Hiilestä timantiksi

Abstract

The aim in the written part of this artistic doctoral work "From Charcoal to Diamond" is to reveal how the experience of familiarity and the Finnish character is evident in the scores of Jean Sibelius' compositions for male voice choir. The writer believes that if there is such a thing as the Finnish character, there must also be something that gives it its specific nature. Traces of the Finnish language, the Kalevala meter and the rhythmic tune of the ancient runes are sought in the pieces for male voice choir composed by Sibelius during the last decade of the 19th century. Sibelius diverged from the German Liedertafel tradition in these compositions, which were the first artistic choral works in Finland and set the tone for what was to come.

The first section of this work contains a short historical account of the arrival of choral singing in Finland. It also documents the contacts that the Swedish-speaking Sibelius had with the Finnish language.

The second section analyses the five opus 18 songs for male voice choir, The Boat Journey (Venematka), Beloved (Rakastava), Fire on the Island (Saarella palaa), The Broken Voice (Sortunut ääni) and Hail, Moon (Terve kuu), composed between 1893 and 1901. The influences of the Finnish language and the rhythmic pattern of the old runic melody are brought to light in this part. The verse scale which measures the "winnowing" (end weight) phenomenon of the melodic rhythm in Sibelius musical verses and compares it with the rhythmic end weight of the old runic verse is introduced, too. In his role as a choral conductor and as a conductor who twice has recorded the complete songs for male voice choir by Jean Sibelius the writer also gives his opinion of the rehearsing and interpretation of these songs. The third section deals with the results of the analysis and discusses how they relate to the Finnish character.