Armas Järnefelt was Sibelius’ brother-in-law and a well known conductor in his day, spending most of his career in and about Stockholm. As a composer he’s known now (if at all) for his charming Berceuse for violin and orchestra, here played charmingly if with somewhat thin tone by conductor Jaakko Kuusisto, and also for the fact that he is the dedicatee of the third movement (“Funeral Monument”) of Busoni’s Geharnischte Suite. The larger works here are attractive, to be sure, but also derivative, and it’s easy to understand why Järnefelt (and so many of his colleagues) was eclipsed by Sibelius.
All of the larger works on this program date from the 1890s. The Symphonic Fantasy is interesting because, as a single movement lasting some 20 minutes that Sibelius surely knew, some memory of it may have been at play decades later when Sibelius initially gave the same title to what became the single-movement Seventh Symphony. Järnefelt’s piece is a hefty blob of tempestuous pseudo-Wagner, starting with a Brucknerian string tremolo and working its way atmospherically from one strenuous climax to the next. It’s actually quite fun, but a touch difficult to take very seriously at this date if you’re familiar with the composer’s obvious models.
The Serenade has some gorgeous moments, including a stunning slow movement with harp, but the lack of contrast in the mostly slowish inner movements (four of them) really tells. The best work here is the Suite in E-flat major, a really charming piece in five concise movements that would grace any concert program. Only the concluding march, a touch stiff and stuffy, lets it down a bit. Although marked “allegro feroce”, it’s very comfortable, middle-class stuff. Still, the performances are wholly invigorating, the playing of the Lahti Symphony never less than fine, and the sonics very good. For those interested in Finnish music, particularly at the exact time that Sibelius emerged as a leading voice, this disc is well worth hearing.
