Lemminkäinen – Four Symphonic Poems op. 22 (early versions)

Whoever is looking for orchestral works in several movements by Sibelius before the seven officially numbered symphonies will run into Kullervo op. 7, as well as Lemminkäinen op. 22. Sibelius follows a cyclical concept in these four tone poems, so that Lemminkäinen, owing to its time of origin, can truly be labeled as his Symphony No. Zero.

The previously unprinted early versions, presented in the respective volume of the Complete Edition for the first time, can be dated to the year 1895/96. The first revision was made in 1897, after the world premiere. Only after this premiere did Sibelius write his First Symphony before he again revised the Lemminkäinen scores some of them much later and had them published.