Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago

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Jean Dubé, piano

0:03 I. Wir zwei (We two)
6:40 II. Liebesallee (Alley of love)
10:39 III. Wiegenlied eines Bettlerkindes (Lullaby of a beggar child)
14:16 IV. Regen (Rain)
18:51 V. Solitude

Erkki Melartin (1875-1937) was a Finnish composer and conductor whose music, like that of many contemporaries, was overshadowed by that of Jean Sibelius. For more on Melartin, see my score video of his fourth string quartet: youtube.com/watch?v=dhVEiey4sjI

"Der traurige Garten" ("The sorrowful garden" in English and "Surullinen puutarha" in Finnish) is an evocative suite of five "symphonic moods" arranged for piano. Written in 1906, it follows from the Romantic models of piano writing by Liszt, Chopin, and others but contains harmonic and formal nuances of its own. I hope this score video will help bring to light a composer of very fine craftsmanship who deserves to be much better known, especially outside Finland!

The score can be found on IMSLP here, under "Surullinen Puutarha, Op.52": imslp.org/wiki/Category:Melartin,_Erkki