Malinconia (Sibelius)

Malinconia (literal English translation: "Melancholy"), Op. 20, is a single-movement duo for cello and piano written in 1900 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

History
In late 1899 and early 1900, a typhus epidemic swept through southern Finland, near Kerava. Sibelius's brother-in-law, the Finnish playwright Arvid Järnefelt, had just lost his infant daughter, Anna (1898 – 1899) on 28 December, and as such, Aino Sibelius (née Järnefelt) traveled to Lohja to assist the Järnefelts as they mourned; Sibelius and the couple's three daughters—Eva, Ruth Snellman, and Kirsti—remained in Helsinki. However, the epidemic soon claimed Kirsti (1898 – 1900), as well, who died on 13 February. (Aino suspected that she had accidentally carried the deadly bacteria home with her.) Devastated, a grieving Sibelius turned to drink, while Aino and the other daughters sought to outrun the disease by relocating to Aino's mother's home in Lohja.

In early March, Sibelius composed—purportedly in just three hours—a duo for cello and piano that he named Fantasia (later retitled Malinconia). The piece received its premiere on 12 March 1900 in Helsinki; the cellist was Georg Schnéevoigt, the dedicatee, accompanied by the pianist Sigrid Schnéevoigt (the two later married in 1907).

Music
Malinconia, which has a duration of about 12 minutes, is in time and has a tempo marking of Adagio pesante.

Discography
The Danish cellist Louis Jensen (cellist) and the Russian-born Danish pianist Galina Werschenska made the world premiere studio recording of Malinonia in 1936 for His Master's Voice (since re-released by Warner Classics). The sortable table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

Notes, references, and sources

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