Jean Sibelius (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957) was a
FinnishFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
of the later
Romantic periodRomantic music is a musicological term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in European music history, from about 1800 to 1900....
whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity.
The core of Sibelius's oeuvre is his set of seven
symphoniesA symphony is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. "Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form though most are composed according to the sonata principle...
. Like
BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
, Sibelius used each one to develop further his own personal compositional style. Unlike Beethoven who used the symphonies to make public statements, and who reserved his more intimate feelings for his smaller works, Sibelius released his personal feelings in the symphonies. These works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.
In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius's best-known compositions include
FinlandiaFinlandia, Op. 26 is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The first version was written in 1899, and it was revised in 1900...
,
Valse TristeKuolema is a drama by Arvid Järnefelt, first performed in 1903. He revised the work in 1911. The play is notable for its incidental music: a group of six compositions created by the author's brother-in-law, Jean Sibelius...
, the
violin concertoThe Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 was written by Jean Sibelius in 1903.-History:Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin...
, the
Karelia SuiteThe Karelia Suite, Op. 11, is a collection of orchestral pieces composed by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.The pieces in this suite are drawn from several independent works he wrote in 1893 for a patriotic historical pageant to be presented by students of the University of Helsinki in Viipuri,...
and
The Swan of Tuonela250px|thumb|[[Akseli Gallen-Kallela]]'s image Lemminkäisen äiti , with the Swan of TuonelaThe Swan of Tuonela is an 1895 tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius...
(one of the four movements of the
Lemminkäinen SuiteThe Lemminkäinen Suite is a work written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in the early 1890s which forms his opus 22...
). Other works include pieces inspired by the
KalevalaThe Kalevala is a book and epic poem which Elias Lönnrot compiled from Finnish and Karelian folklore in the nineteenth century. It is held to be the national epic of Finland and is traditionally thought of as one of the most significant works of Finnish literature. Karelian citizens and other...
, over 100
songA song is a metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, especially one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad....
s for voice and
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
,
incidental musicIncidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack."...
for 13 plays, the opera
Jungfrun i tornetJungfrun i Tornet JS 101, is the only completed opera by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Its Swedish libretto is by Rafael Hertzberg. It was first performed in a concert version during a fund-raising evening for the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 7 November 1896...
(
The Maiden in the Tower),
chamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
,
piano musicPiano Music is a suite of four short pieces composed by Alexina Louie in 1982 for the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects. The four pieces are The Enchanted Bells, Changes, Distant Memories, and Once upon a time....
, 21 separate publications of choral music, and
MasonicFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, including just under two million in the United States and around 480,000 in...
ritual music. Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s. However, soon after completing his
Seventh SymphonyThe Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105, was the final published symphony of Jean Sibelius. Completed in 1924, the Seventh is notable for being a one-movement symphony, in contrast to the standard symphonic formula of four movements...
(1924), the
incidental music to The TempestIncidental Music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Op. 109, was written by Jean Sibelius in 1925-26, at about the same time as he wrote his tone poem Tapiola. The music is said to display an astounding richness of imagination and inventive capacity, and is one of Sibelius's greatest achievements...
(1926), and the tone poem
TapiolaTapiola , op. 112, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, written in 1926. It was the product of a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Philharmonic Society...
(1926), he produced no large scale works for the remaining thirty years of his life. Although he is reputed to have stopped composing, he did attempt to continue writing, including abortive attempts to compose an eighth symphony. He wrote some Masonic music and re-edited some earlier works during this last period of his life, and retained an active interest in new developments in music, although he did not always view modern music favorably.
The Finnish 100
markThe Finnish markka was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The markka was replaced by the euro , which had been introduced, in cash form, on 1 January 2002....
bill featured his image.
Life and work
Johan Julius Christian Sibelius was born into a
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
-speaking family in
HämeenlinnaHämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and is the residence city for the Governor of the province of...
in the
RussianThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Grand Duchy of FinlandThe Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland that existed in its territory 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire.- History :...
, the son of Christian Gustaf Sibelius and Maria Charlotta Sibelius. Although known as "Janne" to his family, during his student years he began using the French form of his name, "Jean", inspired by the business card of his seafaring uncle. He is universally known as
Jean Sibelius.
Against the larger context of the rise of the
FennomanThe Fennomans were the most important political movement in the 19th century Grand Duchy of Finland. They succeeded the fennophile interests of the 18th and early 19th century...
movement and its expressions of
Romantic NationalismRomantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
, his family decided to send him to a
Finnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
school, and he attended the Hämeenlinna Normal-Lycée from 1876 to 1885. Romantic Nationalism was to become a crucial element in Sibelius's artistic output and his politics.
After Sibelius graduated from high school in 1885, he began to study law at the
Imperial Alexander University of FinlandThe University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, then part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
(now the University of Helsinki). However, he was more interested in music than in law, and he soon quit his studies. From 1885 to 1889, Sibelius studied music in the Helsinki music school (now the
Sibelius AcademyThe Sibelius Academy is a university level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland . The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities with roughly 1700 enrolled students...
). One of his teachers there was
Martin WegeliusMartin Wegelius was a Finnish composer and musicologist, primarily remembered as the founder, in 1882, of the Helsinki Music Institute, now known as the Sibelius Academy.Wegelius studied in Leipzig, Vienna and Munich...
. Sibelius continued studying in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
(from 1889 to 1890) and in
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
(from 1890 to 1891).
Jean Sibelius married
Aino JärnefeltAino Sibelius was the wife of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They lived most of their 65 years of married life at their home Ainola near Lake Tuusula, Järvenpää, Finland...
(1871–1969) at Maxmo on 10 June 1892. Their home, called
AinolaAinola was the home of Jean Sibelius and his family from the fall of 1904 until 1972. It stands on the scenic shores of Lake Tuusula in Järvenpää, 38 kilometers north of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It was designed by the famous Finnish architect Lars Sonck. The only requests Sibelius had for...
, was completed at
Lake TuusulaLake Tuusula is a lake on the border of the municipalities of Tuusula and Järvenpää in southern Finland. The lake has an area of 6.0 km². Since the beginning of the 20th century the shores of Lake Tuusula has been an artist's colony. The houses of Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho, Pekka Halonen, Eero...
,
JärvenpääJärvenpää is a town and municipality of Finland.-History:Järvenpää was separated from its parent community Tuusula in 1951. Järvenpää was granted the status of a market town after the separation...
in 1903, and the two lived out the remainder of their lives there. They were married for 64 years and had six daughters: Iva, Ruth, Kirsti (who died at a very young age), Katarine, Margaret, and Heidi.
In 1911, Sibelius underwent a serious operation for suspected throat
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
. The impact of this brush with death can be seen in several of the works that he composed at the time, including
Luonnotar and the
Fourth SymphonyThe Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is one of seven symphonies composed by Jean Sibelius. Written between 1910 and 1911, it was premiered in Helsinki on 3 April 1911 by the Philharmonia Society, with Sibelius conducting.The work comprises four movements:...
.
Sibelius loved nature, and the Finnish landscape often served as material for his music. He once said of his
Sixth SymphonyJean Sibelius's Symphony No. 6, in D minor Opus 104 was completed in 1923. Although the symphony is sometimes described as being "in D minor" the score does not contain a key attribution. Much of the symphony is in fact in the Dorian mode....
, "[It] always reminds me of the scent of the first snow." The forests surrounding Ainola are often said to have inspired his composition of
Tapiola. On the subject of Sibelius's ties to nature, one biographer of the composer, Erik Tawaststjerna, wrote the following:
The year 1926 saw a sharp and lasting decline in Sibelius's output: after his
Seventh SymphonyThe Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105, was the final published symphony of Jean Sibelius. Completed in 1924, the Seventh is notable for being a one-movement symphony, in contrast to the standard symphonic formula of four movements...
, he only produced a few major works in the rest of his life. Arguably the two most significant were
incidental musicIncidental Music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Op. 109, was written by Jean Sibelius in 1925-26, at about the same time as he wrote his tone poem Tapiola. The music is said to display an astounding richness of imagination and inventive capacity, and is one of Sibelius's greatest achievements...
for
Shakespeare'sWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
The TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–11, although some researchers have argued for an earlier dating. The play's protagonist is the banished sorcerer Prospero, rightful Duke of Milan, who initially uses his magical powers to punish his enemies when he raises a...
and the tone poem
TapiolaTapiola , op. 112, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, written in 1926. It was the product of a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Philharmonic Society...
. For nearly the last thirty years of his life, Sibelius even avoided talking about his music.
There is substantial evidence that Sibelius worked on an
eighth numbered symphonyToday, virtually none of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 8 exists. The manuscript was probably burned by Sibelius in 1945. It remains one of the great mysteries of twentieth century classical music....
. He promised the premiere of this symphony to
Serge KoussevitzkySergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born Jewish conductor, composer and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949...
in 1931 and 1932, and a
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
performance in 1933 under
Basil CameronBasil Cameron was an English conductor. He was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, the son of a German immigrant family. His birth name was Basil George Cameron Hindenberg...
was even advertised to the public. However, the only concrete evidence for the symphony's existence on paper is a 1933 bill for a fair copy of the first movement. Sibelius had always been quite self-critical; he remarked to his close friends, "If I cannot write a better symphony than my Seventh, then it shall be my last." Since no manuscript survives, sources consider it likely that Sibelius destroyed all traces of the score, probably in 1945, during which year he certainly consigned (in his wife's presence) a great many papers to the flames.
On January 1, 1939, Sibelius participated in an international radio broadcast which included the composer conducting his
Andante Festivo. The performance was preserved on transcription discs and later issued on CD. This is probably the only surviving example of Sibelius interpreting his own music.
His 90th birthday, in 1955, was widely celebrated and both the
Philadelphia OrchestraThe Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
under
Eugene OrmandyEugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born Jewish conductor and violinist.-Biography:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music at the age of five...
and the
Royal Philharmonic OrchestraThe Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra".- History :...
under Sir Thomas Beecham gave special performances of his music in Finland. The orchestras and their conductors also met the composer at his home; a series of memorable photographs were taken to commemorate the occasions. Both Columbia Records and EMI released some of the pictures with albums of Sibelius's music. Beecham was honored by the Finnish government for his efforts to promote Sibelius both in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
Tawaststjerna also relayed an endearing anecdote regarding Sibelius's death:
In 1972, Sibelius's surviving daughters sold Ainola to the State of Finland. The Ministry of Education and the Sibelius Society opened it as a museum in 1974.
Musical style
Like many of his contemporaries, Sibelius was initially enamored with the music of
WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas...
. A performance of
ParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail....
at the
Bayreuth FestivalThe Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
had a strong effect on him, inspiring him to write to his wife shortly thereafter, "Nothing in the world has made such an impression on me, it moves the very strings of my heart." He studied the scores of Wagner's operas
TannhäuserTannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two Germanic legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
,
LohengrinLohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, and
Die WalküreDie Walküre is the second of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
intently. With this music in mind, Sibelius began work on an opera of his own, entitled
Veneen luominenVeneen luominen was composed by Jean Sibelius. It is an opera inspired by Wagner but the work was never finished as Sibelius became disenchanted with Wagner's compositional techniques.-History:...
(
The Building of the Boat).
However, his appreciation for Wagner waned and Sibelius ultimately rejected Wagner's
LeitmotifA leitmotif is a recurring musical theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea...
compositional technique, considering it to be too deliberate and calculated. Departing from opera, he later used the musical material from the incomplete
Veneen luominen in his
Lemminkäinen SuiteThe Lemminkäinen Suite is a work written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in the early 1890s which forms his opus 22...
(1893).
More lasting influences included
Ferruccio BusoniFerruccio Dante Michelangiolo Benvenuto Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
,
Anton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. His symphonies are often considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
and
TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
[The subject's names are also transliterated Piotr, Petr, or Peter; Ilitsch, Ilich, Il'ich or Illyich; and Tschaikowski, Tschaikowsky, Chajkovskij and Chaikovsky...]
. Hints of Tchaikovsky's music are particularly evident in works such as Sibelius's
First SymphonyJean Sibelius's Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Opus 39 was written in 1898, when Sibelius was 33. The work was first performed on 26 April 1899 by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer, in an original version which has not survived. After the premiere, Sibelius made some...
(1899) and his
Violin ConcertoThe Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 was written by Jean Sibelius in 1903.-History:Sibelius originally dedicated the concerto to the noted violinist Willy Burmester, who promised to play the concerto in Berlin...
(1905). Similarities to Bruckner are most strongly felt in the 'unmixed' timbral palette and sombre brass chorales of Sibelius's orchestration, as well as in the latter composer's fondness for pedal points and in the underlying slow pace of his music.
Sibelius progressively stripped away formal markers of
sonata formThis article treats the history of sonata form in the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras. For a definition of sonata form, see sonata form. For an account of critical thought as it relates to sonata form, see Criticism and 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.
This self-contained structure stood in stark contrast to the symphonic style of
Gustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a Bohemian-born Austrian composer and conductor. He was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day...
, Sibelius's primary rival in symphonic composition. While thematic variation played a major role in the works of both composers, Mahler's style made use of disjunct, abruptly changing and contrasting themes, while Sibelius sought to slowly transform thematic elements. In November 1907 Mahler undertook a conducting tour of Finland, and the two composers had occasion to go on a lengthy walk together. Sibelius later reported that during the walk:
However, the two rivals did find common ground in their music. Like Mahler, Sibelius made frequent use both of folk music and of literature in the composition of his works. The
Second SymphonyJean Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Opus 43 was started in winter 1900 in Rapallo, Italy, and finished in 1902 in Finland. It was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on 8 March 1902 with the composer conducting...
's slow movement was sketched from the motive of
Il Commendatore in
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered in the Estates Theatre in Prague on October 29, 1787...
, while the stark
Fourth SymphonyThe Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is one of seven symphonies composed by Jean Sibelius. Written between 1910 and 1911, it was premiered in Helsinki on 3 April 1911 by the Philharmonia Society, with Sibelius conducting.The work comprises four movements:...
combined work for a planned "Mountain" symphony with a tone poem based on
Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the...
's "
The Raven"The Raven" is a narrative poem by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into...
". Sibelius also wrote several
tone poemsA symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
based on Finnish poetry, beginning with the early
En SagaEn saga is a tone poem written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1892. After hearing Sibelius' choral work Kullervo, the conductor Robert Kajanus encouraged Sibelius to compose a purely orchestral work, which turned out finally to be this work...
and culminating in the late
TapiolaTapiola , op. 112, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, written in 1926. It was the product of a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Philharmonic Society...
(1926), his last major composition.
Over time, he sought to use new
chordIn music and music theory a chord is a set of three or more different notes from a specific key that sound simultaneously. Chords constructed of three notes are described as triads and consist of two intervals. The technical name for triad chords is tertian sonorities and is understood to be chords...
patterns, including naked
tritoneThe tritone is a musical interval that spans three whole tones. The tritone, sometimes known as the Diabolus in Musica, is the same as an augmented fourth, which in 12-tone equal temperament is enharmonic to a diminished fifth...
s (for example in the
Fourth SymphonyThe Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is one of seven symphonies composed by Jean Sibelius. Written between 1910 and 1911, it was premiered in Helsinki on 3 April 1911 by the Philharmonia Society, with Sibelius conducting.The work comprises four movements:...
), and bare melodic structures to build long movements of music, in a manner similar to
Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer. He was one of the most important, prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres...
's use of built-in
dissonanceIn music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance — considered unstable...
s. Sibelius would often alternate melodic sections with noble
brassA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
chords that would swell and fade away, or he would underpin his music with repeating figures which push against the melody and counter-melody.
Sibelius's melodies often feature powerful
modalMode is a term from Western music theory having three definitions :# the rhythmic relationship between long and short values in the late medieval period;...
implications: for example much of the
Sixth SymphonyJean Sibelius's Symphony No. 6, in D minor Opus 104 was completed in 1923. Although the symphony is sometimes described as being "in D minor" the score does not contain a key attribution. Much of the symphony is in fact in the Dorian mode....
is in the (modern)
Dorian modeDue to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to two very different musical modes or diatonic scales.- Greek Dorian mode :...
. Sibelius studied Renaissance
polyphonyIn music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
, as did his contemporary, the Danish composer
Carl NielsenCarl August Nielsen was a composer, conductor, and violinist from Denmark. His works have long been well known in Denmark and they have been "a mainstay throughout the Nordic countries and, to a lesser extent, in Britain," noted the critic Alex Ross in 2008 in The New Yorker, and rising young...
, and Sibelius's music often reflects the influence of this early music. He often varied his movements in a piece by changing the note values of melodies, rather than the conventional change of
tempiIn musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. It is a crucial element of composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
. He would often draw out one melody over a number of notes, while playing a different melody in shorter rhythm. For example, his
Seventh SymphonyThe Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105, was the final published symphony of Jean Sibelius. Completed in 1924, the Seventh is notable for being a one-movement symphony, in contrast to the standard symphonic formula of four movements...
comprises four movements without pause, where every important theme is in C major or C minor; the variation comes from the time and rhythm. His harmonic language was often restrained, even iconoclastic, compared to many of his contemporaries who were already experimenting with musical Modernism. As reported by
Neville CardusSir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
in the
Manchester GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
newspaper in 1958,
Reception
Because of its alleged conservatism, Sibelius's music is sometimes considered insufficiently complex, but he was immediately respected by even his more progressive peers. Later in life he was championed by critic
Olin DownesOlin Downes was a significant American music critic.He studied piano, music theory, and music criticism in New York and Boston, and it was in those two cities that he made his career as a music critic—first with the Boston Post and then with the New York Times...
, who wrote a biography, but he was attacked by composer-critic
Virgil ThomsonVirgil Thomson was an American composer and critic from Kansas City, Missouri. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
.
Sibelius has sometimes been criticized as a reactionary or even incompetent figure in 20th century classical music. In 1938 Theodor Adorno wrote a critical essay about the composer, notoriously charging that Composer and theorist
René LeibowitzRené Leibowitz was a French composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher born in Warsaw, Poland.During the early 1930s, Leibowitz studied composition and orchestration with Ravel in Paris, where he was introduced to Schoenberg's Twelve-note technique by the German pianist and composer Erich...
went so far as to describe Sibelius as "the worst composer in the world" in the title of a 1955 pamphlet. Despite the innovations of the
Second Viennese SchoolThe Second Viennese School is the term generally used in English-speaking countries to denote the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils and close associates in early 20th century Vienna, where, with breaks, he lived and taught between 1903 and 1925...
, he continued to write in a strictly
tonalTonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
idiom. However, critics who have sought to re-evaluate Sibelius's music have cited its self-contained internal structure, which distills everything down to a few motivic ideas and then permits the music to grow organically, as evidence of a previously under-appreciated radical bent to his work. The severe nature of Sibelius's orchestration is often noted as representing a "Finnish" character, stripping away the superfluous from music.
Perhaps one reason Sibelius has attracted both the praise and the ire of critics is that in each of his seven symphonies he approached the basic problems of form, tonality, and architecture in unique, individual ways. On the one hand, his symphonic (and tonal) creativity was novel, but others thought that music should be taking a different route. Sibelius's response to criticism was dismissive: "Pay no attention to what critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic."
Sibelius has fallen in and out of fashion, but remains one of the most popular 20th century symphonists, with complete cycles of his symphonies continuing to be recorded. In his own time, however, he focused far more on the more profitable chamber music for home use, and occasionally on works for the stage.
Eugene OrmandyEugene Ormandy was a Hungarian-born Jewish conductor and violinist.-Biography:Born Jenő Blau in Budapest, Hungary, Ormandy began studying violin at the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music at the age of five...
and, to a lesser extent, his predecessor
Leopold StokowskiLeopold Stokowski was a famous orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski performed with the Cincinnati Symphony...
, were instrumental in bringing Sibelius's music to American audiences by programming his works often, and the former thereby developed a friendly relationship with Sibelius throughout his life.
In 1990, the composer
Thea MusgraveThea Musgrave is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh in 1928, Thea Musgrave studied at the University of Edinburgh and in Paris as a pupil of Nadia Boulanger...
was commissioned by the
Helsinki Philharmonic OrchestraThe Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland...
to write a piece in honour of the 125th anniversary of Sibelius's birth.
Song of the Enchanter was premiered on 14 February 1991.
Media
Selected works
These are ordered chronologically; the date is the date of composition rather than publication or first performance.
Other works
- Viisi joululaulua, Op. 1, five Christmas
Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
songs (1895–1913)
- Seven Songs, Op. 17
Seven Songs, op. 17 is a collection of compositions by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius for solo voice and piano. The music was written between 1891 and 1904. The songs are:...
, with lyrics by J. L. RunebergJohan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
, K.A. Tavaststjerna, Oscar LevertinOscar Ivar Levertin was a Swedish poet, critic and literary historian. Levertin was a dominant voice of the Swedish cultural scene from 1897, when he started writing influential high-profile essays and reviews in the daily paper Svenska Dagbladet...
, A.V. Forsman (Koskimies, Finnish surname), and Ilmari Calamnius (Kianto, Finnish surname)Ilmari Kianto , also known as Ilmari Calamnius and Ilmari Iki-Kianto, was a Finnish poet. He is best known for his books Punainen viiva and Ryysyrannan Jooseppi...
. Composed between 1891 and 1904.
- Incidental music to Hjalmar Procopé's play Belshazzar's Feast
Belshazzar's Feast is described in the Book of Daniel. The Babylonian king Belshazzar profanes the sacred vessels of the enslaved Israelites. As prophesied by the writing on the wall, and interpreted by Daniel, Belshazzar is killed and Darius the Mede succeeds to his kingdom.There are many...
, Op. 51 (1906); this was mainly for orchestra but voices were called for in some places. He later rescored some sections of the incidental music as a purely orchestral suite; in 1939 he wrote a new version of the section called "Solitude" (originally called "The Jewish Girl’s Song" in the incidental music) as a song, dedicated to Marian AndersonMarian Anderson was an American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and...
- Voces intimae, Op. 56, string quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(1909)
- Jääkärimarssi (1915)
Further reading
- Layton, Robert. Sibelius. New York: Schirmer Books, 1993. Master Musicians Series. ISBN 0-02-871322-2.
- Ekman, Karl. "Jean Sibelius, His Life and Personality". New York, Tudor Publishing Co., 1945.
- Levas, Santeri. Sibelius: a personal portrait. London, Dent, 1972. ISBN 0460039784.
- Tawaststjerna, Erik. "Sibelius". London, Faber & Faber, vol.1 (1976), vol.2(1986).
- de Gorog, Lisa (with the collaboration of Ralph de Gorog) "From Sibelius to Sallinen: Finnish Nationalism and the Music of Finland". New York, Greenwood Press, 1989.
- Tomi Mäkelä: "Poesie in der Luft. Jean Sibelius, Studien zu Leben und Werk". Wiesbaden, Breitkopf & Härtel, 2007. 978-3-7651-0363-6
- Barnett, Andrew. Sibelius. New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Yale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2007. ISBN 978-0-300-11159-0
- Minnesota Orchestra's showcase concert magazine, May 6, page 44
External links