Sibelius made most of the orchestral versions of his songs for the soprano Ida Ekman (1875-1942), the incomparable Sibelius singer the composer called her in a dedication written in a score. Ida Ekman gave the first performances of the orchestral versions of På verandan vid havet and I natten on November 10, 1903, in Helsinki. Robert Kajanus conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nearly all of the orchestral arrangements were made years after the original compositions for voice and piano. Yet even though the arrangements were made in a very short period of time, Sibelius handled the combination of solo voice and orchestra in all songs with equal mastery, sometimes creating dark and dramatic atmospheres (in På verandan vid havet), sometimes radiant, colorful impressions (in Soluppgång), or light-colored, transparent textures (in Våren flyktar hastigt), and always basing his ideas on the poetic idea of the song while discovering refined ways of supporting it.

In most cases, Sibelius used a comparatively small orchestra: Våren flyktar hastigt has only two flute and four horns added to the strings.


CDs:
Soile Isokoski (soprano), Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Leif Segerstam
ONDINE, ODE 1080-5
Jorma Hynninen (baritone), Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, cond. Jorma Panula
BIS-CD-270
Jorma Hynninen (baritone), Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Leif Segerstam
ONDINE, Ode 823-2