ESTONIAN SYMPHONIC MUSIC. THE FIRST CENTURY 1896-1996.
Jürisalu's keen perception of genre is expressed in his Three Serenades for
Orchestra (1961). These sound pictures are full of humour and colour. The themes rely
on incidental music. The beginning of the First Serenade:
Example 175.
A new step in development was made with the First Symphony (1970)1. The
composer named it Northern and emphasised that he wrote such a work as an
expression of gratitude for his teacher. The subtitle Pastorals indicates the ties with folk
music. The work was a summary of all the previous work and may be claimed as the
top achievement of Jürisalu as a symphonist. By its essence the work is lyric-epic.
The first movement is a narrative about the land: the main theme is stout and
peaceful, somewhat oblique:
Example 176.
The subsidiary theme is reminiscent of a shepherd song: it is harmonically crisp:
Example 177.
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