6. Symphonie

REVIEWS ON THE WORLD PREMIERE IN VAASA, FINLAND, ON OCTOBER THE 24TH, 2024, PERFORMED BY VAASA AND SEINÄJOKI CITY ORCHESTRAS UNDER THE BATON OF JAMES SHERLOCK

Felix Mendelssohn's Sixth Symphony was left unfinished due to the composer's very hectic last years, which were overshadowed by health problems. The composer passed away at the age of just 38 in 1847. While he was working on the outlines for his new symphony, he conducted, among other things, the oratorio Elijah, which he had been composing for two years between 1845 and 1846. The extremely lyrical vision, assembled and scored by the composer Luukas Hiltunen [based on the authentic sketches], is a glimpse of what the symphony would have been like. An interesting project all in all. –Katariina Korkman, Ilkka-Pohjalainen, on October the 26th, 2024

A resplendent outing from the Vaasa and Seinäjoki players under Sherlock, the 'Allegro ma non troppo' was rendered with uplifting commitment and shared craft. Negotiating with the resonant acoustic of the Vaasa City Hall, the ensemble balances were well aligned throughout the movement, resulting in marvelously clear-cut performance. A touching performance from the orchestral players and Sherlock, the 'Andante' was unveiled with contemplative sonic beauty, rooted in the movement’s graciously kinetic, song-like ambiance. Hearing Hiltunen’s ca. 25-minute performing version of the Sixth Symphony come to life, one is thankful for the opportunity to observe Mendelssohn’s final thoughts on the symphonic idiom unravel in sounding garment true to its roots. Of course, we shall never know what would have become of the Symphony in C major, had the composer lived on to finish it, but thanks to Hiltunen’s ground-breaking work on the original material, all available information is now at hand in this edition. Without downplaying all those the multi-layered questions that must be addressed to regarding various performing editions of unfinished musical works starting with the so-called Mozart Requiem (1791), there is no denying that having a chance to take an aural glimpse of Mendelssohn’s Sixth in concert this week will long abide in memory. With further performances ahead by the Saimaa Sinfonietta and Erkki Lasonpalo, alongside the forthcoming German premiere by the Gewandhausorchester under Andris Nelsons – to be recorded for Deutsche Grammophon – Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 6 in C major is here to stay. –Jari Kallio, Adventures in Music blog, on October the 27th, 2024 [read the entire review here]

Hunting for the hat for the composer Luukas Hiltunen, who was able to construct full-length movements in an orchestral score based on Mendelssohn's notations from fragmentary sketches. The task calls for an enormous amount of musical knowledge, which Hiltunen undoubtedly has. He has documented the demanding and delicate process in his academic thesis and describes the challenges in interviews, which are available online to the public. To one's ears, the result is outstanding. –Per-Håkan Jansson, Vasabladet, on October the 29th, 2024

Commissioned by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. The present publication of Mr. Hiltunen's two-movement reconstruction of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's (1809–1847) unfinished Symphony No. 6 in C major (ca. 1842–1846 / 2023) is of a major cultural and historical significance: for almost 180 years, the music world has lived in the knowledge Mendelssohn composed five mature symphonies for orchestra. Yet now, after more than three years of an intensive research by Mr. Luukas Hiltunen, we have the opportunity to perform and listen to the composer's last Sixth Symphony in C major as close to authentic as possible, based on the authentic manuscripts preserved at the Bodleian Libraries at the Oxford University.

During the last years of his life, Mendelssohn started to write down a new Symphony in C major [No. VI] for orchestra, resulting in two movements in fragments, [Allegro ma non troppo] & Andante, opus MWV N 19. He mentioned the project in his correspondence multiple times at that time. However, due to the urgent duties, for instance the composing process of the mighty two-part oratorio Elijah, Op. 70 that was to be premiered in Birmingham in August 1846, and declining health that was worsened by the nervous problems, overwork and unexpected death of his beloved sister Fanny Hensel (1805–1847) on 14th May 1847, the work was left unfinished. A handwritten manuscript score and scattered sketches were in the possession of Mendelssohn's oldest daughter Marie Benecke Mendelssohn (1839–1897) until were transferred to the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University, after her demise. Mendelssohn passed exhausted at his home in Leipzig on 4th November 1847 only at the age of 38 after a series of strokes.

A German language translation of the preface is downloadable without charge from our website.