Järnefelt, Armas

Järnefelt composed his Festouverture (Festive Overture) for the official opening of the Finnish National Theatre in 1902. The overture is firmly anchored on a jubilant D major and observes the traditional sonata-form scheme. Fennica Gehrman commissioned a band transcription from professor Robert J. Ambrose as soon as the symphony version score was engraved in 2019….

Armas Järnefelt (1869–1958) composed his Festouverture (Festive Overture) for the official opening of the Finnish National Theatre on 9 April 1902. This was a great event in the history of Finnish theatre, for it meant that the Finnish Theatre founded by Kaarlo and Emilie Bergbom in 1872 at last had a home of its own….

The most beloved tune by Armas Järnefelt (Jean Sibelius’ brother-in-law) was written in 1904 for violin and piano. It is now available in two new versions: for piano trio (composer’s arrangement for violin, violoncello and piano based on a radio recording from 1948) 55011-520-0, € 7,40Buy now for saxophone (Josef Kaartinen’s transcription for soprano, alto,…

Järnefelt’s first composition for stage was music for Topelius’s play Miranda (1901). It is a melodrama, 30 minutes in duration, with recitation and choral parts. The story is a fairytale of young Miranda in search for love, surrounded by kings and suitors arond the world. The music includes elegantly swinging waltzes and Oriental colours. Orchestral…