happy birthday Sibelius

The Finnish Romantic composer Jean Sibelius, born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius the year of 1865 in Hämeenlinna, Finland once said this: " [It] always reminds me of the scent of the first snow" about his Symphony no. 6. So fitting that this first day of real Minnesotan winter is his birthday!




Sibelius is a recent favorite of mine, having only really discovered him a year and a half ago while living at a farm by the sea in Norway. The artist that we were living with had an extensive classical collection that exposed me to all kinds of wonderful music. Sibelius' dark, mythical and epic sounds inspired by the wilderness of his homeland Finland, seemed a fitting soundtrack for Norway as well.

Historically Sibelius' music has received much criticism from theorists and intellectuals who deemed his composition style "insufficiently complex." His nationalism and use of simple folk melodies are criticized as well. Nonetheless, he was greatly respected by progressive peers of his time and has endured as among the most celebrated symphonists of the 20th century.

" Sibelius progressively stripped away formal markers of sonata form in his work and, instead of contrasting multiple themes, he focused on the idea of continuously evolving cells and fragments culminating in a grand statement. His later works are remarkable for their sense of unbroken development, progressing by means of thematic permutations and derivations. The completeness and organic feel of this synthesis has prompted some to suggest that Sibelius began his works with a finished statement and worked backwards, although analyses showing these predominantly three- and four-note cells and melodic fragments as they are developed and expanded into the larger "themes" effectively prove the opposite."

[ Lionel Pike- Beethoven, Sibelius and 'the Profound Logic': Studies in Symphonic Analysis (1978)]








Check out my new iLike widget in the sidebar to your right where you can hear Sibelius excerpts. I'm really excited about this new feature!! You can also listen to this recording of his Kullervo Suite Op.7 with the Minnesota Orchestra's own Osmo Vanska as conductor in its entirety HERE





Also, here is a lovely short film set to Sibelius' Karelia Suite, Opus 11:2, Ballade that you can watch/listen to.





and some Finland pictures from Helsinki photographer Ville Varumo






Widespread they stand, the Northland's dusky forests,
Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams;
Within them dwells the Forest's mighty God,
And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets.

- stanza from Sibelius' tone poem 'Tapiola'