The Six Humoresques, Opp. 87 and 89, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1917 to 1918 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Despite spanning two opus numbers (due to publishing technicalities), the composer—who originally considered calling the humoresques impromptus or lyrical dances—intended them as a suite. They are the:
Humoresque No. 1 in D minor, Op. 87/1. Commodo Humoresque No. 2 in D major, Op. 87/2. Allegro assai Humoresque No. 3 in G minor, Op. 89/1. Alla gavotta Humoresque No. 4 in G minor, Op. 89/2. Andantino Humoresque No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 89/3. Commodo Humoresque No. 6 in G minor, Op. 89/4. Allegro
The Six Humoresques premiered on 24 November 1919 in Helsinki, with Sibelius conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra; the soloist was the Russian-Finnish-American violinist Paul Cherkassky. Also on the program was the definitive version of the Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major (Op. 82), as well as Song of the Earth (Op. 93), a cantata for mixed choir.
In the autumn of 1940, Sibelius revised No. 1's instrumentation (most notably, he eliminated the harp part); the original, while promised to Wilhelm Hansen in February 1917, was never published. The violinist premiered the revised No. 1 on 15 December 1940, with Toivo Haapanen conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Hansen, who had published the other five humoresques in 1923, completed the set in 1942. The 1917 version is extant.
Instrumentation The Humoresque No. 1 is scored for the following instruments:
Soloist: violin Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in B), and 2 bassoons Brass: 2 horns (in F) Percussion: timpani Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
The Humoresque No. 2 has identical scoring, except for the omission of the entire woodwind section. The Op. 89 pieces are even more delicately scored. In addition to the soloist, Humoresques Nos. 3 and 4 utilize strings only. No. 5 adds to this scoring three woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets (in B), and 2 bassoons, while No. 6 omits the clarinets but retains the flutes and bassoons.
Recordings The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Six Humoresques: ConductorOrchestraSoloistTimeRecording venueLabel1Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra17:10[]Vox2Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1)196420:47YLEFinlandia Classics3London Symphony Orchestra197920:27All Saints' Church, TootingDecca4Philharmonia Orchestra197920:43EMI Recording StudiosErato5Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin198020:18Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin Schwann, Koch6Tapiola Sinfonietta (1)198921:53Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural CentreFinlandia7Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra198920:17Gothenburg Concert Hall BIS8Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2)199020:53KulttuuritaloRCA Red Seal9Danish National Symphony Orchestra200218:41Danish Radio Concert Hall (old)Virgin Classics10Västerås Sinfonietta200422:0611Tapiola Sinfonietta (2)200620:50Tapiola Hall, Espoo Cultural CentreOndine12201119:54Kristinehallen, FalunNaxos13Orquestra Vigo 430201422:43Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music14Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra201420:37Lighthouse, PooleSomm15BBC National Orchestra of Wales202020:48BBC Hoddinott HallResonus Classics16Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra202320:21Grieg HallChandos
Notes, references, and sources