luonnotar (a tone poem for soprano and orchestra dedicated to the renowned Finnish singer Aino Ackté) was rarely heard in concerts and existed in only a handful of recordings on the market, despite being one of Sibelius’ most important central works.
The publication of the new score and orchestral materials has caused a veritable Luonnotar renaissance.
The publication of the new score and orchestral materials has caused a veritable Luonnotar renaissance. The piece work has become a part of the core repertoire for sopranos and orchestras around the world, and several new recordings have been published.
The special position of Luonnotar is also marked with a special publication, as the original orchestral and piano scores, hand-written by Sibelius himself, has been published as a facsimile edition to celebrate his 150th birthday. This will be the first full facsimile of a complete Sibelius piece of such scope.
The Jean Sibelius Works project will publish all Sibelius’ completed compositions with their full early versions. Selected unfinished works and fragments will also be published, usually as appendices or facsimiles. Only arrangements made by Sibelius himself will be published.
The editing process of the Works
The critical edition of Sibelius’ oeuvre is based on thorough research of all musical and relevant text sources. The core of the publications are the critical editions of scores and critical commentaries which feature detailed descriptions of the sources used and their significance in the editorial process. The commentaries also explain the text variants in different sources and justify editorial decisions. The volumes include the score, critical commentary, and an introduction which discusses the creation and publication processes of the works as well as their contemporary reception. The introductions alone often contain a great deal of new and significant information about Sibelius’ works and their history.
Two full- and two part-time editors are currently working on the Jean Sibelius Works at the National Library. In addition, two outside editors are working on the volumes.[2] The editorial work requires a wide scope of expertise, including an understanding of composition techniques and musical theory, score reading skills, familiarity with different instruments and orchestration, studies of source research, history of music and notation practices as well as skills in several languages (original literary sources are typically in Finnish, Swedish or German, occasionally French or English, and the texts for the Jean Sibelius Works are printed in English and German) and – last but not least – practice as a musician.
Even though the publications of Jean Sibelius Works, like those of any similar musical editions, are the result of scholarly editing, they must also correspond to the practical requirements of performers. The editors have sought to consider and predict questions which may arise when musicians peruse the works. To this end, the editors of Jean Sibelius Works draw upon their own musical training and experience, but they also contact professional musicians when deciding on specific solutions. Working on an “scholarly” edition of a piece of music requires expertise in source-criticism as well as practical experience and understanding as a musician. Meanwhile, “practical” musicians are increasingly aware of the editions they use and interested in original sources – this is to say they have often adopted a scholarly, source- and text-critical attitude themselves. The line between “scholarly” and “practical” is ultimately hazy, and the critical editing has been called a bridge that connects musicology and performance.
Jean Sibelius Works offers a comprehensive view of the composer’s work in the light of all the sources which our contemporary researchers could access.
The inaccuracies, ambiguities and outright mistakes in previous publications were an important reason for launching the project to publish Sibelius’ oeuvre in its entirety as an edition based on thorough examination. Another reason was that many of the works were difficult to find. Some works of Sibelius have never been published before, and some of the earlier editions are out of print. Jean Sibelius Works offers a comprehensive view of the composer’s work in the light of all the sources which our contemporary researchers could access. The fruits of the Sibelius editors’ labour have begun to show during recent years, as pieces that have rarely been heard are beginning to feature more in performances and recordings. The new publications have also sparked extensive and varied awareness of Sibelius and more research into his works. This can also be seen in the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’ birth, in 2015.
[1] This separate publication was produced by the original German publisher of the Violin Concerto, Lienau, together with Breitkopf & Härtel.
[2] The full- and part-time editors include Anna Pulkkis, Tuija Wicklund, Sakari Ylivuori and Timo Virtanen (editor-in-chief). Editors with external contracts include Folke Gräsbeck and Pekka Helasvuo. More information about the project organisation and publications is available at http://www.nationallibrary.fi/culture/sibelius.