# Two Serious Melodies

The Two Serious Melodies, Op. 77, are concertante compositions for violin and orchestra written from 1914 to 1915 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They are:
* Cantique, Op. 77/1 (1914); subtitled "Laetare anima mea" ("Rejoice my soul"). Moderato assai
* Devotion, Op. 77/2 (1915); subtitled "Ab imo pectore" ("From my very heart"). Tempo molto moderato
Sibelius originally called No. 1 Lofsången (Song of Praise). In 1915, he made transcriptions of each piece for violin and piano. In 1916, he arranged both pieces for cello and orchestra and transcribed them, too, for cello and piano.
Each piece is dedicated to the Finnish cellist Ossian Fohström [fi].

## Instrumentation

Cantique is scored for the following instruments:
* Soloist: violin (or cello)
* Woodwinds: 2 flutes and 2 clarinets (in B♭)
* Brass: 2 horns (in F)
* Percussion: timpani (2 players)
* Strings: violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and harp
Devotion is scored for the following instruments:
* Soloist: violin (or cello)
* Woodwinds: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets (in A), and 2 bassoons
* Brass: 4 horns (in F) and 3 trombones
* Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses

## Recordings

The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the complete Two Serious Melodies:
| No. | Conductor | Orchestra | Soloist | Rec. | Time | Recording venue | Label |
| 1 | Vladimir Ashkenazy | Philharmonia Orchestra | Boris Belkin (violin) | 1979 | 7:23 | Kingsway Hall | Decca |
| 2 | Vernon Handley | Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | Ralph Holmes (violin) | 1980 | 9:31 | Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin | Schwann, Koch |
| 3 | Lawrence Foster | Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra | David Geringas (violin) | 1980 | 8:24 | Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin | Parnass |
| 4 | Neeme Järvi | Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra | Dong-Suk Kang (violin) | 1989 | 8:28 | Gothenburg Concert Hall | BIS |
| 5 | Jukka-Pekka Saraste | Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra | Arto Noras (cello) | | | | Finlandia |
| 6 | Luca Pfaff [fr] | Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra | Marie Scheublé | | | | Arion Music |
| 7 | Thomas Dausgaard | Danish National Symphony Orchestra | Christian Tetzlaff (violin) | 2002 | | Danish Radio Concert Hall (old) | Virgin Classics |
| 8 | Osmo Vänskä | Lahti Symphony Orchestra | Marko Ylönen [fi] (cello) | 2004 | | Sibelius Hall | BIS |
| 9 | Leif Segerstam | Turku Philharmonic Orchestra | Mikaela Palmu (violin) | 2014 | 10:17 | Turku Concert Hall | Naxos |
| 10 | Alejandro Garrido Porras | Orquestra Vigo 430 | Nicolas Dautricourt (violin) | 2014 | 9:15 | Martín Códax Auditorium, Vigo Conservatory of Music | La Dolce Volta [fr] |
| 11 | Sir Edward Gardner | Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra | James Ehnes (violin) | 2023 | | Grieg Hall | Chandos |

## 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.
* ↑ V. Ashkenazy–Decca (473 590–2) 2003
* ↑ V. Handley–Koch-Schwann (CD 311 003 F1) 1988
* ↑ L. Foster–Parnass (91 987 8) 1982
* ↑ N. Järvi–BIS (CD–472) 1990
* ↑ J. Saraste–Finlandia (4509–95872–2) 1992
* ↑ L. Pfaff–Arion Music (ARN 68330) 1996
* ↑ T. Dausgaard–Virgin Classics (7243 5 45534 2 4) 2002
* ↑ O. Vänskä–BIS (CD–1485) 2006
* ↑ L. Segerstam–Naxos (8.573340) 2015
* ↑ A. Garrido Porras–La Dolce Volta (LDV 23) 2015
* ↑ E. Gardner–Chandos (CHAN 5267) 2024

### References

* 1 2 Dahlström 2003, pp. 338, 340.
* ↑ Dahlström 2003, pp. 338–339.
* ↑ Barnett 2007, pp. 248, 251, 260.
* ↑ Dahlström 2003, pp. 338–340.
* ↑ Dahlström 2003, p. 338.
* ↑ Dahlström 2003, p. 339.

### Sources

* Barnett, Andrew (2007). Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0.
* 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.
* Classical Music