Orchestra

SKU: PR.416415760

For Really Big Orchestra. Composed by PDQ Bach. Edited by Prof. Peter Schickele. Study Score. With Standard notation. Duration 11 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #416-41576. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.416415760).

UPC: 680160636532. 9 x 12 inches.

The 1712 Overture stands out in P.D.Q. Bach's oeuvre for two reasons, among others: it is by far the most programmatic instrumental piece among those by the minimeister of Wein-am-Rhein so far unearthed, and 2) its discovery has led to a revelation about the composer's father, Johann Sebastian Bach, that has exploded like a bombshell on the usually serene musicological landscape. The overture is based on an anecdote told to P.D.Q. Bach by a cousin, Peter Ulrich. Since P.U. Bach lived in Dudeldorf, only a few miles down the road from Wein-am-Rhein, he was P.D.Q.'s closest relative, and he was, in fact, one of the few members of the family who was on speaking terms with P.D.Q. The story, related to P.D.Q. (fortunately for us posterity types) in a letter, may be summarized thus: The town of Dudeldorf was founded by two brothers, Rudi and Dieter Dudel, early in the 18th century. Rudi remained mayor of the newborn burg for the rest of his long life, but Dieter had a dream of starting a musicians' colony, an entire city devoted to music, which dream, he finally decided, could be realized only in the New World. In 1712, he and several other bagpipers sailed to Boston, never to return to Germany. (Henceforth, Rudi became known as der deutscher Dudel and Dieter as the Yankee Dudel). Unfortunately, the head of the Boston Musicians' Guild had gotten wind of Dudel's plans, and Wilhelm Wiesel (pron. VEE-zle), known none too affectionately around town as Wiesel the Weasel, was not about to share what few gigs there were in colonial America with more foreigners and outside agitators. He and his cronies were on hand to meet Dudel's boat when it pulled into Boston Harbor; they intended to prevent the newcomers' disembarkation, but Dudel and his companions managed to escape to the other side of the bay in a dinghy, landing with just enough time to rent a carriage and horses before hearing the sound of The Weasel and his men, who had had to come around the long way. The Germans headed West, with the Bostonians in furious pursuit. soon the city had been left far behind, and by midnight so had the pursuers; Dieter Dudel decided that it was safe for him and his men to stop and sleep until daybreak. When they awoke, they found that they were in a beautiful landscape of low, forested mountains and pleasant fields, warmed by the brilliant morning sun and serenaded by an entrancing variety of birds. Here, Dudel thought, her is where I will build my colony. The immigrants continued down the road at a leisurely pace until they came upon a little church, all by itself in the countryside, from which there suddenly emanated the sounds of a pipe organ. At this point, the temptation to quote from P.U. Bach's letter to P.D.Q. cannot be resisted: They went inside and, after listening to the glorious music for a while, introduced themselves to the organist. And who do you think it was? Are you ready for this -- it was your old man! Hey, no kidding -- you know, I'm sure, that your father was the guy to get when it came to testing new organs, and whoever had that one in Massachusetts built offered old Sebastian a tidy sum to go over there and check it out. The unexpected meeting with J.S. Bach and his sponsors was interrupted by the sound of horse hooves, as the dreaded Wiesel and his men thundered on to the scene. They had been riding all night, however, and they were no spring chickens to start with, and as soon as they reached the church they all dropped, exhausted, to the ground. The elated Germans rang the church bells and offered to buy everyone a beer at the nearest tavern. There they were taught, and joined in singing, what might be called the national anthem of the New World. The melody of this pre-revolutionary patriotic song is still remembered (P.D.Q. Bach quotes it, in the bass instruments, near the end of the overture), but is words are now all but forgotten: Freedom, of thee we sing, Freedom e'er is our goal; Death to the English King, Long live Rock and Ross. The striking paucity of biographical references to Johann Sebastian Bah during the year 1712 can now be explained: he was abroad for a significant part of that year, testing organs in the British Colonies. That this revelation has not been accepted as fact by the musicological establishment is no surprise, since it means that a lot of books would have to be rewritten. The members of that establishment haven't even accepted the existence of P.D.Q. Bach, one of whose major works the 1712 Overture certainly is. It is also a work that shows Tchaikowsky up as the shameless plagiarizer that some of us have always known he was. The discovery of this awesome opus was made possible by a Boston Pops Centennial Research Commission; the first modern performance took place at the opening concert of the 100th anniversary season of that orchestra, under the exciting but authentic direction of John Williams.

Orchestra

SKU: PR.41641576L

For Really Big Orchestra. Composed by PDQ Bach. Edited by Peter Schickele. Large Score. With Standard notation. Duration 11 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #416-41576L. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.41641576L).

UPC: 680160636549. 11 x 17 inches.

The 1712 Overture stands out in P.D.Q. Bach's oeuvre for two reasons, among others: it is by far the most programmatic instrumental piece among those by the minimeister of Wein-am-Rhein so far unearthed, and 2) its discovery has led to a revelation about the composer's father, Johann Sebastian Bach, that has exploded like a bombshell on the usually serene musicological landscape. The overture is based on an anecdote told to P.D.Q. Bach by a cousin, Peter Ulrich. Since P.U. Bach lived in Dudeldorf, only a few miles down the road from Wein-am-Rhein, he was P.D.Q.'s closest relative, and he was, in fact, one of the few members of the family who was on speaking terms with P.D.Q. The story, related to P.D.Q. (fortunately for us posterity types) in a letter, may be summarized thus: The town of Dudeldorf was founded by two brothers, Rudi and Dieter Dudel, early in the 18th century. Rudi remained mayor of the newborn burg for the rest of his long life, but Dieter had a dream of starting a musicians' colony, an entire city devoted to music, which dream, he finally decided, could be realized only in the New World. In 1712, he and several other bagpipers sailed to Boston, never to return to Germany. (Henceforth, Rudi became known as der deutscher Dudel and Dieter as the Yankee Dudel). Unfortunately, the head of the Boston Musicians' Guild had gotten wind of Dudel's plans, and Wilhelm Wiesel (pron. VEE-zle), known none too affectionately around town as Wiesel the Weasel, was not about to share what few gigs there were in colonial America with more foreigners and outside agitators. He and his cronies were on hand to meet Dudel's boat when it pulled into Boston Harbor; they intended to prevent the newcomers' disembarkation, but Dudel and his companions managed to escape to the other side of the bay in a dinghy, landing with just enough time to rent a carriage and horses before hearing the sound of The Weasel and his men, who had had to come around the long way. The Germans headed West, with the Bostonians in furious pursuit. soon the city had been left far behind, and by midnight so had the pursuers; Dieter Dudel decided that it was safe for him and his men to stop and sleep until daybreak. When they awoke, they found that they were in a beautiful landscape of low, forested mountains and pleasant fields, warmed by the brilliant morning sun and serenaded by an entrancing variety of birds. Here, Dudel thought, her is where I will build my colony. The immigrants continued down the road at a leisurely pace until they came upon a little church, all by itself in the countryside, from which there suddenly emanated the sounds of a pipe organ. At this point, the temptation to quote from P.U. Bach's letter to P.D.Q. cannot be resisted: They went inside and, after listening to the glorious music for a while, introduced themselves to the organist. And who do you think it was? Are you ready for this -- it was your old man! Hey, no kidding -- you know, I'm sure, that your father was the guy to get when it came to testing new organs, and whoever had that one in Massachusetts built offered old Sebastian a tidy sum to go over there and check it out. The unexpected meeting with J.S. Bach and his sponsors was interrupted by the sound of horse hooves, as the dreaded Wiesel and his men thundered on to the scene. They had been riding all night, however, and they were no spring chickens to start with, and as soon as they reached the church they all dropped, exhausted, to the ground. The elated Germans rang the church bells and offered to buy everyone a beer at the nearest tavern. There they were taught, and joined in singing, what might be called the national anthem of the New World. The melody of this pre-revolutionary patriotic song is still remembered (P.D.Q. Bach quotes it, in the bass instruments, near the end of the overture), but is words are now all but forgotten: Freedom, of thee we sing, Freedom e'er is our goal; Death to the English King, Long live Rock and Ross. The striking paucity of biographical references to Johann Sebastian Bah during the year 1712 can now be explained: he was abroad for a significant part of that year, testing organs in the British Colonies. That this revelation has not been accepted as fact by the musicological establishment is no surprise, since it means that a lot of books would have to be rewritten. The members of that establishment haven't even accepted the existence of P.D.Q. Bach, one of whose major works the 1712 Overture certainly is. It is also a work that shows Tchaikowsky up as the shameless plagiarizer that some of us have always known he was. The discovery of this awesome opus was made possible by a Boston Pops Centennial Research Commission; the first modern performance took place at the opening concert of the 100th anniversary season of that orchestra, under the exciting but authentic direction of John Williams.

Orchestra

SKU: BR.PB-5432

Composed by Helmut Lachenmann. Orchestra; stapled. Partitur-Bibliothek (Score Library).

World premiere of the orchestral version: Stuttgart, January 1, 2018World premiere of the piano version: Mito, June 17, 2017

Have a look into EB 9283.

New music (post-2000). Full score. Composed 2016/17/20. 48 pages. Duration 8'. Breitkopf and Haertel #PB 5432. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.PB-5432).

ISBN 9790004212790. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Marche fatale is an incautiously daring escapade that may annoy the fans of my compositions more than my earlier works, many of which have prevailed only after scandals at their world premieres. My Marche fatale has, though, little stylistically to do with my previous compositional path; it presents itself without restraint, if not as a regression, then still as a recourse to those empty phrases to which modern civilization still clings in its daily utility music, whereas music in the 20th and 21st centuries has long since advanced to new, unfamiliar soundscapes and expressive possibilities. The key term is banality. As creators we despise it, we try to avoid it - though we are not safe from the cheap banal even within new aesthetic achievements.Many composers have incidentally accepted the banal. Mozart wrote Ein musikalischer Spass [A Musical Jape], a deliberately amateurishly miscarried sextet. Beethoven's Bagatellen op. 119 were rejected by the publisher on the grounds that few will believe that this minor work is by the famous Beethoven. Mauricio Kagel wrote, tongue in cheek, so to speak, Marsche, um den Sieg zu verfehlen [Marches for being Unvictorious], Ligeti wrote Hungarian Rock; in his Circus Polka Stravinsky quoted and distorted the famous, all too popular Schubert military march, composed at the time for piano duet. I myself do not know, though, whether I ought to rank my Marche fatale alongside these examples: I accept the humor in daily life, the more so as this daily life for some of us is not otherwise to be borne. In music, I mistrust it, considering myself all the closer to the profounder idea of cheerfulness having little to do with humor. However: Isn't a march with its compelling claim to a collectively martial or festive mood absurd, a priori? Is it even music at all? Can one march and at the same time listen? Eventually, I resolved to take the absurd seriously - perhaps bitterly seriously - as a debunking emblem of our civilization that is standing on the brink. The way - seemingly unstoppable - into the black hole of all debilitating demons: that can become serene. My old request of myself and my music-creating surroundings is to write a non-music, whence the familiar concept of music is repeatedly re-defined anew and differently, so that derailed here - perhaps? - in a treacherous way, the concert hall becomes the place of mind-opening adventures instead of a refuge in illusory security. How could that happen? The rest is - thinking.(Helmut Lachenmann, 2017)CD (Version for Piano):Nicolas Hodges CD Wergo WER 7393 2 Bibliography:Ich bin nicht ,,pietistisch verformt. Ein Gesprach [von Jan Brachmann] mit dem Komponisten Helmut Lachenmann, in: FAZ vom 7. Juni 2018, p. 15.

World premiere of the piano version: Mito/Japan, June 17, 2017, World premiere of the orchestral version: Stuttgart, January 1, 2018, World premiere of the ensemble version: Frankfurt, December 9, 2020.

By Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Arranged by Merle J. Isaac. By Peter I. Tchaikovsky / arr. Merle Isaac. For Full Orchestra. Full Orchestra. Concert Full Orchestra. Level: 3.5 (grade 3.5). Conductor Score and Parts. 176 pages. Duration 2:38. Published by Alfred Publishing.

By Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Arranged by Merle J. Isaac. By Peter I. Tchaikovsky / arr. Merle Isaac. For Full Orchestra. Full Orchestra. Concert Full Orchestra. Level: 3.5 (grade 3.5). Conductor Score. 1 pages. Published by Alfred Publishing.

Orchestra (4(2picc).3(cor ang).heck.Eb-clar.2.Bb-cl ar(clar).4(dble bsn) - 8(4T-tuba).2alphn.4.4.2 - org.cel - 2hp.2timp.perc(6).wind m.thunder m - str - off stage: 12hn.2trp.2tbne)

SKU: BR.PB-5710

Tone Poem - Urtext. Composed by Richard Strauss. Edited by Nick Pfefferkorn. Orchestra; Softbound. Partitur-Bibliothek (Score Library). Symphonic poem; Late-romantic; Early modern. Sheet Music. 204 pages. Duration 50'. Breitkopf and Haertel #PB 5710. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.PB-5710).

ISBN 9790004216477. 10.5 x 14 inches.

Richard Strauss's last completed tone poem is regarded as the pinnacle of his art of orchestration: Now I've finally learned to orchestrate, he himself is once supposed to have said about it after the dress rehearsal. The single-movement Alpine symphony that we know today ultimately evolved - over almost 15 years - from the original drafts of an artist's tragedy, titled Der Antichrist. Eine Alpensinfonie [The Antichrist. An Alpine Symphony] up to the stage of the last sketches. With unprecedented plasticity, the work showcases a (metaphysical?) mountain hike with stops in the forest, at the waterfall, on the alpine pasture and, of course, at the summit. Apropos alpine pastures: up to the score's fair copy stage, Strauss envisaged a high and a low alphorn for the section Auf der Alm [On the Alpine Pasture] and the well-known Dulioh theme, though for various reasons first detailed in our new Urtext edition, these exotic instruments did not find their way into the printed version. In the new edition, the editor, Nick Pfefferkorn, reproduces the alphorn passages in small print, also adding two alphorn parts to the performance material, besides evaluating the corrections made by Walter Seifert at Strauss's request.

First Urtext edition since the first editionEvaluation of all available sources, including sketches and the score corrected by Walter Seifert Extensive preface on the work's compositional history and receptionDetailed Critical ReportFacsimile pages.

Orchestral Score. Composed by John Powell. Sheet music. Study score. Composed 2014 (2021). 404 pages. Omni Music Publishing #OMNI 50799. Published by Omni Music Publishing

(A Christmas Worship Experience of the Christ-Light). By Mary Mcdonald. Arranged by Laura Kathryn Rosser. For full orchestra. Cantatas. Christmas. Orchestral score and parts. Published by Monarch Music

MusicWorks Grade 2. Concert Band. Score and full set of parts. Size 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard.

Orchestra

SKU: FG.55011-315-2

Composed by Kalevi Aho. Study score. Fennica Gehrman #55011-315-2. Published by Fennica Gehrman (FG.55011-315-2).

ISBN 9790550113152.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normal ly, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

The Sieidi concerto is in one movement but divided into several sections both faster and slower, wildly rhythmic, lyrical and more static. For the soloist it is extremely demanding because he is constantly having to switch from one technique to another - for djembe and darabuka playing with the hands differs radically from that of tom-tom or drumstick technique or the playing of pitched percussion instruments such as the marimba and vibraphone.

Normally, in a percussion concerto, the soloist has to play surrounded by a huge battery of instruments, often behind the orchestra. In Sieidi he uses only nine instruments, and he is in front of the orchestra the whole time. The instruments are in a row in front of the platform, starting with the djembe on the far right (as viewed by the audience) and ending with the tam-tam on the far left. The soloist plays only one instrument at a time.

The title of the concerto, Sieidi, is Sami - a language spoken in the northern region of Finland, Sweden and Norway known as Lapland. It denotes an ancient cult place such as an unusually-shaped rock, sometimes also a special rock face or even a whole mountain fell.

Orchestra - Grade 2.5

SKU: AP.43760S

Composed by James Lord Pierpont. Arranged by Victor Lopez. Performance Music Ensemble; Single Titles; String Orchestra. Belwin Intermediate String Orchestra. Christmas; Light Concert; Secular; Winter. Score. 12 pages. Duration 2:45. Belwin Music #00-43760S. Published by Belwin Music (AP.43760S).

UPC: 038081496368. English.

Just for fun---and swing technique! This jazzy swing arrangement will teach important skills with a well-known tune as young players expand the realm of string playing with alternative styles. (2:45).

Orchestra - Grade 2.5

SKU: AP.43760

Composed by James Lord Pierpont. Arranged by Victor Lopez. Performance Music Ensemble; Single Titles; String Orchestra. Belwin Intermediate String Orchestra. Christmas; Light Concert; Secular; Winter. Score and Part(s). 152 pages. Duration 2:45. Belwin Music #00-43760. Published by Belwin Music (AP.43760).

UPC: 038081496351. English.

Just for fun---and swing technique! This jazzy swing arrangement will teach important skills with a well-known tune as young players expand the realm of string playing with alternative styles. (2:45).

Philadelphia Orchestra Critical Edition. Composed by Howard Hanson (1896-1981). Edited by Clinton F. Nieweg. Contemporary. Full score (large). With Standard notation. 104 pages. Carl Fischer #SC00042L. Published by Carl Fischer (CF.SC42L).

Orchestra

SKU: SU.97022030

For Orchestra. Composed by William Thomas McKinley. Orchestra. Study Score. Notevole Music Publishing #97022030. Published by Notevole Music Publishing (SU.97022030).

New York Overture was commissioned by the New York Chamber Symphony and composed for the rich and bright sound that this orchestra reveals under Gerard Schwarz’s wonderfully buoyant and energetic leadership. Having worked with these intense artists many times before, I found it easy to imagine, in a single vision, a dramatic overture cast in a traditional and serious manner. My impressions and memories of New York provided a direct catalyst. Woven into the overture are a number of ‘hints’ derived from well-known melodies which have endured as popular romanticizations of New York’s manifold personality. Coupled with these ‘hints’ are my own Tin-Pan Alley and jazz experiences, presented and transformed throughout the melodic and harmonic fabric. Rhythmically, the New York Overture seeks to create perpetual motion and movement as a metaphor for what we see and encounter in the New York streets, with their intricate rhythmic patterns of pulsing energy. Listeners will, I hope, discover in it their own feelings and memories, aroused by the aura of this dazzling, varied, and yet monolithic city. —William Thomas McKinley (© 1990), from 12-13 May 1990 program and his notes. 2(1) 2 2 2; 2200; timp/perc, pno, hp; stgs Duration: 14' Composed: 1989 Published by: Notevole Music Publishing Performance materials available on rental:.

Orchestra (picc.2.2.2.2. - 4.2.3.1. - timp.perc - hp - str(vc divided))

SKU: BR.EOS-20472-00

No. 2 from the Symphonic Poem My Fatherland. Composed by Bedrich Smetana. Edited by Milan Pospisil. Softbound. Eulenburg Orchestral Series.

Today, it is hard to believe that Bedrich Smetana kept receiving rejections when he tried to get his enormously popular Moldau printed.

Symphonic poem; Romantic. Full score. 84 pages. Duration 13'. Breitkopf and Haertel #EOS 20472-00. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EOS-20472-00).

ISBN 9790004780008. 10 x 12.5 inches.

What is also amazing is that the first text-critical edition prepared by the Czech Smetana expert Milan Pospisil in 1999, which had entailed an exhaustive evaluation of the sources and been given a full text-critical editorial treatment as a Eulenburg study score, had no resonance of any kind among performers since no performance material had been published. After 15 years, Pospisils edition is finally being completed in a manner suitable for practice: with a conducting score and orchestral parts which will ensure that all future performances are based on a musical text that is as reliable as can be.

The work depicts the course of the river Vltava, beginning with its first two sources, the cold and warm Vltava, and the confluence of the two streams that join to form a single river; then the course of the Vltava through forests and meadows, and through open countryside where a peasant wedding is being celebrated; water-sprites dance by the light of the moon; on the nearby cliffs castles, mansions and ruins rise proudly into the air; the Vltava eddies in the St John's Rapids, then flows in a broad stream as it continues its course towards Prague, where the Vysehrad appears, before the river finally disappears into the distance as it flows majestically into the Elbe.

Vltava (The Moldau), Smetana's best-known and most frequently performed orchestral work, was written between 19 November and 8 December 1874, at a time when Smetana was already completely deaf. The world premiere took place in Prague on 4 April 1875, but the score was not published until 1880.

By Cab Calloway and Irving Mills [The Blues Brothers]. Arranged by Ralph Ford. Orchestra. Full Orchestra; Part(s); Score. Pop Intermediate Full Orchestra. Jazz. Grade 2.5. 160 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing

By Cab Calloway and Irving Mills [The Blues Brothers]. Arranged by Ralph Ford. Orchestra. Full Orchestra; Score. Pop Intermediate Full Orchestra. Jazz. Grade 2.5. 12 pages. Published by Alfred Music Publishing

By Johnny Marks. Arranged by Jack Bullock. Orchestra. Full Orchestra; Part(s); Score. Pop Intermediate Full Orchestra. Christmas; Winter. Grade 2.5. 156 pages. Published by Alfred Music

Orchestra (0.1.cor ang.0.B-clar.2 - 4.0.3.0 - timp.perc - hp - str)

SKU: BR.PB-5583

Tuonelan joutsen - Urtext based on the Complete Edition Jean Sibelius Works (JSW). Composed by Jean Sibelius. Edited by Tuija Wicklund. Orchestra; stapled. Partitur-Bibliothek (Score Library). Symphonic poem; Suite; Early modern; Late-romantic. Full score. 24 pages. Duration 10'. Breitkopf and Haertel #PB 5583. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.PB-5583).

ISBN 9790004213933. 10 x 12.5 inches.

Little is known about the actual composition process of Lemminkainen and the performance and publication history is rather complex, resulting in a first complete printing of all the four movements en suite through the complete edition of Jean Sibelius Works only in 2013.In summer 1894 Sibelius went to Central Europe, carrying among others a plan for an opera freely based on the Kalevala in his mind. But during this trip he reassessed his composing: I think I have found my old self again, musically speaking. I think I really am a tone painter and a poet. As a result he abandoned his opera plans, but musical parts may have found their way into the Lemminkainen pieces which he started composing during that time. Definitely the overture had, it is now known and loved as The Swan of Tuonela. Lemminkainen became popular from the beginning and has attained a fixed position in the concert repertoire.