As with Tchaikovsky and Liszt, his personal experiences seem to enrich the creative imagination but he then develops the ideas into abstract form. In his second Symphony Sibelius is at his most lyrical — all four movements are tuneful, with themes that can easily be sung. There is a remarkable sense of flow in the work; each movement leaves the door open for the next and in the case of the transition from the third to the fourth they are joined.
That looks forward to his later works such as the Seventh Symphony where the sense of flow is so important the work is in only one movement but with sections reflecting the four movement conventions of the symphony.
Flow is also paramount in the way that the work unfolds harmonically from the gentle pulsing thirds of the opening. In his young daughter Ruth contracted typhus whilst the family holidayed in Liguria in Italy.
It would seem that Sibelius deserted his family when Ruth fell ill — perhaps fearing for his own health or pursued by the trauma of the death of his daughter Kirsti from typhus a year before. He fled to Rome and worked on an orchestral fantasy that soon evolved into the highly successful Second Symphony. A letter from Rome to his wife speaks volumes about artistic self-belief but must surely have been greeted with mixed feelings when she received it as she nursed her daughter back to health.
His letter reads:. And there are so many diversions when my imagination runs dry. I seem to need this stimulus and it also seems that I need total solitude when I am working…I have now fallen fatally in love with my orchestral fantasy. Sibelius' true passion lay with the violin.
Andrew Schultz explores Sibelius' life and career, and Violin Concerto. Sibelius' fifth symphony is a masterwork of the 20th century. Sibelius stopped composing long before his death, an uncommon thing for composers.
Andrew Schultz explores Sibelius' final two symphonies. Sibelius and Finlandia Mon 17 Feb Audio Player failed to load. Play Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Image: Composer Sibelius took great inspiration from his natural environment. Share Facebook Twitter Mail Whatsapp. Related audio. Take a look at our video masterclasses for inspiration. To enable all images to work in the Powerpoint files please save the file to your computer. To save to your computer: PC - right-click and save, Mac - ctrl-click and save. All parts have been designed to work together to enable mixed-ability groups to perform together.
See more information about the parts below. Please get in touch with the Ten Pieces team if there are minor adjustments you would like to make for your ensemble.
A certain amount of simplification has been required to adapt the pieces for mixed-ability. Some pieces have been cut to allow a minute general duration and to remove especially difficult passages of music.
Finlandia: This has been transposed down a semitone for ease of performance and to allow use of open strings. There are cuts from bars , , , from the original. Undoubtedly the most famous composer ever to come out of Finland, Jean Sibelius pronounced Zhaa ng Sib-ayli-uss completed seven amazing symphonies and a host of vivid descriptive music using his beloved country as inspiration.
After this at the age of 59, he abruptly retired from music and spent his remaining 30 years happily surrounded by his family. He said simply that his final 7th symphony could not be bettered - so why try? Sibelius loved his country and frequently went for long walks in the forests near his home. These walks and the stories of ancient Finnish legends that he read and told his children became the basis for many of his compositions. Finnish people still hold his music close to their hearts.
In the struggle to defend autonomy, depictions of the lion of Finland, pictures of an anonymous maiden personifying Finland, and the colours blue and white were important instruments of propaganda. Edvard Isto's painting of the maiden, seen defending the book of Finnish law, became known throughout the country in spite of official attempts to prohibit its display.
The two-headed eagle, emblem of the Russian imperial house, excellently symbolised the powers of darkness. Finlandia is probably the most widely known of all the compositions of Jean Sibelius. Most people with even a superficial knowledge of classical music recognise the melody immediately. The penultimate hymn-like section is particularly familiar and soon after it was published the Finlandia Hymn was performed with various words as far afield as the USA. The tableaux were presented as a part of the Press Celebrations held in November that year.
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