Program, Texts and Translations for the Jacobus Salon Concert

The evening of September 13th, 2025


Program

Sibelius, Romance in Db major, op. 24, no. 9

Sibelius, Var det en dröm? Op. 37, no. 4

Aarre Merikanto, A dream

Selim Palmgren, Nocturne in three movements, II. Non troppo lento

Saariaho, '“Parfum de 'l’instant” from Quatre Instants

Rautavaara, Ikonit

I. The Death of the Mother of God
II. Two Village Saints
III. The Black Madonna of Blakernaya
IV. The Baptism of Christ
V. The Holy Women at the Sepulchre
VI. Archangel Michael Fighting the Antichrist

Jean Sibelius, Var det en dröm?

Var det en dröm, att ljuvt en gång
jag var ditt hjärtas vän?
Jag minns det som en tystnad sång,
då strängen darrar än.

Jag minns en törnros av dig skänkt,
en blick så blyg och öm;
jag minns en avskedstår, som blänkt.
Var allt, var allt en dröm?

En dröm lik sippans liv så kort
uti en vårgrön ängd,
vars fägring hastigt vissnar bort
för nya blommors mängd.

Men mången natt jag hör en röst
vid bittra tårars ström:
göm djupt dess minne i ditt bröst,
det var din bästa dröm!

Poem by Josef Julius Wecksell

Was it a dream, that once upon
a blissful time I was your heart’s friend?
I remember it like a silent song
Whose melody still lingers on.

I remember you gave me a rose
With a look so shy and tender,
I remember the glistening of a parting tear.
Was it all just a dream?

A dream like a wildflower's life,
So brief in the verdant meadow,
Whose beauty quickly withers away
Within an ocean of new flowers

But on many a night I hear a voice
Through a stream of bitter tears.
Hide this memory deep in your heart
For this was your best dream.

Saariaho, Parfum de l’instant

Tu es auprès de moi
Mais je ferme les yeux
Pour t'imaginer

Nos lèvres se frôlent
Nos doigts s'emmêlent
Nos corps se découvrent
Mais je ferme les yeux
Pour rêver de toi

Tu es le parfum de l'instant
Tu es la peau du rêve
Et déjà la matière du souvenir

Text by Amin Maalouf

You are by me
But I close my eyes
So I can imagine you

Our lips touch
Our fingers intertwine
Our bodies uncover themselves, each other
But I close my eyes
So I can dream about you

You are the scent of the instant
You are the skin of a dream
And already what memories are made of