Lemminkäinen Suite

The Lemminkäinen Suite (also named Four Legends or Four Legends from the Kalevala), Op. 22, is a four-movement symphonic poem for orchestra completed in 1895 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece was originally conceived as Veneen luominen (The Building of the Boat), an opera with a mythological setting, before the work took form as a suite. Its story is based on the heroic character Lemminkäinen from the Kalevala, a collection of Finnish folklore and mythology epic poetry. The third movement, The Swan of Tuonela, is the most popular of the four movements and is often performed on its own.

The piece was originally conceived as a mythological opera before Sibelius abandoned the idea and made it a piece consisting of four distinct movements. The first two though were withdrawn by the composer soon after its premiere and were neither performed, nor added to the published score of the suite until 1935. In 1947, Sibelius switched the positions of the second and third movement.

Sibelius revised the score in 1897 and 1939.

Sibelius changed the order of the movements when he made his final revisions in 1939, placing The Swan of Tuonela second, and Lemminkäinen in Tuonela third.

The suite is scored for two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes (one doubling cor anglais), two clarinets in B♭ (one doubling on bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns (in E and F), three trumpets (in E and F), three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, harp, and strings.

The original versions of Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island and Lemminkäinen's Return have been recorded by Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (BIS CD-1015). Other recordings of the full published suite are by the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra under Okko Kamu, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, The Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and The London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Petri Sakari)