Chess (in Finnish: ; literal translation: 'Chess Game'), Op. 5, is a theatre score—comprising four numbers—for orchestra by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja; he wrote the music in 1910 to accompany the Finnish author Eino Leino's one-act "historical tableau" of the same name. In particular, Madetoja's music occurs during the pantomime  in the middle of the play. The scene, a dream sequence in which 16 white and 16 black chess pieces come to life and play a game, is an allegory for the political intrigue that transpired in 1464 between rivals for the Swedish thrown: Charles VIII of Sweden and Christian I of Denmark. Chess premiered on 15 February 1910 in Helsinki at Finnish National Theatre during a lottery soirée, with Madetoja conducting the .

History

Chess premiered on 15 February 1910 in Helsinki at Finnish National Theatre. The occasion was a lottery soirée organized by the Association for Feeding Elementary School Children. As the musicologist Glenda Dawn Goss has written about turn-of-the-century Finland, such charitable evenings were common:

 

The soirée opened with the  playing the overture from the opera The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849) by the German composer Otto Nicolai. After this, the program included three short one-act stage works, the first of which was Leino's historical tableau Chess; Madetoja's incidental music, which he conducted and the Apostol performed, accompanied the pantomime  (including dances choreographed by Maggie Gripenberg) in the middle of the play. The finale of Chess included an additional musical number, albeit not by Madetoja: Jesu dulcis memoria a Christian hymn attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, which was sung backstage by the 40-member mixed choir . The next day, Hufvudstadsbladet characterized the score by "our promising young composer Leevi Madetoja" as "appealing and beautiful", while and Uusi Suometar described its as "rich in atmosphere".

Additional praise followed Madetoja's first composition concert in Helsinki on 26 September 1910, at which he conducted the Piano Trio and excerpts from the Symphonic Suite and Chess. For example, Martin Wegelius wrote in Helsingin Sanomat: "Rarely it is possible to return from a first-timer's concert with such great feelings of satisfaction. Indeed very few of us Finns are equipped with such extensive spiritual gifts, that he is able to 'break through' with those so quickly, to conquer the audience in only one evening. Leevi Madetoja did it yesterday and did it in a way which can only be called unique." The positive reviews did, however, contain a note of concern: given Madetoja's plans to travel to Paris for additional education, the critic  of Uusi Suometar worried about the negative influence "French modern atonal composition" could have on "this fresh northern nature [Madetoja]".

Structure and roles
Leino's play is in one act; a pantomime  occurs in the middle, during which Madetoja's music is played. As such, the only characters that interact with his score are the 32 chess pieces that the protagonist, Niilo Olavinpoika, has dreamt to life. The score lasts about 16 minutes.

Discography
Chess has been recorded commercially just once:

Notes, references, and sources

Notes

References

Sources

Suites by Leevi Madetoja
1910 compositions