Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été for a chamber ensemble

I have enjoyed a pleasant relationship with Berlioz’ Nuits d’été for quite some years. After writing one arrangement for a larger chamber ensemble some 15 years ago – one that I also once conducted myself – I was asked by the wonderful Finnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi to make a smaller nonet version of these beautiful songs. That version was performed at the Ruovesi Festival in 2010, with Paasikivi as the soloist and the Festival artistic director Okko Kamu conducting.

The nonet version – four winds and a string quintet – was then asleep for some years, to be revived by the scintillant violinist Elina Vähälä for the Naantali Music Festival in summer 2025. With Elina, we decided to give the nonet version a new life by changing one of the winds to a harp – a decision that gave me an inspiration to largely rewrite the whole arrangement. With a wind trio – flute, clarinet, and french horn – the harp adds a rich colour palette for the versatility of the string quintet. What a pleasure it was to dive again to the amazing harmonic, melodic, and orchestral world of Berlioz and Théophile Gautier’s fantastic poems!

This new version I can definitely recommend for anyone wishing to perform these iconic songs with full orchestral colour but with a chamber ensemble. I have taken some liberties from the Berlioz original orchestrations, sometimes highlighting some of the composer’s own choices, sometimes offering a hint of more modern colours, notwithstanding small arrangement-artist’s exemptions here or there.

Also, as a devoted Finale user, this was my first full-scale work on Dorico – another reason to feel happy about this project!

Ville Komppa (c) 2025