ARMAS JÄRNEFELT (1869-1958): Song of the Scarlet Flower - Full Orchestral Score to the 1919 Silent Film by Mauritz Stiller (compl. & restored Jani Kyllönen and Jaakko Kuusisto).

Description: In 1919, Finnish-born film director Mauritz Stiller approached Armas Järnefelt and commissioned him to write an orchestral score for his silent film based on a novel by Finnish author Johannes Linnankoski. Järnefelt made a great effort for the project and produced a large 100-minute orchestral score. The work can be considered as his final orchestral masterpiece and a pioneer work in film music. The film was a huge hit and went on to be screened in more than 40 countries in addition to Sweden. It was also the first ever Nordic feature-length film to have a full-length original score written for it. Järnefelt’s score was lost for a long time, although he did conduct a recording of extracts from the score in 1931. In the 1980s the original score was rediscovered among the possessions of the composer’s relatives. The film and score are in six chapters: “The First Flush of Spring”, “The Mother’s Glance”, “Learning Life”, “A Young Man’s Derring-do”, “Kyllikki”, “In the Town” and “The Pilgrimage”. 2 CDs. Gävle Symphony Orchestra; Jaakko Kuusisto.