The Lover

The elegantly beautiful Rakastava (The Lover) in three movements is Sibelius's own adaptation for strings and timpani of the choral work that he wrote in 1893. The adaptation dates from 1911-12. It retains the folkloristic simplicity and the three part scenario of the original, but with its more mature style and darker moods it may be ragarded less as an arrangement than as a fantasia on the original motivic material.