Chess (Madetoja)

Chess (in Finnish: Shakkipeli; literal translation: 'Chess Game'), Op. 5, is a theatre score—comprising four numbers—for orchestra by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja; he wrote the music in 1910 to accompany the Finnish author Eino Leino's one-act "historical tableau" of the same name. In particular, Madetoja's music occurs during the pantomime divertissement in the middle of the play. The scene, a dream sequence in which 16 white and 16 black chess pieces come to life and play a game, is an allegory for the political intrigue that transpired in 1464 between rivals for the Swedish thrown: Charles VIII of Sweden and Christian I of Denmark. Chess premiered on 15 February 1910 in Helsinki at Finnish National Theatre during a lottery soirée, with Madetoja conducting the Alexei Apostol.

History
Chess premiered on 15 February 1910 in Helsinki at Finnish National Theatre. The occasion was a lottery soirée organized by the Association for Feeding Elementary School Children. As the musicologist Glenda Dawn Goss has written about turn-of-the-century Finland, such charitable evenings were common:

"The faintly distasteful act of giving money to gamble for prizes was masked by the elaborate spectacle ... which proved to be an ideal device for raising money in support of national causes and ... promoting social cohesion and Finnish identity in a guise that the imperial censors would approve ... These entertainments ... with music, drama, dancing, drinking, and eating mingled with the fund-raising ... [comprised] lavish tableaux vivants in which key events from Finland's myths, landscapes, and history were colorfully dramatized ... Choruses, orchestras, and other musicians were brought to sing, play dance music, and perform new works, which the country's composers were prevailed upon to compose ... The very spectacle was enough to take one's breath away."

The soirée opened with the Alexei Apostol playing the overture from the opera The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849) by the German composer Otto Nicolai. After this, the program included three short one-act stage works, the first of which was Leino's historical tableau Chess; Madetoja's incidental music, which he conducted and the Apostol performed, accompanied the pantomime divertissement (including dances choreographed by Maggie Gripenberg) in the middle of the play. The finale of Chess included an additional musical number, albeit not by Madetoja: Jesu dulcis memoria a Christian hymn attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, which was sung backstage by the 40-member mixed choir Suomen Laulu. The next day, Hufvudstadsbladet characterized the score by "our promising young composer Leevi Madetoja" as "appealing and beautiful", while and Uusi Suometar described its as "rich in atmosphere".

Additional praise followed Madetoja's first composition concert in Helsinki on 26 September 1910, at which he conducted the Piano Trio and excerpts from the Symphonic Suite and Chess. For example, Martin Wegelius wrote in Helsingin Sanomat: "Rarely it is possible to return from a first-timer's concert with such great feelings of satisfaction. Indeed very few of us Finns are equipped with such extensive spiritual gifts, that he is able to 'break through' with those so quickly, to conquer the audience in only one evening. Leevi Madetoja did it yesterday and did it in a way which can only be called unique." The positive reviews did, however, contain a note of concern: given Madetoja's plans to travel to Paris for additional education, the critic Evert Katila of Uusi Suometar worried about the negative influence "French modern atonal composition" could have on "this fresh northern nature [Madetoja]".

Structure and roles
Leino's play is in one act; a pantomime divertissement occurs in the middle, during which Madetoja's music is played. As such, the only characters that interact with his score are the 32 chess pieces that the protagonist, Niilo Olavinpoika, has dreamt to life. The score lasts about 16 minutes. 1. Juhlamarssi (Festive March)

2. Kansankarkelo (Frolic of the People)[is this literal translation correct?]

3. Miekkatanssi (Sword Dance)

4. Minuetto (Minuet) <!-- Madetoja composed Chess in early 1910 to accompany the pantomime divertissement in Eino Leino's one-act historical tableau of the same name. The scene is a dream sequence in which the 16 white and 16 black chess pieces come to life. The game they play is an allegory for the political intrigue that raged in fifteenth-century Sweden between rivals for the thrown, Charles VIII of Sweden (Kaarle Knuutinpoika) and Christian I of Denmark (Kristian Oldenburgilainen)—represented by the white and black kings, respectively.

During No. 1, Juhlamarssi (Festive March), the rooks enter and take their places at the four corners of the chess board; next, the knights follow and, finally, the bishops. At the sound of horns, the white royals take their positions as their knights bow deferentially, and a second horn call announces the black royals. The two kings then greet each other with their swords. After this salute, the eight white and eight black pawns arrive, each color with four young men and four young ladies, paired into couples. No. 2, Kansankarkelo (Frolic of the People) begins, and the pawn couples dance around the chess board.

Christina Abrahamsdotter (Kristiina Abrahamintytär) where Niilo Olavinpoika sees wonderful visions: he first plays chess with the parish priest Dominus Bartholomaeus, who is taken away by Tuone's reaper in the middle of the game.

Shortly after that, 32 live chess pieces arrive in the room, which are placed in a regular order of play, and the pieces play the game on the square permanence of the stage until the white queen falls.

When this vision disappears, Niiloherra's friend Kirves arrives in the room, who wakes up the host who was asleep in his chair and tells him that the priest Bartholomaeus has recently died in his home.

When Niiloherra hears bad news about the political events in Stockholm that he has been waiting for with excitement, he remembers the live chess play he saw and looks at the unfinished game of chess, which he thinks he played with Bartholomaeus and placed as a bet, the state position of both of them, and — dies saying: "Bartholomaeus, the game is a draw " (a draw that cannot be ended by revenge).

Mr. Leevi Madetoja had composed the music, which is rich in atmosphere and beautiful, even though the orchestra did not seem to have completed its performance yet. It is a four-part orchestral suite:

according to the leisurely celebratory march, the chess pieces are placed in their positions,

The peasants danced according to the graceful folk dance,

aireues (löopers) struggling to the tunes of the sword dance

and according to the minuet other dignitaries and royals move when the game ends

to the downfall of the queen.

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 * Uusi Suometar advertisement from 2 February: https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/800639?page=1
 * Hufvudstadsbladet advertisement from 2 February: https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/sanomalehti/binding/768204?page=3

Discography
Chess has been recorded commercially just once: