“Sun and Clouds” was composed during the period when Finland was engaged in the Winter War and the Continuation War with the Soviet Union. It was composed alongside the creation of the “Piano Concerto No. 5.” The work was completed in the summer of 1942 and premiered in December of the same year. The score was published by Carl Gehrmans Musikförlag in Sweden in December of that year.

 A comparison with Tchaikovsky’s piano collection “The Seasons” (Op. 37b), which was composed with a title for each of the twelve months, is inevitable. Like Tchaikovsky’s work, each piece is given a title that evokes a sense of the season. Compared to the graceful Romanticism of Tchaikovsky, “Sun and Clouds,” composed during a time of ongoing war, is characterized by simplicity and a serene, shifting shadow in every piece, keeping a distance from virtuosic technique and brilliance. Nevertheless, a unique Nordic seasonal sensibility permeates the work.

 The harmonic structure and the method of chord connection present in the pieces exemplify the shimmering, Impressionistic characteristics and the ultimate beauty of sound that Palmgren pursued throughout his life. It expresses the rich nature of Finland without reservation: the sunlight of spring, the joy of summer, the shadows of autumn, and winter enduring harsh cold.

 The titles are appropriately given to express the seasons of Finland. Winter, which does not lose hope. A longing for the sunlight of spring, and summer, representing clarity and brightness. Autumn gradually loses its color, becoming darker and turning into shadow, returning to a winter that evokes loneliness.

 The collection concludes with a requiem for the war dead, expressing a wish for the end of the war.