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Lawrence SchenbeckAtlanta, Georgia, editor, [lang ]lschenbe[commat]spelman.edu[rang ]
Sibelius: Works for Mixed Choir Jubilate Choir a cappella
Astrid Riska, conductor
BIS CD-825 (1996; 62´ 27´´)
Sibelius: Music for Mixed and Female Choir
Jubilate Choir
Astrid Riska, conductor
BIS CD-998 (1996-98; 66´ 00´´)
Sibelius: Complete Songs for Male Voice Choir a cappella
Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat (YL) [Helsinki University Male Choir]
Matti Hyökki, conductor
Finlandia 0927497742 (2003; 2CD)
Choral conductors hoping to learn more about Jean Sibelius's unaccompanied and shorter choral works could well start with these three recordings. Taken together, they provide a good survey of the choral genres in which Sibelius worked over the course of his creative lifetime. The robust Finnish choral tradition provided an important outlet for this composer's romantic and nationalistic interests. Some critics have dismissed his choral works as ''chippings from the symphonist's workbench,'' but careful listeners will discover here many smaller pieces of considerable character and charm; they do take root in one's memory. Some of it is undoubtedly Gebrauchsmusik -- Sibelius was repeatedly asked to contribute partsongs for educational publications, nationalist song...