Born in Uusikaupunki in 1775, Bernhard Crusell was the most significant Finnish-born composer before Jean Sibelius. His talent, along with a few happy coincidences, brought the teenage Crusell to Stockholm, the capital of the then-Empire, where he rose to prominence in Swedish cultural life as the court’s foremost clarinettist, composer and teacher. The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra celebrates its 25th anniversary by presenting Crusell’s late orchestral music.

The programme begins with the overture from Crusell’s only opera, Den lilla slavinnan. The work was premiered in Stockholm in 1824 and continued to be performed well into the next decade. Crusell wrote the Concertino for Bassoon and Orchestra (1829) for his son-in-law Franz Preumayr, who was also Crusell’s colleague in the Royal Court Orchestra. The Concertino is Crusell’s final instrumental composition.

The unpublished large-scale cantata Den siste kämpen, featuring text by Erik Gustaf Geijer, will be heard for the first time since Crusell’s day. Geijer was a historian, composer and poet who praised the estate society, glorified the Middle Ages and longed for Sweden’s former dominance. The cantata was premiered at a meeting of the Harmoniska sällskapet, or Harmonic Society, in April 1834 in Stockholm.

Duration: 1 h 45 min (incl. intermission)