Six Impromptus

Six Impromptus
Six Impromptus
Piano solos by Jean Sibelius
	The composer (c. 1891)
Opus	5
Composed	1893
Publisher	Lindgren (1894)
Duration	14.5 mins

The Six Impromptus (in German: Sechs Impromptus),^[3] Op. 5, is a collection of compositions for piano written in 1893 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

An 1892 sketch of Sibelius at the piano by his future brother-in-law Eero Järnefelt

Sibelius (1927) plays the Steinway grand piano at his home, Ainola.

Structure and music

Impromptu No. 1

The First Impromptu is in G minor. Marked Moderato, it has a duration of about two minutes.^[4]

Impromptu No. 2

The Second Impromptu is also in G minor. Marked Lento – Vivace, it has a duration of about two minutes.^[4]

Impromptu No. 3

The Third Impromptu is in A minor. Marked Moderato (alla marcia), it has a duration of about three minutes.^[4]

Impromptu No. 4

The Fourth Impromptu is in E minor. Marked Andantino, it has a duration of about two minutes.^[1]

Impromptu Nos. 5 and 6

The Fifth Impromptu is in B minor. Marked Vivace, it has a duration of about 3.5 minutes,^[1] The Sixth Impromptu, on the other hand, is in E major; marked Comodo, it lasts about two minutes.^[1] In 1893, Sibelius reused themes from Nights of Jealousy (Svartsjukans nätter, JS 125)—an 1893 melodrama for narrator, vocalise soprano, and piano trio to poems by J. L. Runeberg–for Nos. 5–6 of the Six Impromptus. In 1894, he combined the fifth and sixth impromptus into an arrangement for string orchestra and titled the new piece Impromptu.^[5]

Reception

Robert Layton dismisses the Six Impromptus as "for the most part ... feeble and uninventive".^[6]

Discography

The Finnish pianist Erik T. Tawaststjerna made the first studio recording of the complete Six Impromptus in 1979 for BIS; of these, Nos. 3–4 were world premieres.^[7] The remaining four pieces had been recorded earlier, with premieres as follows: No. 1–2 by the Swedish pianist Stig Ribbing [sv] on His Master's Voice (HMV 7 EBS 5, 1956); No. 6 by the German pianist Horst Minkofski-Garrigues for Telefunken-Decca for (MG 4468, 1968); and No. 5 by the Japanese pianist Izumi Tateno on EMI (5E 063–34472, 1971).^[1] The sortable table below lists, in addition to the aforementioned Tawaststjerna traversal, other commercially available recordings of the complete Six Impromptus:

No.	Pianist	Runtimes^[a]							Rec.^[b]	Recording venue	Label	Ref.
No.	Pianist	Op. 5/1	Op. 5/2	Op. 5/3	Op. 5/4	Op. 5/5	Op. 5/6	Total	Rec.^[b]	Recording venue	Label	Ref.
1	Erik T. Tawaststjerna	1:46	2:03	2:49	2:11	3:25	2:12	14:51	1979	Nacka Aula [sv], Nacka	BIS	^[c]
2	Annette Servadei [ja]	1:50	1:58	2:08	2:34	3:31	2:56	14:59	1992	Christ's Hospital, Horsham	Olympia	^[d]
3	Risto Lauriala	1:40	1:44	3:08	2:42	3:49	1:45	14:48	1995	Järvenpää Hall [fi]	Naxos	^[e]
4	Izumi Tateno	1:49	1:44	2:51	2:14	3:59	2:10	14:47	1995	Ainola	Canyon Classics	^[f]
5	Eero Heinonen [fi] (1)	2:50	1:57	3:01	2:27	3:24	3:11	16:50	1996	YLE M2 Studio, Helsinki	Finlandia	^[g]
6	Håvard Gimse	2:19	1:38	2:12	2:13	3:08	7:00	18:35	1997	St Martin's Church, East Woodhay	Naxos	^[h]
7	Folke Gräsbeck [fi]	1:53	1:51	2:33	2:07	3:36	6:02	18:22	2003	Nybrokajen 11, Stockholm	BIS	^[i]
8	Cassandra Wyss	3:00	2:05	3:59	2:27	3:39	2:28	17:38	2014	Andreaskirche am Wannsee [de], Berlin	Cappriccio	^[j]
9	Eero Heinonen [fi] (2)	2:29	1:50	2:29	2:17	3:17	2:49	15:11	2015	Sello Hall, Espoo	Piano Classics	^[k]
10	Janne Mertanen	2:20	1:51	2:34	2:29	3:26	3:50	16:30	2015	[Unknown], Helsinki	Sony Classical	^[l]
11	Sophia Rahman	2:11	2:02	2:24	1:45	4:03	5:05	17:30	2017	Sidney Sussex College Chapel	Resonus Classics	^[m]
12	Maria Kihlgren	2:07	1:51	2:49	2:09	3:48	6:24	19:19	2019	Studio 2, Swedish Radio	Sterling	^[n]
13	Terhi Dostal [fi]										Alba [fi]	^[o]
14	Joseph Tong										Quartz	^[p]

Notes, references, and sources

Notes

^ All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.
^ 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.
^ E. Tawaststjerna–BIS (CD–153) 1987
^ A. Servadei–Olympia (OCD 631) 1997
^ R. Lauriala–Naxos (8.553661) 1996
^ I. Tateno–Canyon Classics (PCCL–00328) 1996
^ E. Heinonen–Finlandia (8573–80776–2) 2000
^ H. Gimse–Naxos (8.553899) 1999
^ F. Gräsbeck–BIS (CD–1909/11) 2008
^ C. Wyss–Capriccio (C5229) 2014
^ E. Heinonen–Piano Classics (PCL10220) 2020
^ J. Mertanen–Sony Classics (888751614222) 2015
^ S. Rahman–Resonus Classics (RES10205) 2018
^ M. Kihlgren–Sterling (CDA 1842–2) 2020
^ T. Dostal–Label (ABCD 514) 2022
^ J. Tong–Quartz (QTZ 2158) 2023

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dahlström 2003, p. 16.
^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 15–16.
^ Dahlström 2003, pp. 15, 666.
^ ^a ^b ^c Dahlström 2003, p. 15.
^ Barnett 2007, pp. 79, 84, 89, 91.
^ Layton 1993, p. 190.
^ Dahlstrom 2003, p. 16.

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.
Layton, Robert (1993) [1965]. Sibelius. (The Master Musicians Series) (4th ed.). New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 0028713222.

External links

Six Impromptus, Op. 5: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

[Runtimes-8] All runtimes are official, as printed on CD or LP liner notes.

[9] 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.

[10] E. Tawaststjerna–BIS (CD–153) 1987

[11] A. Servadei–Olympia (OCD 631) 1997

[12] R. Lauriala–Naxos (8.553661) 1996

[13] I. Tateno–Canyon Classics (PCCL–00328) 1996

[14] E. Heinonen–Finlandia (8573–80776–2) 2000

[15] H. Gimse–Naxos (8.553899) 1999

[16] F. Gräsbeck–BIS (CD–1909/11) 2008

[17] C. Wyss–Capriccio (C5229) 2014

[18] E. Heinonen–Piano Classics (PCL10220) 2020

[19] J. Mertanen–Sony Classics (888751614222) 2015

[20] S. Rahman–Resonus Classics (RES10205) 2018

[21] M. Kihlgren–Sterling (CDA 1842–2) 2020

[22] T. Dostal–Label (ABCD 514) 2022

[23] J. Tong–Quartz (QTZ 2158) 2023

[FOOTNOTEDahlström200316-1] Dahlström 2003, p. 16.

[FOOTNOTEDahlström200315–16-2] Dahlström 2003, pp. 15–16.

[FOOTNOTEDahlström200315,_666-3] Dahlström 2003, pp. 15, 666.

[FOOTNOTEDahlström200315-4] Dahlström 2003, p. 15.

[FOOTNOTEBarnett200779,_84,_89,_91-5] Barnett 2007, pp. 79, 84, 89, 91.

[FOOTNOTELayton1993190-6] Layton 1993, p. 190.

[FOOTNOTEDahlstrom200316-7] Dahlstrom 2003, p. 16.

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