Kullervo (Madetoja)
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''Kullervo'', Op. 15, is a
symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...
() for orchestra written in 1913 by Finnish composer
Leevi Madetoja Leevi Antti Madetoja (; 17 February 1887 – 6 October 1947) was a Finns, Finnish composer, music criticism, music critic, conductor (music), conductor, and teacher of the Romantic music, late-Romantic and modernism (music), early-mode ...
. The piece premiered on 14 October 1913 with Madetoja conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society.


Background


Composition

Although Madetoja belonged to
national romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
movement in Finland, he did not—unlike many of the movement's artists and composers, such as
Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born Axel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic poetry, epic. His work is considered a very importa ...
and
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
—often turn to the ''
Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...
'' as a source of inspiration. Indeed, ''Kullervo'' is Madetoja's only notable composition after the
national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks to or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group wi ...
. Madetoja was the fourth composer to tackle the subject of
Kullervo Kullervo () is an ill-fated character in the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, ...
. First, in 1860,
Filip von Schantz John Filip von Schantz (17 January 1835 – 24 July 1865) was a Finnish composer and musician. Born in Ulvila, he left Helsinki in 1855 after being expelled from University of Helsinki, deciding to devote himself to music. The following year he beg ...
wrote the ''Kullervo Overture'' (), which he had intended as the prelude to an opera; this piece premiered the same year in Helsinki at the opening of the
Swedish Theatre The Swedish Theatre () is a Swedish-language theatre in Helsinki, Finland, and is located at the Erottaja () square, at the end of Esplanadi (). It was the first national stage of Finland. History The first theatre in Helsinki, '' Engels Te ...
. Second, in 1880,
Robert Kajanus Robert Kajanus (2 December 1856 – 6 July 1933) was a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher. In 1882, he founded the Helsinki Orchestral Society, Finland's first professional orchestra. As a conductor, he was also a notable champion and i ...
composed and premiered in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
''Kullervo's Funeral March'' (); though
Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most ...
in its
chromaticism Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...
, it makes use of the Finnish folk song ''O Mother, so pitiable and poor!'' (). Finally, in 1892,
Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...
composed and premiered in Helsinki the
choral symphony A choral symphony is a musical composition for orchestra, choir, and sometimes solo (music), solo vocalists that, in its internal workings and overall musical architecture, adheres broadly to symphony, symphonic musical form. The term "choral s ...
''
Kullervo Kullervo () is an ill-fated character in the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, ...
'', for
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
,
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
,
mixed chorus A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
, and orchestra; however, Sibelius withdrew his ''Kullervo'' in 1893, and therefore, it could not have served as a model for Madetoja; it is also unlikely that he was familiar with the pieces by von Schantz and Kajanus. Instead, the most readily-available ''Kalevala''-themed examples would have been Sibelius's ''
Lemminkäinen Suite The ''Lemminkäinen Suite'', or more correctly ''Four Legends from the Kalevala'', Op. 22, is a sequence of four tone poems for orchestra completed in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The work was conceived as ' (''The Building of t ...
'' (from which two numbers, ''
The Swan of Tuonela ''The Swan of Tuonela'' () is an 1895 tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is part of the '' (Four Legends from the Kalevala)'', Op. 22, based on the Finnish mythological epic the '' Kalevala''. ''The Swan of Tuonela'' was or ...
'' and ''Lemminkäinen's Return'', had been published in 1900) and ''
Pohjola's Daughter The tone poem ''Pohjola's Daughter'' (in Finnish: ), Op. 49, was composed by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1906. Originally, Sibelius intended to title the work ', after the character in the ' (the Finnish national epic). The publ ...
''.


Premiere

''Kullervo'' premiered on 14 October 1913 with Madetoja conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society. It was the final number on a program that also included other orchestral novelties by Madetoja: the Concert Overture (; Op. 7, 1911); ''Melody and Little Romance'' (; Op. 17, 1913); ''Dance Vision'' (; Op. 11; 1911); , a
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
for mixed choir and orchestra to text by V. A. Koskenniemi (Op. 10, 1911); and the original three-movement version of the ''Little Suite'' (; Op. 12, 1913).


Instrumentation

''Kullervo'' is scored for the following instruments: *
Woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...
s:
piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...
, 2 
flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s, 2 
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s, 2 
clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...
s (in A),
bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common Soprano clarinet, soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays no ...
(in A), and 2 
bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...
s *
Brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
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horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...
s (in F), 2 
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
s (in C), 3 
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
s, and
tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...
*
Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
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timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
,
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...
,
cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
,
bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
,
tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...
, and
castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...
*
String String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
s:
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s,
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
s,
cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s,
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
es, and
harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
() published the symphonic poem in 1947; Fennica Gehrman is the current distributor.


Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of ''Kullervo'':


Notes, references, and sources

; ; ; ;Liner notes *  *  *  ;Journals and magazines * ;Newspaper articles (by date) * * * * {{italic title Compositions by Leevi Madetoja 20th-century classical music 1913 compositions Symphonic poems Music based on the Kalevala