# Nightride and Sunrise

Nightride and Sunrise (in Finnish: Öinen ratsastus ja auringonnousu; in German: Nächtlicher Ritt und Sonnenaufgang), Op. 55, is a single-movement tone poem for orchestra written in 1908 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
The work represents a subjective, spiritual experience of nature by "an ordinary man." It unfolds in three contrasting parts: a galloping section whose length and dogged determination produce one of Sibelius's strangest utterances; a brief hymnic transition in the strings; and an exquisite Northern sunrise whose first rays emerge in the horns.
Although poorly received by audiences initially, the work has gained importance over time. Its repetitive rhythmic patterns and gradual development of musical ideas are characteristics that foreshadow minimalism. The composition is known for expression, artful construction, and psychological weight. The subdued finale was called one of the most magical moments in all of 20th-century music by the American composer Jonathan Blumhofer.

## History

Sibelius gave different accounts of the inspiration for this music. One, told to Karl Ekman, was that it was inspired by his first visit to the Colosseum in Rome, in 1901. Another account, given in his later years to his secretary Santeri Levas, was that the inspiration was a sleigh ride from Helsinki to Kerava "at some time around the turn of the century", during which he saw a striking sunrise.
Sibelius completed the score by November 1908 and sent the manuscript to Alexander Siloti, who conducted the first performance, in Saint Petersburg, in 1909. The reviews of the first performance were unfavorable, except for one in Novy Russ, and one reviewer called Siloti's conducting "slack and monotonous". A writer for Novoye Vremya asked, "Who is actually riding, and why?" Siloti had made cuts to the score.

## Orchestration

Sibelius scored the work for piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (doubled if possible in the Sunrise), 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine, triangle and strings.
A typical performance takes about fourteen minutes.

## Structure

The composition begins with a dramatic burst from the brass and percussion, followed by a brisk, trotting figure in the strings, reminiscent of Schubert but with more harmonic instability and color. This motive persists for a significant portion of the piece, with the first melody appearing about three minutes in, characterized by a bleak, simple rising figure followed by a descending scale.
As the piece progresses, the initial rhythmic figure in the strings continues, eventually blending with the melody. A notable transition occurs when Sibelius reorders the principal melody’s notes, creating a rich, Slavic chorale texture. This transformation shifts the music from ominous to warm and familiar.
The final third of “Nightride and Sunrise” builds with increasing confidence and splendor, featuring chorales and climaxes. The piece concludes with a magical moment as a crescendo in the strings abruptly reveals a soft E-flat major triad, which fades away gently.

## Discography

The British conductor Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of Nightride and Sunrise in 1936 for His Master's Voice (released in 2015 by Warner Classics). The sortable table below contains this and other commercially available recordings:
| No. | Conductor | Ensemble | Rec. | Time | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | Sir Adrian Boult (1) | BBC Symphony Orchestra | 1936 | 13:37 | Abbey Road Studios | Warner Classics |
| 2 | Sir Anthony Collins | London Symphony Orchestra (1) | 1955 | 14:26 | Kingsway Hall | Beulah |
| 3 | Eugen Jochum | Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra | 1955 | 13:31 | Herkulessaal | Deutsche Grammophon |
| 4 | Sir Adrian Boult (2) | London Philharmonic Orchestra | 1956 | 14:11 | Walthamstow Assembly Hall | Somm |
| 5 | Georges Prêtre | New Philharmonia Orchestra (1) | 1967 | 13:27 | Walthamstow Town Hall | RCA Red Seal |
| 6 | Antal Doráti | London Symphony Orchestra (2) | 1969 | 15:15 | Abbey Road Studios | EMI Classics |
| 7 | Horst Stein | L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande | 1971 | 14:23 | Victoria Hall | Decca |
| 8 | Sir Alexander Gibson | Royal Scottish National Orchestra | 1977 | 15:02 | Glasgow City Halls | Chandos |
| 9 | Sir Simon Rattle | Philharmonia Orchestra (2) | 1981 | 14:28 | Abbey Road Studios | EMI Warner Classics |
| 10 | Kurt Sanderling | Berlin Symphony Orchestra | 1983 | 16:11 | Christuskirche, Berlin [de] | Brilliant Classics |
| 11 | Neeme Järvi (1) | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1) | 1985 | 15:32 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS |
| 12 | Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1) | Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra | 1988 | 13:32 | Kulttuuritalo | RCA Red Seal |
| 13 | Vassily Sinaisky | Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra | 1991 | 14:15 | Mosfilm Studios | Brilliant Classics |
| 14 | Neeme Järvi (2) | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (2) | 1995 | 14:49 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | Deutsche Grammophon |
| 15 | Paavo Järvi | Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra | 1996 | 14:41 | Stockholm Concert Hall | Virgin Classics |
| 16 | Leif Segerstam | Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra | 1998 | 16:40 | Hyvinkääsali [fi] | Ondine |
| 17 | Sir Colin Davis | London Symphony Orchestra (3) | 1998 | 17:01 | Walthamstow Assembly Hall | RCA Red Seal |
| 18 | Jukka-Pekka Saraste (2) | Toronto Symphony Orchestra | 1998 | 14:19 | Massey Hall | Finlandia |
| 19 | Osmo Vänskä | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | 2001 | 17:20 | Sibelius Hall | BIS |
| 20 | Pietari Inkinen | New Zealand Symphony Orchestra | 2007 | 16:38 | Michael Fowler Centre | Naxos |

## Notes, references, and sources
### Notes

* ↑ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
* ↑ A. Boult–Warner Classics (0825646053179) 2015
* ↑ A. Collins–Beulah (3PD8) 1994
* ↑ E. Jochum–DG (449 718–2) 1996
* ↑ A. Boult–Somm (SOMMCD 093) 2009
* ↑ G. Prêtre–RCA Red Seal (88985475672) 2017
* ↑ A. Doráti–EMI Classics (7243 5 85785 2 2) 2007
* ↑ H. Stein–Decca (482 3922) 2015
* ↑ A. Gibson–Chandos (CHAN 241–19) 2004
* ↑ S. Rattle–EMI (0825646198788) 2015
* ↑ K. Sanderling–Brilliant Classics (6328/5) 2002
* ↑ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–311) 1986
* ↑ J. Saraste–RCA Red Seal (194397048124) 2020
* ↑ V. Sinaisky–Brilliant Classics (BC9212) 2010
* ↑ N. Järvi–DG (453 426–2) 1997
* ↑ P. Järvi–Virgin Classics (243 5 45213 2 4) 1996
* ↑ L. Segerstam–Ondine (ODE 914–2) 1998
* ↑ C. Davis–RCA Red Seal (09026–68770–2) 1999
* ↑ J. Saraste–Finlandia (3984–27890–2) 2000
* ↑ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1225) 2002
* ↑ P. Inkinen–Naxos (8.570763) 2008

### References

* 1 2 3 4 5 Dahlström 2003, p. 256.
* 1 2 Blumhofer, J.: Rethinking the Repertoire #8 – Sibelius’s “Night Ride and Sunrise”. The Arts Fuse, March 5, 2016.
* ↑ Tawaststjerna 1986, pp. 100–101.
* ↑ Tawaststjerna 1986, p. 96-97.

### Sources

* Dahlström, Fabian [in Swedish] (2003). Jean Sibelius: Thematisch-bibliographisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke [Jean Sibelius: A Thematic Bibliographic Index of His Works] (in German). Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel. ISBN 3-7651-0333-0.
* Tawaststjerna, Erik W. (1986). Sibelius, Volume II: 1904–1914. Translated by Robert Layton. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571247738.
* Vernon, David (2024). Sun Forest Lake: The Symphonies & Tone Poems of Jean Sibelius. Edinburgh: Candle Row Press. ISBN 978-1739659943.