Pelléas et Mélisande : Work information
- Jean (Julius Christian) Sibelius ( Music, Images,)
- Performed by
- Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Michael Schønwandt (Conductor)
- Work name
- Pelléas et Mélisande
- Work number
- Op. 46
- 1905-00-00 02:00:00
- Forlane CI
- Ivan Pastor
- Jean-Martial Golaz
- Recording date
- 1989-01-01 00:00:00
Jean (Julius Christian) Sibelius
Sibelius (1865-1957) learned about and loved music and nature from an early age, and he grew to be an exceptional player of the violin he had been given on his fifteenth birthday. His family didn't approve of his desire for a career in music and composition though, and enrolled him in Helsinki University to study law. He also enrolled in the Helsinki Academy of Music, and with the later encouragement of an uncle moved over to it full time, composing a String Trio in A major and a String Quartet in A minor among others. He went on to study in Berlin and Vienna, but on his return to Finland, the country's nationalism (prompted by fears of its Soviet-controlled future) sparked an urge in Sibelius to use his music to express Finnish identity.
The Kaleva, a Finnish epic, inspired many of Sibelius' works. The first to bring him fame was a five-movement symphonic poem Kullervo (1892), followed by En Saga, the Karelia Suite, and his most well-known work, Finlandia. This last was banned by the Russian authorities because of its morale-boosting effect on the population. His First Symphony in E minor is a romantic work (owing a lot to Tchaikovsky), but the Second Symphony in D minor is more characteristic of Sibelius' technique of constructing movements from small 'cells' which expand and transform.
The tone poem Tapiola marked the end of Sibelius' composing career in 1926, though he lived until 1957. In his seven symphonies, orchestral, choral and chamber music, the Finnish country and native folk songs inspire a majestic and richly harmonic expression of proud national identity. Some of Sibelius' works also seem to portray a feeling of animosity, directed at the Russian dominance and restriction of his country.
Related composers: Tchaikovsky
Maurice Maeterlinck's 1892 symbolist play, Pelléas et Mélisande, had several musical treatments in the early 20th century: Debussy wrote an opera based on it; Fauré composed incidental music for it; and Schoenberg created a tone poem inspired by it. For the first Scandinavian performance of the play given at the Swedish Theatre, Helsinki in 1905, it was Sibelius who provided the music.
Ten musical numbers make up the music: 7 interludes, 2 mélodrames, and a song, The Three Blind Sisters, sung by Mélisande as she brushes her hair. To ensure concert performance, an orchestral suite was created that preserved nine of the ten numbers.
Sibelius' mastery of the orchestra creates an evocative and atmospheric score in numbers such as By the Sea and Mélisande at the Spinning Wheel. The popular At the Castle Gate may be familiar to you; it's used by the BBC for the title music of its long-running Astronomy programme, The Sky at Night.