Description
Jean Sibelius
arr. Lawrence Dale Harper
Petite Suite
for wind ensemble
Instrumentation: 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Cl, 2 Hn, 2 Bsn, Double Bass
Year: 1891
Duration: 10:00 minutes
Level 4
Score preview
Jean Sibelius is widely recognized as the single most important composer of his native country, Finland, and did much to establish a national identity in sound to proclaim his country’s independence from Russia. In his youth, Sibelius spent his summer holidays in the small idyllic town of Loviisa, Finland. Before leaving for Berlin in 1891 on his first foreign study trip, Sibelius wrote three charming pieces for the Loviisa brass septet as a contribution to the brass band repertoire of Finland that was widely popular in the later years of the nineteenth century. The conductor of the septet was Christian Haupt, who played horn in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1882-88 under the baton of its founder, Robert Kajanus. This modern transcription for double woodwind quintet and string bass attempts to remain true to the original stark beauty and melodic brilliance of Sibelius’s darkly expressive brass music.
