The Dryad (Sibelius)
Tone poem by Jean Sibelius
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The Dryad (in Finnish: Dryadi), Op. 45/1, is a tone poem for orchestra written in 1910 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He completed it between skiing trips. He conducted the first performance in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, on 8 October 1910, together with the premiere of In memoriam. He arranged it for piano in 1910 (Die Dryade). The piece has been regarded as one of the composer's "shortest and most original orchestral works", as an "impressionist miniature", proceeding from fragments to a "dance-like theme".[3]
| The Dryad | |
|---|---|
| Tone poem by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer (c. 1911) | |
| Native name | Dryadi |
| Opus | 45/1 |
| Composed | 1910 |
| Publisher | Breitkopf & Härtel (1910)[1] |
| Duration | 6 mins.[2] |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 8 October 1910[2] |
| Location | Kristiania, Norway |
| Conductor | Jean Sibelius |
| Performers | Kristiania Musical Association |
Instrumentation
The Dryad is scored for the following instruments,[2] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
- 1 piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B♭), 1 bass clarinet (in B♭), and 2 bassoons
- 4 horns (in F), 3 trumpets (in B♭), 3 trombones, and tuba
- Bass drum, snare drum, castanets, and tambourine
- Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses
Structure
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Discography
The Finnish conductor Nils-Eric Fougstedt and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of The Dryad in 1959 for the Society of Finnish Composers (in Finnish: Suomen Säveltäjät).[2] The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Conductor | Ensemble | Rec.[a] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nils-Eric Fougstedt | Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra | 1959 | ? | ? | Suomen Säveltäjät | |
| 2 | Sir Charles Groves | Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra | 1975 | 6:01 | Liverpool Philharmonic Hall | EMI Classics | |
| 3 | Sir Alexander Gibson | Royal Scottish National Orchestra | 1977 | 5:44 | Glasgow City Halls | Chandos | |
| 4 | Neeme Järvi | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | 1985 | 5:41 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS | |
| 5 | Vassily Sinaisky | Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | 1991 | 5:43 | Mosfilm Studios | Brilliant Classics | |
| 6 | Shuntaro Sato | Kuopio Symphony Orchestra | 2002 | 6:02 | Kuopio Music Centre | Finlandia | |
| 7 | Osmo Vänskä | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2000 | 5:07 | Sibelius Hall | BIS | |
| 8 | Pietari Inkinen | New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | 2007 | 5:46 | Michael Fowler Centre | Naxos |
In addition, the Finnish pianist Erik T. Tawaststjerna made the world premiere studio recording of Sibelius's piano transcription of The Dryad in 1987 for BIS. The table below includes this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Pianist | Rec.[j] | Time | Recording venue | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik T. Tawaststjerna | 1987 | 5:45 | Danderyd Grammar School | BIS | |
| 2 | Folke Gräsbeck | 2007 | 5:10 | Kuusankoski Hall | BIS |
