# Höstkväll

"Höstkväll" (literal English translation: "Autumn Evening"), Op. 38/1, is an art song for vocal soloist (typically soprano) and piano written in 1903 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of the eponymous poem by the Swedish poet Viktor Rydberg, premiered on 12 September 1903 at the Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, with the Finnish soprano Aino Ackté as soloist accompanied by the Finnish composer Oskar Merikanto on piano.
In 1904, Sibelius arranged "Höstkväll" for voice and orchestra—along with its catalogue mates, "På verandan vid havet" ("On a Balcony by the Sea", Op. 38/2) and "I natten" ("In the Night", Op. 38/3). This version of the song received its first performance on 14 January 1905 in Paris, with Alfred Cortot conducting; the soloist was the American soprano Minnie Tracey.

## Instrumentation

The orchestrated version of "Höstkväll" is scored for the following instruments and voices, organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings):
* Soprano (or baritone)
* 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, and 1 contrabassoon
* 4 horns and 3 trombones
* Snare drum
* Violins (I and II), violas, cellos, double basses, and harp

## Reception

The British musicologist Robert Layton has praised "Höstkväll" as "astonishingly forward-looking" and it is routinely celebrated as being among Sibelius's best songs.

## Discography

The Norwegian conductor Øivin Fjeldstad and the London Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad, made the world premiere studio recording of "Höstkväll" in 1958 for Decca. The table below lists this and other commercially available recordings of the version for orchestra:
| No. | Soloist | Conductor | Orchestra | Rec. | Time | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | Kirsten Flagstad | Øivin Fjeldstad | London Symphony Orchestra | 1958 | 5:29 | Kingsway Hall | Decca |
| 2 | Birgit Nilsson | Bertil Bokstedt [sv] | Vienna Opera Orchestra | 1965 | 5:14 | Sofiensaal | Decca |
| 3 | MariAnne Häggander [sv] | Jorma Panula | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | 1984 | 4:29 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS |
| 4 | Karita Mattila | Sakari Oramo | City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra | 2001 | 5:16 | Symphony Hall, Birmingham | Warner Classics |
| † | Helena Juntunen (1) | Osmo Vänskä | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2005 | 4:55 | Sibelius Hall | BIS |
| 5 | Soile Isokoski | Leif Segerstam | Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra | 2005 | 4:54 | Finlandia Hall | Ondine |
| 6 | Marianne Beate Kielland | Petr Popelka | Norwegian Radio Orchestra | 2021 | 4:31 | NRK Radio Concert Hall [no] | LAWO Classics [no] |
† = version for vocal soloist and string orchestra (1904)
The version of "Höstkväll" for piano accompaniment received its first studio recording in 1967, when the Finnish baritone Tom Krause and the Finnish pianist Pentti Koskimies [fi] recorded it for Decca. The table below includes this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Soloist | Pianist | Rec. | Time | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | Tom Krause (1) | Pentti Koskimies [fi] | 1967 | 4:11 | Kingsway Hall | Decca Eloquence |
| 2 | Tom Krause (2) | Irwin Gage | 1981 | 4:00 | Kingsway Hall | Decca |
| 3 | Tom Krause (3) | Gustav Djupsjöbacka [fi] | 1993 | 3:55 | Järvenpää Hall [fi] | Finlandia |
| 4 | Kirsi Tiihonen [fi] | Satu Salminen | 2000 | 4:44 | Martinas Culture Hall [fi] | Naxos |
| 5 | Helena Juntunen (2) | Folke Gräsbeck [fi] | 2008 | 4:44 | Kuusankoskitalo [fi] | BIS |
| 6 | Hanna Kronqvist | Ilmari Räikkönen | 2013 | 4:34 | Kangasala Church [fi] | NoteStandRecords |