The Captive Queen

The Captive Queen (in Finnish: Vapautettu kuningatar; sometimes translated to English as The Liberated Queen; subtitled "Cantata in Celebration of Snellman's Birth"), Op. 48, is a single-movement, patriotic cantata for mixed choir and orchestra written in 1906 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of the Finnish author Paavo Cajander's Finnish-language poem of the same name, is chronologically the fifth of Sibelius's nine orchestral cantatas.

The Captive Queen was first performed in Helsinki on 12 May 1906 by the Orchestra of Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by the composer; however, it premiered under the title "There Sings the Queen" ("Siell' laulavi kuningatar") in order to avoid the attention of the imperial censors. Sibelius arranged the piece for male choir in 1910; this version was first performed on 28 November 1913 by the Choir of the Students' Union, with Heikki Klemetti conducting.

Instrumentation
The Captive Queen is scored for the following instruments and voices, organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):


 * Mixed choir (SATB) or male choir (TTBB)
 * 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 1 clarinet (in B♭), 1 bass clarinet (in B♭), and 1 bassoon
 * 4 horns (in F), 2 trumpets (in F), and 3 trombones
 * Timpani, bass drum, cymbals, and triangle
 * Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses

History
Sibelius composed the cantata for the centennial festivities that marked the birth (12 May 1806) of Johan Vilhelm Snellman, a philosopher and statesman who was an important contributor to the Fennoman cause.

The Finnish composer Oskar Merikanto also contributed a new piece for the occasion, the Cantata in Memory of J. V. Snellman (Kantaatti J. V. Snellmanin muistolle, OM100; text by A. V. Koskimies). This premiered two hours before The Captive Queen, albeit at a different venue: the Finnish National Theatre.

Discography
The Finnish conductor Jorma Panula and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of The Captive Queen in September 1987 for Ondine; they were joined by a mixed choir credited as the "Academic Choir of Helsinki University" ("Helsingin Yliopiston Opettajankoulutuslaitoksen Kuoro"). Fabian Dahlström, in his 2003 catalogue of Sibelius works, however, connects this ensemble to Akateeminen Laulu, which was founded in 1953 as the mixed choir of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings:

Notes, references, and sources

 * Notes


 * References


 * Sources


 * Books and liner notes


 * Newspapers (by date)