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Pelléas and Mélisande (in French: Pelléas et Mélisande; in Swedish: Pelléas och Mélisande), JS 147 (full score) and Op. 46 (concert suite), is theatre music for orchestra written in 1905 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius to accompany a Swedish-language production of the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck's 1893 Symbolist play of the same name (translated by Bertel Gripenberg). The story, which takes place at King Arkel's castle, is a romantic triangle: two princes, Golaud and his younger brother Pelléas, each harbor feelings for Mélisande, a young maiden betrothed to the former (and carrying his child) but courted by the latter. Golaud confronts Pelléas and Mélisande during their secret rendezvous in the park, with lethal consequences. Sibelius contributed music for 10 scenes, spanning all five acts.

The play premiered on 17 March 1905 at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society. The Swedish actors Gunnar Wingård and Gabrielle Tavaststjerna starred as Pelléas and Mélisande, respectively, while the Finnish actor Konrad Tallroth played the role of Golaud; as Mélisande, Tavaststjerna also sang a song by Maeterlinck, "De trenne blinda systrar" ("The Three Blind Sisters", No. 6; original French: "Les trois sœurs aveugles"), which Sibelius had set.

The suite premiered on 12 March 1906 with Robert Kajanus conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra at University Hall; also on the program was the Violin Concerto in D minor (Op. 47; 1904, revised 1905) and the Second Symphony (Op. 43; 1902).

History
By 1905, Sibelius already had written incidental music for two plays: Adolf Paul's King Christian II (Kung Kristian II, Op. 27; 1898) and Arvid Järnefelt's Death (Kuolema, JS 113; 1903).

Premiere



 * Karl Flodin review 1 in Helsingfors-Posten No. 73
 * Flodin review 2 in Helsingfors-Posten No. 75
 * the enchantingly beautiful music of Jean Sibelius, conducted by the composer himself,
 * However, if the applause yesterday did not take the form of any stormy ovations, it was because the nature of the performance was too deeply affecting, because non-noisy applause and shouts would have more than banally stuck out against the emotions so finely and powerfully touched.
 * Mrs. Gabrielle Tavaststjerna and Mr. Sibelius were each handed their magnificent bouquet.
 * Mrs. Stavenow's little Yniold was a likeable performance. Mrs. Brander could have given Geneviéve's figure a grand
 * Mr. Malmström was the old king and grasped the poetic meaning of the figure with sure art.
 * As mentioned before, Mr. Sibelius' wonderfully beautiful music, nine preludes and a ballad, the latter in an archaic tone, as well as the extraordinarily stylish new decorations by Mr. P. Knudsen, testifying to real artistry, greatly contributed to the poetic atmosphere.
 * For the beautiful lighting effects as well as for the entire set in general, the honor mainly went to the theater's director, Mr. Konni Wetzer.
 * It should also be mentioned that the Philharmonic Society's orchestra, under Mr. Sibelius' direction, fulfilled its musical task in an outstanding manner.

Structure and roles
Pelléas and Mélisande is a stage drama in five acts; in all, Sibelius wrote ten numbers: seven preludes, two postludes that double as melodrama, and a song. The play includes eight roles, the three principal characters—Mélisande, Pelléas, and Golaud—and five minor. These are as follows:

Instrumentation
The incidental music to Pelléas and Mélisande is scored for the following instruments, organized by family (woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):


 * 1 flute (doubling piccolo in No. 3), 1 oboe (doubling cor anglais in Nos. 2, 6–7, 9), 2 clarinets, and 2 bassoons
 * 2 horns, 4 trumpets, and 2 trombones
 * Timpani, bass drum, and triangle
 * Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, and double basses

In addition to the instrumental forces above, No. 6 "De trenne blinda systrar" ("The Three Blind Sisters") is a song with female vocalist, supported by the two clarinets. In the concert suite, however, the clarinets take the melodic line alone.

Pelléas et Mélisande recordings
Three numbers from Sibelius's Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Nos. 4 and 8–9, were first recorded in June 1939 at Kingsway Hall by Sir Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (now available on Warner Classics); this, Anthony Collins and the London Symphony Orchestra followed in June 1955, for Decca, with recordings of Nos. 2 and 6–9. The same year in late November, Beecham recorded eight of the nine numbers—all but No. 2a—with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios for HMV/EMI; they also performed the same eight numbers during a 8 December live performance on occasion of Sibelius's ninetieth birthday at Royal Festival Hall (released in 2000 by BBC Music). The earliest complete recording of the suite appears to have been by Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for Melodiya in 1967. The table below lists this and other commercially available complete recordings of the suite:


 * John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra in 1967 (July 13–14) at Abbey Road Studios for EMI: Nos. 1—2, 9
 * Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1989 (June 28–29) at the Fredric R. Mann Auditorium for Sony Classical: Nos. 1–2, 4, 9

Recordings of the complete incidental music:

Recordings of the suite (omits No. 2b) transcribed for piano:

Recordings of "De trenne blinda systrar" ("The Tree Blind Sisters"; in French: "Les trois sœurs aveugles") arranged for voice and piano:

Notes, references, and sources

 * Notes


 * References


 * Sources