Everyman (Sibelius)

Everyman
Incidental music by Jean Sibelius
The composer in 1913
Native name	Jedermann / Jokamies
Opus	83
Text	Jedermann by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Composed	1916
Duration	Approx. 40 mins.
Premiere
Date	5 November 1916 (1916-11-05)
Location	Finnish National Theatre Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Conductor	Robert Kajanus
Performers	Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

Everyman (in Finnish: Jokamies; in German: Jedermann), Op. 83, is a theatre score—comprising 16 numbers—for soloists, mixed choir, orchestra, piano, and organ by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius; he wrote the music in 1916 to accompany a Finnish-language production of the Austrian author Hugo von Hofmannsthal's 1911 play of the same name.

The play premiered on 5 November 1916 at the Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, with Robert Kajanus conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the theatre director was Jalmari Lahdensuo [fi].

History

Hugo von Hofmannsthal (left) wrote Jedermann in 1911, the year it was first staged by Max Reinhardt. In 1917, the play was translated into English as Everyman.

Composition

On 15 May 1916, the theatre director Jalmari Lahdensuo [fi] wrote to Sibelius asking if he would like to score the Finnish National Theatre's upcoming Finnish-language production of Jedermann,^[a] a modern adaptation by the Austrian playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal of the fifteenth-century English morality play Everyman.^[2] Jedermann, which Max Reinhardt had premiered in Berlin on 1 December 1911 at the Zirkus Schumann, had taken Europe by storm, with subsequent productions in Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. By 1916, it was Finland's turn, and competing productions were scheduled in Helsinki for the end of the year. (The other staging was at the Swedish Theatre, with original music by Einar Nilson [sv],^[b] as well as Palestrina's motet Sicut cervus.)^[1][c] Sibelius accepted the commission in mid-June,^[5] likely—as the musicologist Daniel Grimley has argued—simulated by the play's "images of devotion, sacrifice, pilgrimage, and sacred mission":^[6]

The essence of Everyman lies in its emphasis on transformation, both bodily and spiritual ... It was this idea of mutability, and of the transience of mortal life, that attracted Hofmannsthal. Sibelius shared [this] acute feeling for a world in transition, of the essentially melancholic, nostalgic experience of passing time and human loss ... Both [men] were concerned with the impression of modernism and modernity as one of slippage ...^[7]

Sibelius began working on the score on 10 July, although by the next day he already was confiding in his diary doubts about the project.^[8] By 13 July, he had broken off work on the project to attend to more pressing matters: the impending marriage of his daughter Ruth [fi] to Jussi Snellman [fi] (both were stage actors at the National Theatre) on 21 July.^[d] Sibelius considered it his responsibility to marry off his daughters "in style ... all this cost money". To address his finances, he "worked like a blacksmith" to compose a handful of piano pieces for the Helsinki-based music publisher R. E. Westerlund [fi].^[8]

Premiere

Jalmari Lahdensuo [fi] (right) directed the first Finnish-language production of Hofmannsthal's Jedermann and commissioned Sibelius to write the incidental music.

On 5 November 1916, the National Theatre's Jedermann premiered at a 2:00 matinée, with a second performance at 8:00 that night. Robert Kajanus conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, while Maggie Gripenberg choreographed the dances for the banquet scene (her pupils were the dancers). In the main roles were Urho Somersalmi (Everyman), Eero Kilpi (Death), Hilda Pihlajamäki [fi] (Good Works), Helmi Lindelöf [fi] (Faith), and Teuvo Puro (the Devil).^[9] Lahdensuo, who had seen Jedermann in Dresden and had modeled that production's scenography,^[1] opted for "as indifferent a background for the action as possible": the front curtain was gone, such that—from the moment they entered the auditorium—audience members could view the stage. This extended over the orchestra pit in order to create a more intimate connection with the audience and was covered in black material, such that the musicians were not visible; the ceiling, too, was draped in black, and black curtains stretched behind the stage's six large, white-gray columns. All set decorations were omitted, with the exception of a tombstone placed over the hatch (the banquet table and Good Work's bed later rose from the floor).^[10][11][12] The set design "created a darkly festive, oppressive mood".^[1] (Indeed, the concert had been postponed by two days, because its original date of 3 November was the anniversary of Nicholas II's accession to the Russian throne, and according to the tsarist authorities, the funereal scenery was incongruous with the national day of celebration.)^[1]

Writing in Helsingin Sanomat, the theatre critic Erkki Kivijärvi [fi] posited that even though Sibelius's "magnificently generous and wonderfully lucid music" had been the production's "most powerful mood-maker", Hofmannsthal's play remained for the audience merely an "artistic and literary-historical curiosity", its moral comprehensible yet anachronistic:^[11]

[It is] the same aesthetic pleasure as the spiritual pictorial art of past centuries, the reverential beauty of which arouses in us a wistfulness, but fails to make us feel the religious devotion in which it was created ... Audience members felt ... [as if] they had been present at a strange occasion, that they had wandered for a moment into a sanctuary that the feverish pulse of life's everyday hustle and bustle could not penetrate ... Nevertheless, [the play] does not have the power to melt the minds of modern people.^[11]

For the same newspaper, the composer Leevi Madetoja (Sibelius's one-time pupil) described the score as "a great artistic achievement ... that enhanced the atmosphere of this old play, the moral of which would have been very weak absent [Sibelius's music]". After complimenting the beauty of two songs (Nos. IV and IX), Madetoja praised the "masterly skill" with which Sibelius had captured "vividly" the purification of Everyman's soul: "the organ joins the orchestra, and soon we feel as if under the vaults of a Catholic church.^[13] In Uusi Suometar, the theatre critic Viljo Tarkiainen [fi] agreed that Sibelius's music had elevated the production, especially the concluding scenes.^[12]

Early revivals

After the sinking of the SS Kuru (top) on 7 September 1929 led to 136 fatalities, the Tampere Theatre performed Jedermann in memoriam (arranged by Hans Aufrichtig [fi]).

In April 1925, the Berlin-based music publisher Robert Lienau, with whom Sibelius had contracted from 1904 to 1910,^[e] wrote asking the composer for a short orchestral work similar in style to the concert suites for Pelléas et Mélisande (1905) or Belshazzar's Feast (1906).^[14] Sibelius replied that he could make a suite of Jedermann ("From this music I could put together a good suite. I shall write to you about it next season".) Although Lienau agreed enthusiastically, Sibelius abandoned the idea for unknown reasons. The Sibelius biographer Andrew Barnett speculates that Sibelius may have lost interest in reworking Jedermann upon receiving in May a commission from the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen to compose incidental music to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Nevertheless, Sibelius produced three pieces for solo piano from No. II (Episodio. Largo), No. IV (Scena. Allegretto—Moderato), and Nos. VII–IX (Canzone. Andantino), "presumably as an offshoot" of his work for Lienau.^[14][f]

While Sibelius never made Jedermann suitable for the concert hall, a revival of play by Lahdensuo in late 1929 again brought the music to Finnish audiences, albeit outside of the capital. On 7 September, the SS Kuru sank during a storm on Lake Näsijärvi, a tragedy that caused the deaths of 136 people aboard the steamship; as a result, Tampere's Jedermann would serve as a memorial tribute to the deceased.^[1] The production was organized in some haste (rehearsals were a mere two weeks), and because the city did not have large orchestral forces at its disposal, the conductor Hans Aufrichtig [fi]—at Sibelius's request—arranged the score for smaller forces.^[1][g] The next year, Lahdensuo staged Jedermann in Turku, with Tauno Hannikainen conducting the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.^[1]

Glory Leppänen (left) directed the Finnish National Theatre's 1935 revival of Jedermann, which also used Sibelius's music.

On 11 December 1935, the National Theatre revived Jedermann in honor of Sibelius's seventieth birthday. (By then, the composer had unofficially retired, although the music world breathlessly awaited his reportedly-in-progress Eighth Symphony; his last major work had been 1926's tone poem Tapiola). The production was directed by Glory Leppänen, who had recently studied at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna from 1933 to 1934;^[1] according to Leppänen, Sibelius instructed before the performance "that 'the music must follow every beat of the text, because the note-lengths reflect the words themselves. No deviation from this should be allowed. The delivery of the text should be made to suit the music; this [is] not negotiable'".^[1] Moreover, he also expressed his wish that the audience not applaud during or after the performance, so as "'not to destroy the solemn atmosphere'".^[1] His son-in-law Jussi Blomstedt (later Jalas) conducted the Theatre Orchestra.^[1] The title role again went to Urho Somersalmi, while Teuvo Puro portrayed Death, Liisa Pakarinen [fi] Good Works, Kyllikki Väre [fi] Faith, and Uuno Laakso the Devil; Sibelius's daughter Ruth Snellman was cast as the Paramour.^[16]

Structure and roles

Although Jedermann is in one act (without intermission), it roughly subdivides into two de facto, emotionally-distinct sections: before Death reaches Everyman, and after. Sibelius composed 16 numbers, which range from mere seconds (e.g., Nos. I, VI–VII) to ten minutes (No. XI). It features three vocal soloists, who are among the guests at the banquet. A typical performance of the score lasts between 40 and 49 minutes (although the play is two hours in duration).

Synopsis

As a modern adaptation of the medieval morality play Everyman, Hofmannsthal's Jedermann contains several allegorical characters. The play seeks to "teach people that their earthly existence is transitory":^[1] before God, all that matters is one's record of good deeds. However, even at the eleventh hour, repentance of ones sins is possible.

Prologue enters to the sounding of brass (No. I) and implores the audience to heed Everyman's story,^[19] for he represents all people.^[20] From high above, the Lord God voices his displeasure with humankind: people live in sin and fail to appreciate the Savior's sacrifice on the cross. He summons Death, who arrives flanked by archangels, to fetch the soul of Everyman for Him to judge (No. II).^[19][21] At his palatial home, Everyman admires his worldly possessions, relates to the Good Friend his plans for luxurious expenditures, and orders the Cook to prepare a feast for tomorrow's banquet.^[21] He is visited by the Poor Neighbor, as well as by the Debtor (whom the Bailiff marches to prison; the Debtor's Wife and hungry children follow behind), each of whom beg for charity.^[19][22] Everyman spurns the solicitors and eulogizes Mammon, the demon spirit of avarice (the sin of greed). The Mother arrives, urging her son to confess his sins and to enter into holy matrimony, but he impatiently rejects her counsel. With the Paramour (the sin of fornication), he looks forward to the banquet (No. III).^[19][23]

Everyman caresses the Paramour at the banquet (No. IIIa)—there, the candle-lit dining table is lavishly decorated with expensive food and drink (the sin of gluttony). The guests sing and dance (No. IV), but the festive atmosphere sours for Everyman, who senses Death's approach. Paranoid, he runs from the table; when the Paramour goes to calm him, he asks her if she would follow him forever, even in death.^[24] The guests resume singing and dancing (Nos. V–VII), restoring Everyman's good humor. However, during a love song, Everyman alone hears the deathly tolling of the bell (No. VIII). To steady his nerves, he imbibes more wine and listens as the oblivious guests sing a canon (No. IX, a modification of No. VII). At the end of this song, Everyman alone hears the ghostly calling of his name.^[17][24] Again, the guests make merry (No. X) until the arrival of Death, whom they see standing forbiddingly behind Everyman—everyone (including the Paramour) flee, except for the Good Friend, the Fat Cousin, and the Skinny Cousin. Although the spirit permits Everyman to bring a companion on his final journey, all three men refuse—for they, too, would die. Abandoned, Everyman resolves to bring that which he holds most dear, his fortune, but the servants and horses carrying his treasure chest scatter upon seeing Death. Everyman now caresses the chest; the lid opens to reveal Mammon, who ruthlessly disowns and mocks his "slave".^[25][26]

Good Works appears as an sickly woman laying on a filthy bed, symbolizing the lack of compassion and rectitude with which Everyman has lived. In a gentle, soft voice, she tells him that she is too weak to safely guide him on the road to the afterlife, and instructs him to look instead to her sister, Faith, for salvation (No. XII).^[25][27] Under Faith's guidance, Everyman repents his sins and prays for forgiveness; to the sound of an organ chorale, he has a vision of the Mother attending morning mass and realizing her son has been redeemed (No. XIII). Having purified his soul, Everyman—now carrying a pilgrim's staff and clothed in a white robe he has received from the Monk—sets out for his grave accompanied by Faith and Good Works (her health restored).^[27] As a final hurdle, the Devil arrives aggrieved, protesting that because Everyman had lived in sin and never had any use for religion, the soul properly belongs him (No. XIV). However, the two sisters, as well as a group of angels, block his path, and Faith tells the Devil the ringing of the bell now indicates Everyman's eternal life with the Lord God.^[25][28] With Good Works, Everyman enters his tomb (No. XV), as Faith intones: "Now, he has completed his human lot, and appears naked and bare before the Supreme Judge, and only his works will assist him and speak in his favor. Redeem him ..." The play concludes with the angels singing a hymn of praise to the Lord God (No. XVI).^[25]

Music

Jedermann is scored for soprano, tenor, baritone, mixed choir, 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, strings, timpani, piano, and organ.^[19]

Discography

The Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and the Lahti Chamber Choir made the world premiere studio recording on 11–13 January 1995 for BIS records.^[f] In 2014, Leif Segerstam, the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis [fi] also recorded the complete incidental music. Given the close symbiosis between Sibelius's score and von Hofmannthal's text, critics have divided over the merits of the music as a concert item divorced from the stage. Writing in Gramophone, Andrew Achenbach received Jedermann positively, describing it as "a venture that incontestably ignited [Sibelius's] imagination—just sample the searchingly inspired string-writing in [Nos. XI and XIV], the commodious skip of [Nos. IV and VIII], or the stoically affirmative angels' chorus which closes proceedings".^[29] Similarly, Michael Scott Rohan for BBC Music Magazine complimented the "starkly original segments, [No. XI] especially, attractive choral songs and final Gloria ... the overall effect is somewhat funereal". However, he conceded that Segerstam's "austere pace ... deepened the gloom" perhaps too greatly, and noted a preference of Vänskä's "livelier" interpretation.^[30] In a more ambivalent take, Leslie Wright of MusicWeb International concluded that "much of [Jedermann] does not stand as well on its own ... [it] is slow and sombre ... [and] quiet". Nevertheless, she found "more than enough here to sustain interest and virtually all of it sounds like no one but Sibelius ... [there is] some lively and tuneful music".^[31] David Hurwitz's opinion on Classics Today, however, is dismissive: "Sibelius never made a suite ... and for good reason. There's nothing here that works independently of the play ... Much of the music is athematic ... minutes of utter nothingness ... aside from being exceptionally slow, it's also exceptionally repetitious".^[32] The table below lists all commercially available recordings of Jedermann:

Notes, references, and sources

Notes

References

Sources

This page was last edited on 18 March 2024, at 12:24