The Swan of Tuonela, from ‘Lemminkäinen Suite’, Op. 22

Program notes

About the Work

The Swan of Tuonela is the most famous of the four tone poems that make up Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen Suite (1893–95), drawn from Finland’s national epic, the Kalevala. In the myth, the hero Lemminkäinen is sent to kill the sacred swan that glides on the black river encircling Tuonela, the land of the dead; instead he is struck down by a poisoned arrow and dies. But the music is not about the hero. It is a hushed, transfixing portrait of the swan itself, floating serenely on the dark waters of the underworld.

Sibelius casts the swan’s song as a long, melancholy solo for the cor anglais (English horn), one of the most celebrated and evocative solos in the entire orchestral repertoire. Around it he weaves a gossamer texture of muted, divided strings, conjuring the cold, still, mysterious river of death. It is a miniature masterpiece of atmosphere, and a perfect, contemplative opening to a programme that ends amid the frozen wastes of the Antarctic.

What to Listen For

Listen, above all, for the cor anglais: its long, plaintive, song-like melody is the voice of the swan, and it threads through almost the entire piece. Around it, listen for the dark, muted strings that create the still, glassy surface of the river of the dead, for the soft tolling of harp and timpani, and for a brief swell of more impassioned feeling at the centre before the swan glides on. The whole piece moves slowly, in a hushed 9/4, conjuring an atmosphere of solemn, otherworldly calm. It is a few minutes of pure, dark enchantment.