The Maiden in the Tower

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The Maiden in the Tower
Opera by Jean Sibelius
Amélie Lundahl - Castle Ruins.jpg
Castle Ruins (c. 1888), of Visby City Wall,
by the Finnish painter Amélie Lundahl
Native nameJungfrun i tornet
CatalogueJS 101
TextLibretto by Rafael Hertzberg
LanguageSwedish
Composed1896 (1896)
PublisherEdition Wilhelm Hansen (1995)
DurationApprox. 35 minutes
Premiere
Date7 November 1896 (1896-11-07)
LocationHelsinki, Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersHelsinki Orchestral Society

The Maiden in the Tower (Swedish title: Jungfrun i tornet), JS 101, is a one-act opera, comprising an overture and eight scenes, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed choir, and orchestra written in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Sung in Swedish to a libretto by the Finnish playwright Rafael Hertzberg, The Maiden in the Tower is Sibelius's only completed opera. (In 1895, he had abandoned an earlier opera project, The Building of the Boat.)

History[]

Cast Voice type Premiere cast
(7 November 1896)[1]
Maiden (Swedish: Jungfrun) Soprano Ida Flodin
Chatelaine (Slottsfrun) Mezzo-soprano Emmy Achté
Lover (Älskaren) Tenor E. Eklund[2]
Bailiff (Fogden) Baritone Abraham Ojanperä
Chorus (Kören) Mixed choir ?

The Maiden in the Tower was first performed in a concert version during a fund-raising evening for the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 7 November 1896. It received three further performances before Sibelius withdrew it, claiming he wanted to revise the score. He never did and the opera remained unheard until it was broadcast on Finnish radio in 1981. The work's lack of success has been blamed on the weakness of the libretto, described by Stephen Walsh as "a lifeless concoction."[3] Some of the music shows the influence of Richard Wagner. The opera is in a single act, divided into eight scenes, and lasts about 35–40 minutes.

Synopsis[]

The Finnish baritone Abraham Ojanperä sang the part of the Bailiff at the 1896 premiere

Scenes 1–3[]

The curtain rises to find the beautiful Maiden picking flowers along the seashore. The Bailiff, emerging from the woods, comes upon her and professes his love ("...sweetest virgin, thou my shining star"). When his pleas do not persuade the Maiden, he seeks to seduce her with material riches. This proposal she also rebuffs ("Love is the gift of the heart!"), and so the Bailiff determines to take her as his bride by force ("Yes, I have power to force thee, thou shalt not defy me"); powerless to refuse, the maiden collapses into the arms of the "cowardly villain".[4] In Scene 2, the Bailiff has imprisoned the Maiden in his castle. Alone and despairing, she sings an aria in which she prays to Mary for deliverance ("Oh save me from death and shame. Help me!").[5] In Scene 3, the Maiden overhears the singing of a group of peasants passing by the castle. To her relief, she discerns the voice of her father ("Ah, do I hear right, can it be true? What well known tones") and believes her rescue is imminent. But the peasants disown her, mistakenly believing that, rather than having been abducted, she instead has propositioned herself ("For gold and gloss her honour and her faith has lost"). Distraught and forsaken, the Maiden reconciles herself to her ill fate.[6]

Scenes 4–5[]

The Finnish soprano Ida Flodin sang the part of the Maiden at the 1896 premiere

After a brief intermezzo, Scene 4 finds the Maiden's true love (aptly named the Lover) dreamily proclaiming his desires ("Ah, when I see her face, then smiles my day with joy..."), although he wonders why she has been delayed from their rendezvous ("Beloved, comest thou not? Oh what keeps thee?").[7] In Scene 5, the Lover comes upon the castle and overhears the Maiden lamenting her misfortune ("Ah, no one listens to me weeping here. None my anguish hear. Alas by all rejected now"); he is shocked to find her in the Bailiff's possession ("How can I explain it that she is with the bailiff, she so pure and spotless..."). Coming to the balcony, she assures him of her faithfulness ("I love thee; by force the bailiff holds me captive, innocent I am!"), and he promises to obtain her freedom.[8]

Scenes 6–8[]

In Scene 6, the Bailiff demands to know who the young man is. The Lover accuses him of wrongdoing ("How could you to defenseless maiden behave so cruelly and unkind?"), to which the imperious lawman responds with threats of reprisal ("And if thou wouldst defy me yet, let castle-dungeon thy repentance bring"). The Lover refuses to submit to the Bailiff, who draws his sword.[9] A duel is averted when, in Scene 7, the Chatelaine of the castle enters and demands the belligerents sheath their swords. After appraising the situation, she heeds not the Bailiff's complaint ("These people are stubborn, they must be treated strictly") and grants the Maiden her freedom ("Here force was used against defenseless woman, whose innocence and virtue I know well. Set her free!")[10] In Scene 8, the Chatelaine's servants apprehend the Bailiff, and the Maiden and the Lover embrace. Amid the rejoicing, the Chatelaine affirms her dedication to justice ("Ever yet my wish has been defense of innocence, defense of right").[11]

Orchestration[]

Jean Sibelius (1892), by the composer's brother-in-law, the Finnish painter Eero Järnefelt; Sibelius's only opera premiered in 1896

The Maiden in the Tower is scored for the following voices and instruments:[12]

Structure[]

The Maiden in the Tower is in one act, comprising an overture and eight scenes; Scenes 6–8 play without pause.

  • Overture: Allegro molto (scored for orchestra)
  • Scene 1: Allegro molto (soprano, baritone, orchestra)
  • Scene 2: Molto sostenuto (soprano, orchestra)
  • Scene 3: Allegro (soprano, mixed choir, orchestra)
  • Scene 4: Allegro moderato (tenor, orchestra)
  • Scene 5: Largamente (soprano, tenor, orchestra)
  • Scene 6: Allegro molto (soprano, tenor, baritone, orchestra)
  • Scene 7: Meno mosso (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed choir, orchestra)
  • Scene 8: [Meno mosso] (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed choir, orchestra)

Derivative works[]

In the late 2010s, the music scholar Tuomas Hannikainen examined the orchestral score hand-written by the composer and discovered the meaning of certain additional markings among the notes: another orchestral work, consisting of selections from the opera, is “hidden” within the operatic score. This derivative orchestral piece constitutes the so-called The Maiden in the Tower Overture, which was allegedly premiered in Turku on 7 April 1900, conducted by the composer. The duration of this piece is 11–12 minutes, and it is not known to have been performed after the year 1900. The Maiden in the Tower Overture is not to be confused with the overture section of the opera proper, which lasts about three minutes.[13]

Discography[]

The sortable table below lists all commercially available recordings of The Maiden in the Tower:

Conductor Orchestra Soprano Mezzo-soprano Tenor Baritone Rec. Duration Label
Neeme Järvi Gothenburg SO MariAnn Häggander Erland Hagegård Jorma Hynninen 1983 35:15 BIS (BIS-CD-250)
Paavo Järvi Estonian National SO Solveig Kringleborn Lilli Paasikivi Lars-Erik Jonsson 2001 36:39 Virgin Classics (7243 5 45493 2 8)

References[]

  1. ^ Tawaststjerna, Erik (1967). Jean Sibelius 2 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Otava. p. 97.
  2. ^ Sibelius, Jean (2005). Dahlström, Fabian (ed.). Dagbok 1909–1944 (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. p. 493. ISBN 951-583-125-3. — Several sources mention an incorrect name here, “Engström.”
  3. ^ Viking p. 983.
  4. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 119–20.
  5. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 120.
  6. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 120–21.
  7. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 121–22.
  8. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 122–23.
  9. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 124.
  10. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 125.
  11. ^ Skinner 1984, p. 125–26.
  12. ^ Edition Wilhelm Hansen 1995.
  13. ^ Tiikkaja, Samuli (23 July 2019). "Sibeliukselta löytyi tuntematon teos" [An Unknown Work by Sibelius Discovered]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). pp. B 1–2.

Sources[]

  • Barnett, Andrew: Sibelius, pp. 108–109. Yale University Press, 2007.
  • Holden (ed.): Viking Opera Guide. 1993.
  • Hannikainen, Tuomas (2018). Neito tornissa – Sibelius näyttämöllä (doctoral thesis). EST-julkaisusarja, 40 (in Finnish and English). Helsinki: Sibelius-Akatemia. ISBN 978-952-329-102-7. ISSN 1237-4229.
  • Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs (1993)
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