Kullervo op. 7 – version of 1st performance in April 1892

With the world premiere of "Kullervo" in 1892, Jean Sibelius staked his claim at the age of 27 to the front ranks of the symphonists of his day, long before he began writing his purely instrumental symphonies and tone poems. At the same time, he defined himself as a modern-day Finnish composer through his choice of the text from the "Kalevala" epic, whose title role he interpreted with modern psychological means. By the time Sibelius was celebrating his major international triumphs in the early 20th century, his Symphony "No. 0" was long forgotten. After a provisory first edition of "Kullervo" in 1966, the work quickly gained the esteem of Sibelius conductors who also performed the work with the Finnish vocal text outside of their native country. Yet in spite of pioneer recordings such as those of Paavo Berglund, Colin Davis, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Osmo Vänskä, the grandiose work had not been adequately present in international concert life up to now not least because there was no practicable edition.

The volumes of the Complete Edition edited by Glenda Dawn Goss now offer a musicologically accurate music text for the first time. This music text will form the basis for the projected performance material. The complete edition "Jean Sibelius Werke" intends to pave the way for a new evaluation of the Finnish composer and, in particular, of this hitherto editorially neglected work, the composer's only choral symphony.