The Five Pieces (in French: ), Op. 75, is a collection of compositions for piano written in 1914 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The Five Pieces, however, is more commonly referred to by its informal nickname The Trees due to the fact that the descriptive titles of the five pieces share a thematic link.
Structure and music No. 1: When the Rowan Blossoms When the Rowan Blossoms (Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1921 by the London-based firm of . Marked Allegretto, it has a duration of about two minutes.
No. 2: The Solitary Fir Tree The Solitary Fir Tree (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1921 by London's . Marked Grave, it has a duration of about two minutes.
No. 3: The Aspen The Aspen (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was published in 1922 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen. Marked Andantino, it has a duration of about 2.5 minutes.
No. 4: The Birch The Birch (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was also published in 1922 by Hansen. Marked AllegroMisterioso, it has a duration of about 1.5 minutes.
No. 5: The Spruce The Spruce (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ) was also published in 1922 by Hansen, after Sibelius had revised the piece in 1919. Marked StrettoLentoRisolutoLento, it has a duration of about three minutes.
Reception
Discography The Finnish-German pianist Ralf Gothoni made the first studio recording of the complete Op. 75 Five Pieces in 1971 for EMI; of these, When the Rowan Blooms, The Solitary Fir Tree, and The Birch (Nos. 1–2 and 4) were world premieres. The remaining two pieces, The Aspen and The Spruce (Nos. 3 and 5), had been recorded earlier in 1959 by the Hungarian pianist Ervin László for RCA Victor (RCA LM–9828). The sortable table below lists, in addition to the aforementioned Gothoni traversal, other commercially available recordings of The Trees, as a whole:
PianistRuntimesRecording venueLabelscope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" 1 (1)1971[], HelsinkiEMI2 (1)1:452:302:301:253:0011:101971EMI310:33Musical Heritage Society41:522:032:231:252:5311:011983Studio BIS, DjursholmBIS5 (2)1988Canyon Classics61:552:422:501:353:2812:301992Finlandia72:092:153:391:272:3512:051994St George's Church, Brandon HillOlympia8 (3)1:422:182:361:323:0011:081994AinolaCanyon Classics9 (2)1995Ondine101:452:502:181:443:4012:171995Naxos11 (1)1:512:432:401:413:3212:271996YLE M2 Studio, HelsinkiFinlandia122:002:442:211:413:2012:131999New Broadcasting House, ManchesterChandos131:512:432:201:413:3212:072000St Martin's Church, East WoodhayNaxos142001152008Nya Paviljongen161:553:052:431:323:1712:492009BIS17 (1)Presence181:402:142:191:383:0110:522014Jacqueline Du Pré Music BuildingQuartz19 (2)1:442:292:141:353:0711:092015[], HelsinkiSony Classical20 (2)1:462:372:201:394:4013:022015Sello Hall, EspooPiano Classics
Notes, references, and sources
External links