Sibelius The Origin Of Fire an Pohjola's Daughter coupled with Violin Concerto of Glazunov on Remington R-199-191 .

Helsinki University Chorus - Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat.

When the Helsinki University Chorus went on a tour to North America in 1953, it concertized in more than 30 towns and cities in the US and Canada. 
In most places the chorus sang a capella. But in Cincinnati the program contained also a composition written for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra.

Don Gabor and Laszlo Halasz, through their contacts with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and conductor Thor Johnson, saw an opportunity to make recordings of this wonder of harmony, strength and authenticity. These characterizations were then and still are the hallmarks of this excellent ensemble of male voices.

The day after the first concert music critic Arthur Darack reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer of November 21, 1953:

"This Finnish male chorus, 60 in number, produces a brilliant sound, almost a hard sound, but is uncanny in its response to direction and in rapier-like thrusting with musical sound. The bass sounds reverberate, producing an organ-like ground, and the higher sounds are fused into a unified and exhilarating tonal mass. In a word, the chorus is terrific." "The (...) Sibelius "Origin of Fire" for the chorus, solo and orchestra, is to be recorded this morning and will duly appear on Remington Records one of these days. As sung and played yesterday, it should be taken up by Sibelius enthusiasts, who will find it in the full Sibelius tradition."

The recordings were made during the stay of the chorus in Cincinnati on the 20th and 21st of November 1953, nearly at the end of the American tour.
One recording was of the performance of an early composition of Jean Sibelius entitled "The Origin of Fire", the work Arthur Darack was referring to. It is Op. 23 and not the top of Sibelius's oeuvre. It was hardly ever performed in the nineteen fifties and even today there is only one recording of it, conducted by Neëme Jarvi. 
It is set for baritone, male voices and orchestra. The text is part of the Finnish epos "Kalevala" and should be seen, or better: heard, in the context of this epos. Sibelius was not satisfied with his composition and revised it in 1910. Nevertheless it represents a very authentic Sibelius. Putting it on the program must have been a somewhat daring deed at the time.
During the stay in Cincinnati also tone poems of Finnish composers Unno Kalervo Klami (who studied with Ravel) and Leevi Annti Madetoja (a pupil of Sibelius) were performed.
Through this music, and the solo pieces, the audience came into contact with the sound of the Finnish language that has by its significant use of vowels a pure and strong impact on the listener. The soloist in the performance of "The Origin of Fire" was Sulo Saarits.

The second  recording session was of the chorus singing a capella. The program consists of various songs written by several Finnish composers who wrote specifically for male voice choir, and compositions by Tomás Luis da Victoria, and by Palestrina. The program ends with Handel's famous Hallelujah Chorus from "The Messiah". The Handel piece was possibly included for the purpose of giving the average music lover a reason to by the record. Gabor was very good at designing strategies for the proliferation of his product.

When recording "The Origin of Fire", Robert Blake, Don Gabor's recording engineer, did apply the multiple microphone placement as used for the MUSIRAMA releases (which made use of four microphones) and he did the recording in stereo! Imagine this was in 1953! As stereo discs were not yet marketed, the channels were mixed down for the release of the recording in mono.

Martti Turunen conducting the chorus during the recording session for Remington records.

The recording of the chorus singing a capella, was also done in stereo. The chorus was positioned close to the backwall on the stage of Cincinnati's Music Hall. The photograph taken during the recording session suggests that there are five microphones. One positioned relatively high for capturing the overall sound image. One microphone is placed in the left section of the chorus, relatively close to the wall (as can be seen by the shadow) and just above head level A third microphone captures the right section, but is placed in front of the singers, also slightly above the heads of the singers, close to conductor Martti Turunen. In front of the soloist there are two microphones clamped to a horizontal bar.

These recordings made in November 1953 were the first commercial stereo recordings issued on Lp. In February 1954 it was RCA who made their first commercial stereophonic recordings.

REMINGTON R-199-167:  A Recital of The Helsinki University Chorus (Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat), conductor Martti Turunen. Soloists: Rafael Sora and Veikko Tyrvainen. Recorded during the second tour to North America in Cincennati in 1953.

The program:
#1 Finlandia (Sibelius),
#2 Sydämeni Laulu (Sibelius),
#3 Paan (Haapalainen),
#4 Karjalan Kunnailla (Turunen),
#5 Laululle (Kilpinen),
#6 Tuutulaulu (Palmgren),
#7 Soliseva Vesi (Sonninen),
#8 Kit-kat Kat-kat (Törnudd),
#9 Kotimaani Ompi Suomi (Turunen),
#10 Disciplinae Filius (Klemetti),
#11 Amoris Opulentiam (Klemetti),
#12 O vos Omnes (Tomás Luis da Victoria),
#13. Sanctus (Palestrina),
#14. Halleluja (Hallelujah) Chorus from "The Messiah" (Handel).

The chorus as it is today has a vast repertory and made many CD-recordings but I only could discover "Sydämeni Laulu", Turunen's beautiful "Karjalan Kunailla" and Palmgren's sweet "Tuutulaulu" (Lullaby) on the Compact Disc recordings.

REMINGTON R-199-191: Helsinki University Chorus with The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, conductor Thor Johnson. Sulo Saarits, baritone. Sibelius: The Origin of Fire, op. 32; Sibelius: Pohjola’s Daughter, op. 49. Recorded during the second tour to North America.

The Origin of Fire, Pohjolas Daughter and Songs A Capella released on 'Varèse-Sarabande VC 81041 in Stereo.

These performances on R-199-191 were coupled with Glazunov's Violin concerto performed by André Gabriel (said to be a pseudonymn for Roman Totenberg, or Tossy Spivakovsky?) and the RIAS Symphony conducted by Georg Ludwig Jochum (brother of conductor Eugen Jochum). The records were released in 1955. Note: The Origin of Fire was also performed during the first American tour in 1938 in Boston and New York with the Boston Symphony under Sergei Koussevitzky (ref. Martti Turunen's article from 1938 on http://www.genealogia.fi).

The stereo-tapes of "The Origin of Fire", "Pohjola's Daughter" and 8 selections from the original recital recording of R-199-167 were reissued by Tom Null on Varèse-Sarabande stereo Lp, reference VC 81041. Some equalization had to be applied to match the modern RIAA equalization curve. The Varèse-Sarabande release shows all too well that the Remington discs did not fully show the quality of the original tapes made in 1953 by Robert Blake, nor did the Remington discs show the full impact which the performances must have had on the audience.

The Helsinki University Chorus (YL), founded in 1883, is the oldest Finnish-language choir in Finland.
The chorus made many recordings on CD. If you want to get acquainted with the expressive and both strong and refined singing of this chorus, I would recommend the Finlandia CD of Songs for Male Voice Choir by Jean Sibelius. The CD contains 25 songs and opens with a powerful Finlandia, followed by the famous Rastakava. The recording sounds very well because multibit AD-conversion -the magnificent Sony 1610 converter- and not a low bit converter was used. The reference number is FACD-205-S.

More recently the chorus recorded the "Complete Songs for Male Voice Choir" by Selim Palmgren. These recordings are especially of interest to lovers of choral singing and to choruses searching for new material to extend their repertory.

Rudolf A. Bruil, fall 2000

(Photos courtesy The Helsinki University Chorus, Finland)

Note: In May 2003 YL and Ondine Records signed an exclusive recording contract.