En saga - Septet

Description

The roots of En saga, Jean Sibelius's first known tone poem, do not entirely go back to an orchestral concept. We do know that melodies from Sibelius' 1890-1891 study period in Vienna ended up in En Saga. In Spring 1891 he worked on an "Octet", in September 1892 he thought of a "Septet", in November of a "Ballet Scene No. 2". One month later he completed En Saga which, by his own admission, was based on the "Octet".

The arrangement as a septet by Gregory M. Barrett rests on the first version of 1892 and was given its first performance at the Brahms Hall in the Musikverein Vienna on 14 June 2003.