Jean Sibelius
Lemminkäinen Suite, op. 22

The publication of the expanded, definitive edition of Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala – an epic based on orally transmitted Finnish mythology – in the mid-19^th century gave  Finnish people the founding document of their national culture. Jean Sibelius belonged to the first generation of artists who used this foundation to accompany the political and linguistic self-discovery and emancipation of the Finnish people in their works. Among the committed so-called “Fennomans” was also Sibelius’s wife, Aino Järnefelt, who encouraged him to compose explicitly “Finnish” works – although it was difficult to define what that actually meant, as a Finnish art music tradition was only just being established. 

For his first symphonic work, Kullervo, Sibelius already drew on material from the Kalevala; the piece immediately established him as a key figure in the musical life of his country. After the symphonic poem En Saga and the Karelia Suite, Sibelius turned his thoughts to a larger project. He wanted to write a Kalevala opera entitled The Building of the Boat: the old Väinämöinen attempts to build a boat from wood shavings using only the power of his songs, in order to win the love of the Daughter of the Moon, Kuutar. Performances of Wagner operas that Sibelius attended in Bayreuth and Munich in the summer of 1894 initially strengthened his resolve, but ultimately discouraged him from working in opera – Wagner’s model seemed too overwhelming.

However, the idea of a new Kalevala-inspired piece remained, albeit now focusing on a different episode of the epic – the adventures of the daring hero Lemminkäinen. By the end of the summer holidays of 1895, Sibelius had outlined the plan and, by early the following year, using substantial material from the abandoned opera, he had composed four interconnected tone poems. These works almost form a symphony, yet from the outset, they were also intended to be performed individually. After multiple revisions and a long-delayed publication, Sibelius gave them the collective title Four Legends from the Finnish National Epic “Kalevala”.

Lemminkäinen is something like the Finnish Don Juan, with a touch of the Greek warrior Achilles. Generous translations call him a “cheerful fellow”; others describe him as a “lightfoot” and a “rogue.” Outrageously handsome, he blunders through his escapades, and when it comes to women, he knows no restraint. On the island of Saari lives the beautiful Kyllikki, who considers none of her suitors good enough. Enter Lemminkäinen – while all the other girls on the island are happy to engage with him, Kyllikki steadfastly rejects him. He promptly abducts her, and after they make a pact – he will no longer go to war, and she will stay at home and not go dancing – she consents to marriage. 

However, when she later attends a village festival, he feels released from his vow and decides to pursue an even more desirable woman: the legendary Daughter of the North. Her mother, Louhi, sets him superhuman tasks. He completes the first two, but when tasked with shooting the Swan of Tuonela (the realm of the dead) with his arrow, he falls into an ambush, is slain by a rival and dismembered and thrown into the river by Tuoni, the lord of the underworld. Lemminkäinen’s mother learns of his fate, retrieves her son’s body parts from the water, and reassembles him. Revived by magical incantations, Lemminkäinen joyfully returns home.

Sibelius took inspiration from the protagonist and his more or less plausible adventures without illustrating Lönnrot’s verses verbatim or note for note. The composer consistently rejected overly literal parallels between music and narrative. His intention was to capture the mood of the situations, and in doing so, he found his own unique and unmistakable voice.