Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius (in Swedish), registered at birth as Johan Julius Christian Sibelius(Hämeenlinna, December 8, 1865-Järvenpää, September 20, 1957), was a Finnish composer and violinist at the end of Romanticism and the beginnings of Modernism. He is widely recognized as the best composer in his country and, through his music, he is often attributed to having helped Finland develop a national identity during his struggle for the independence of Russia.

The core of his work is his set of seven symphonies which, like the rest of his most important works, continue to be performed and recorded in his native country and internationally. His best-known compositions are Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the violin concerto, the choral symphony Kullervo and The Swan of Tuonela (from the Lemminkäinen Suite). Also noteworthy are pieces inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, more than a hundred songs for voice and piano, incidental music for numerous plays, the opera Jungfrun i tornet (La virgen de la torre), chamber music, piano music, Masonic ritual music, and 21 pieces of choral music. Throughout his career, he was often inspired by nature and Norse mythology.

Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s, but after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music to The Tempest (1926), and the symphonic poem Tapiola (1926), he failed to complete major works in his last thirty years, a startling and bewildering decline commonly known as "The Silence of Järvenpää", the location of his home. Although he reportedly stopped composing, he kept trying, including unsuccessful results on an Eighth Symphony. In his later years, he wrote Masonic music and revised some earlier works, while maintaining an active but not always favorable interest in new developments in the world of music.

The 100 Finnish mark note bore his effigy until 2002, when the euro entered circulation. Since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on December 8, which coincides with the birthday of the composer, also known as "Finnish Music Day". In 2015, on the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, a series of special concerts and events were held, especially in the city of Helsinki.

Biography

Sibelius with 11 years in 1876.

Childhood

Johan Julius Christian Sibelius was born on December 8, 1865 in Hämeenlinna, a small town located one hundred kilometers north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. He was the second of three children born to Christian Gustaf Sibelius, M.D., and Maria Charlotta Sibelius, née Borg, both Swedish-speaking. The family name derives from the Sibbe estate, in Uusimaa East, which was owned by his paternal great-grandfather. Sibelius's father died of typhoid fever in July 1868, after a harsh winter that led to general famine and proliferation. of contagious diseases, leaving behind substantial debts. As a result, his mother—who was again pregnant—had to sell her property and was taken in by her mother Katarina Borg, who also lived in Hämeenlinna.Sibelius therefore grew up in a strongly feminine environment.. The only male influence on him then was his uncle, Pehr Ferdinand Sibelius, who was interested in music, especially the violin. It was he who gave the boy a violin when he was ten years old and later encouraged him to maintain his interest in composition.For Sibelius, Uncle Pehr not only filled the place of a father, but also that of musical adviser.

From an early age, Sibelius showed a strong interest in nature. He used to walk frequently through the countryside when the family moved to the seaside town of Loviisa during the summer months. In his own words: “For me, Loviisa represents the sun and happiness, Hämeenlinna was where I attended school. Loviisa was freedom ». At the age of seven, he began taking piano lessons from his aunt Julia, who was very strict and would hit him on the knuckles every time he messed up. But he soon progressed rapidly, allowing himself the luxury of criticizing other of his aunt's students and improvising fluently. Later he returned to the violin, his preferred instrument, and formed trios with his older sister Linda, on piano, and with his brother Christian, on piano. who played the cello and would go on to be an eminent psychiatrist still remembered for his contributions to modern psychiatry in Finland. In addition, Sibelius often played in quartets with neighboring families, learning the chamber music repertoire. Fragments of his early compositions from the period have survived: a trio, a piano quartet, and a Suite in D minor for violin and piano. From around 1881, there is a short composition in pizzicato titled Vattendroppar («Water Drops») for violin and cello, although it is possible that it was a musical exercise. The first reference that can be found about the composition is in an August 1883 letter, in which he reveals that he had composed a trio and was working on another: "They are poor enough, but it is good to have something to do on rainy days." In 1881, he began taking lessons in violin of the local orchestra director, Gustavo Levander, immediately developing a strong interest in the instrument. He put all his efforts into becoming a great violin virtuoso, and in a short time he became an accomplished performer, playing the Concierto in E minor by Ferdinand David in 1886 and, the following year, the last two movements of Mendelssohn's violin concerto in Helsinki. Despite his success as an instrumentalist, he ultimately chose to be a composer.

Although his mother tongue was Swedish, in 1874 Sibelius attended the Lucina Hagman Preparatory School, where classes were taught in Finnish. In 1876, he was able to continue his education in Finnish at the Hämeenlinna Normal Lyceum where he proved to be a rather absent-minded student despite doing well in mathematics and botany. He had to repeat a year, but still managed to pass the secondary education exam. in 1885 which allowed him to study at the university. As a child, he responded to the name Janne, a colloquial form of Johan. However, he decided to follow the example of his uncle Johan Sibelius, who was a sailor and died in Havana in the 1860s, who used the French form Jean on his overseas trips, a custom ingrained among the educated Finnish classes. In his student years in Helsinki, he decided to take advantage of his late uncle's business cards to present himself in society, as a stage name, being known from then on as Jean Sibelius.

Studies and early career

Martin Wegelius, professor of Sibelius in Finland.

After graduating high school in 1885, Sibelius began studying law at the Imperial Alexander University in Finland, but showed much more interest in music, soon transferring to the Helsinki Institute of Music (now Sibelius Academy)., where he studied from 1885 to 1889. One of his teachers was its founder, Martin Wegelius, who did much to support the development of education in Finland and gave the self-taught Sibelius his first formal composition classes. Another important influence was his teacher Ferruccio Busoni, a pianist with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. His close circle of friends included the pianist and writer Adolf Paul and the future conductor Armas Järnefelt, who introduced him to his influential family and his sister Aino, his future wife. His most notable work during this period is the Violin Sonata in F, and it is possible that he was inspired by the Norwegian composer Grieg's violin sonata in the same key.

Sibelius continued his studies in Berlin (from 1889 to 1890) with Albert Becker and in Vienna (from 1890 to 1891) with Robert Fuchs and the Hungarian Károly Goldmark. In Berlin, he had the opportunity to broaden his musical experience by attending a wide variety of concerts and operas, including the premiere of Richard Strauss's symphonic poem Don Juan . He also heard Finnish composer Robert Kajanus conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in a program that included his symphonic poem Aino, a patriotic piece that may well have sparked Sibelius' later interest in the use of the epic poem. Kalevala as the basis for his compositions. While in Vienna, he became particularly interested in the music of Anton Bruckner, whom, for a time, he regarded as "the greatest living composer", although he continued to showing interest in the already consolidated works of Beethoven and Wagner. He enjoyed his year in Vienna, often partying and gambling with his new friends. It was also in Vienna that he returned to orchestral composition, working on the Overture in E major and the Scène de Ballet . While embarking on Kullervo, an orchestral work inspired by the Kalevala, he fell ill, but recovered his health after the removal of a gallstone. Shortly after his return In Helsinki, Sibelius enjoyed conducting his overture and the Scène de Ballet at a popular concert. Increasingly interested in all things Finnish, he also continued to work in Kullervo, for which he came to visit, at the end of 1891 in Porvoo, the famous reciter of traditional runic poems Larin Paraske, the rhythm of whose songs he tried to reflect in his music. The work, which premiered in Helsinki on April 28, 1892, was an enormous success.

Sibelius in 1891.

It was around this time that Sibelius finally gave up his aspirations as a violinist:

My tragedy is that I wanted to be a famous violinist at any price. Since the age of 15, he played violin practically from morning to night. I hated the pen and ink — unfortunately I preferred an elegant violin bow. My love for the violin lasted a long time and it was very painful to discover that my studies had begun too late for the demanding virtuous race.

In addition to long periods spent studying in Vienna and Berlin (1889-91), in 1900 he traveled to Italy, where he spent a year with his family. He composed, conducted, and actively socialized in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and later the United States.

Marriage and rise to fame

While Sibelius was studying music in Helsinki, in the autumn of 1888, Armas Järnefelt, a friend from the Institute of Music, invited him to his family's home. There he met Aino, a 17-year-old girl with whom he immediately fell in love, daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, Governor of Vaasa, and Elisabeth Clodt von Jürgensburg, an aristocrat of Baltic descent. The wedding took place on June 10, 1892 in Maxmo. They honeymooned in Karelia, the cradle of Kalevala and a place that also inspired Sibelius for the symphonic poem In Saga, Lemminkäinen's Legends and the Karelia Suite. The construction of Ainola, their house located on Lake Tuusula, Järvenpää, was completed in 1903. During their years in Ainola, they had six daughters: Eva, Ruth, Kirsti (who died very young of typhoid fever), Katarina, Margareta, and Heidi. Eva married industrialist, Arvi Henrik Paloheimo, who would later become the president of Paloheimo Industries. Ruth Snellman was a noted actress, Katarina Ilves married a banker, and Heidi Blomstedt was a ceramics artist who married the architect Aulis Blomstedt. Margareta married the conductor Jussi Jalas, brother of Aulis Blomstedt.

In 1892, Sibelius made his debut in the field of orchestral music with Kullervo. It was described by composer Aksel Törnudd as "a volcanic eruption", while Juho Ranta, who sang in the choir, stated, "it was Finnish music". At the end of the year, Katarina passed away. Borg, the composer's grandmother. Sibelius went to her funeral, visiting her home in Hämeenlinna for the last time before it was sold. On February 16, 1893, the first (long) version of En saga was presented in Helsinki, although it was not very well received, critics suggested that superfluous sections should be removed (as in the version of 1902). Even less successful were three more performances by Kullervo in March, which one critic found incomprehensible and lacking in vitality. Following the birth of Sibelius's first daughter, Eva, in April, the premiere of his choral work, Väinämöinen's Boat Voyage , took place; it was a great success and received support from the press.

On November 13, 1893, the complete version of Karelia was premiered at a gala of the students' association at the Seurahuone in Viipuri, with the collaboration of the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela and the sculptor Emil Wikström who had been hired to design the set. While the first performance was difficult to appreciate because of the background noise of the audience talking, a second performance on November 18 was more successful. In addition, on the 19th and 23rd of Sibelius he presented an extended version of the suite in Helsinki, conducting the Philharmonic Society orchestra. Sibelius's music was increasingly present in Helsinki concert halls. In the 1894-95 season, works such as En saga, Karelia and Vårsång (composed in 1894) were included in at least sixteen concerts at the capital, not to mention those in Turku. When a revised version was performed on 17 April 1895, composer Oskar Merikanto received Vårsång ("Spring Song") as "the most beautiful flower among Sibelius's orchestral pieces".

Sibelius (on the right) sharing table with Akseli Gallen-Kallela (author of this painting, on the left), Oskar Merikanto and Robert Kajanus.

For a considerable period Sibelius worked on an opera, Veneen luominen ("The Building of the Ship"), again based on the Kalevala. He was influenced to a certain extent by Wagner, but eventually rectified and sought inspiration in Liszt's symphonic poems. Adapted from material from the opera that he never completed, his Lemminkäinen Suite consists of four captions in the form of symphonic poems.It premiered in Helsinki on April 13, 1896 to a full house. full. In contrast to Merikanto's enthusiasm for the Finnish quality of the work, critic Karl Flodin found the English horn solo in The Swan of Tuonela "very long and boring", despite who considered the first legend, Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, to represent Sibelius' best composition to date.

From 1892 due to the financial needs of his family, Sibelius had to teach some courses at the Kajanus Institute of Music and Conducting School, but this left him little time to compose. The situation improved considerably when, In 1898, the Finnish government decided to grant him a juicy annual subsidy of 3,000 marks. Initially it was for ten years but later it became life. He was able to complete the music for Adolf Paul's play King Christian II. Its premiere took place on February 24, 1898 and its catchy melodies pleased the public. Sheet music for the four popular songs of the work was published in Germany and sold successfully in Finland. When the orchestral suite was performed in Helsinki in November 1898, Sibelius commented: “The music sounded excellent and the tempi seem to be correct. I think this is the first time I've been able to get everything right." The work was also performed in Stockholm and Leipzig.

In January 1899, Sibelius embarked on his First Symphony at a time when his patriotic sentiments were heightened by Tsar Nicholas II's attempts to restrict the powers of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The symphony was well received when premiered in Helsinki on April 26, 1899, but the program also premiered the even more convincing and unabashedly patriotic Song of the Athenians, written for male chorus and white voices. The song meant that Sibelius was immediately considered a national hero. Another patriotic work followed on November 4 in the form of eight paintings depicting episodes from Finnish history known as the Celebration of Press Music . It had been written in support of the staff of the newspaper Päivälehti who had been temporarily suspended after publishing an editorial criticizing the Russian government. The last painting, Finland Awakens, was especially popular; after some minor revisions, it became the familiar Finland.

Sibelius: Albert Engström sketch (1904).

In February 1900, Sibelius and his wife mourned the death of their youngest daughter. However, in the spring, Sibelius went on an international tour with Kajanus and his orchestra, presenting his most recent works (including the revised version of his First Symphony ) in thirteen cities, including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin and Paris. Critics were rave, earning the composer international recognition with glowing reports in the Berliner Börsen-Courier, the Berliner Fremdenblatt and the Berliner Lokal Anzeiger.

During a trip with his family to Rapallo in 1901, Sibelius began writing his Second Symphony, partly inspired by the fate of Don Juan in Don Giovanni by Mozart. It was finished at the beginning of 1902 and its premiere took place in Helsinki on March 8. The work was received with great enthusiasm by the Finns. Merikanto believed that it exceeded "even the wildest expectations", while Evert Katila called it "an absolute masterpiece". Flodin also wrote of a symphonic composition "of a stature we have never had occasion to hear before"..

Sibelius spent the summer in Tvärminne, near Hanko, where he worked on the song Var det en dröm ("It was a dream") as well as a new version of En saga. When performed in Berlin with the Berliner Philharmoniker in November 1902, it served to firmly establish the composer's reputation in Germany, where he had already become well known following the publication of his First Symphony .

In 1903, Sibelius spent much of his time in Helsinki, where he indulged excessively in wine and food, owing large sums in restaurants. However, he continued to compose, one of his biggest hits being Valse triste , one of the six pieces of incidental music composed for the stage play Kuolema ("Death ») of his brother-in-law Arvid Järnefelt. Short of money, he sold the rights to the piece at a low price, but it quickly gained great popularity not only in Finland, but also internationally. During his long stays in Helsinki, Aino, Sibelius's wife, often wrote to him begging him to come home to no avail. Even after his fourth daughter, Katarina, was born, he continued to work away from home. Early in 1904, he finished his Violin Concerto, but its public premiere on February 8 was not very successful. This led to his revising the work by producing an abridged version which was performed in Berlin the following year.

Transfer to Ainola

Ainola, photograph of 1915.

In November 1903, Sibelius began building his new home, which he would call Ainola ("Aino's house") near Lake Tuusula about thirty miles north of Helsinki. To cover construction costs, he gave concerts in Helsinki, Turku, and Vaasa in early 1904, as well as in Tallinn, Estonia, and Latvia during the summer. The family was finally able to settle in the new property on September 24, 1904, making friends among the local art community, including the painters Eero Järnefelt and Pekka Halonen and the novelist Juhani Aho.

In January 1905, Sibelius returned to Berlin, where he conducted his Second Symphony. Although the concert itself was a success, the work was received with mixed opinions and, while some reviews were very positive, others such as the Allgemeine Zeitung and the Berliner Tageblatt they were less enthusiastic. Back in Finland, he rewrote Pelléas and Mélisande in the form of an orchestral suite, as it was becoming more and more popular. In November, he visited Britain for the first time, meeting Henry Wood in Liverpool. On December 2, he conducted the First Symphony and Finlandia ; In a letter addressed to Aino, he commented that the concert had been a great success and that he had received much applause.

At the beginning of 1906, after a short and quiet stay in Paris, Sibelius spent several months composing in Ainola, a period of what is considered his most important work Pohjola's Daughter, another piece based on in the Kalevala. He later composed the music for Baltasar's Feast , which he also adapted as an orchestral suite. He ended the year by conducting a series of concerts, including the most successful, the first public performance of Pohjola's Daughter at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Ups and downs

From early 1907, Sibelius again indulged in wine and food in Helsinki, spending exorbitant amounts on champagne and lobster. His lifestyle habits wreaked havoc on Aino's health, who had to retire to a sanatorium due to exhaustion. While she was away from home, Sibelius made it a point to give up drinking and focus on composing his Third Symphony, which he completed and was performed in Helsinki on 25 September. classic, surprised the audience. Flodin commented that it was "internally new and revolutionary".

Shortly thereafter Sibelius met Gustav Mahler, who was in Helsinki. Both came to the conclusion that with each new symphony they lost the enthusiastic public of their previous works. This became evident above all in St. Petersburg, where the Third Symphony was performed in November 1907, receiving dismissive comments. His reception in Moscow was somewhat more positive.

The blue plaque in 15 Gloucester Walk, Kensington, in London, his residence in 1909.

In 1907, Sibelius underwent a major operation for possible throat cancer, and in early 1908 he had to spend another stint in hospital: his smoking and drinking had become a serious threat. Although he canceled scheduled concerts in Rome, Warsaw and Berlin, he kept the commitment to a performance in London, but his Third Symphony failed to please the critics. In May 1908, Sibelius's health deteriorated further. He traveled with his wife to Berlin to have a tumor removed from his throat. After the operation, he vowed to quit smoking and drinking once and for all. The impact of this brush with death is believed to have inspired works he composed in subsequent years, including Luonnotar and the Fourth Symphony.

Better Times

Finland (first edition).

In 1909, a successful throat operation led to renewed happiness between Sibelius and Aino. Also in Britain his improvement was very well received, and he conducted En saga , Finlandia , Valse Triste and Canción de spring before an enthusiastic audience. In a meeting with Claude Debussy he received new signs of support. After another uneventful trip to Paris, he went to Berlin, where he was relieved to learn that his throat operation had turned out completely favourable.

Sibelius began work on his Fourth Symphony in early 1910, but financial difficulties led him to compose a series of short pieces and songs. In October, he conducted concerts in Kristiania (present-day Oslo), premiering The Dryad and In memoriam. His Valse triste and Second Symphony were particularly well received. He then traveled to Berlin to continue working on his Fourth Symphony , finishing the last movement before returning to Järvenpää.

Sibelius conducted his first concerts in Sweden in early 1911, where even his Third Symphony was well received by critics. He completed the Fourth Symphony in April, but as he expected, his introspective style was not very well received when it opened in Helsinki, to mixed reviews. Other than a trip to Paris, where he enjoyed a performance of Richard Strauss's Salome, the rest of the year was fairly quiet. In 1912, he finished his short orchestral work Scènes historiques II , which premiered in March together with the Fourth Symphony . The concert was repeated twice to enthusiastic audiences including critics such as Robert Kajanus. The Fourth was also well received in Birmingham in September. In March 1913, he performed it in New York, but a large section of the audience left the hall in between movements, while in October, after a concert conducted by Carl Muck, the Boston American branded it of "a sad failure".

The first notable composition of 1913 was the symphonic poem The Bard which he conducted in March before a respectful audience in Helsinki. She then composed Luonnotar ("Nature's Daughter"), for soprano and orchestra. Set to a text from the Kalevala, it was first performed in Finnish in September 1913 by Aino Ackté at the music festival in Gloucester, England. In early 1914, Sibelius spent a month in Berlin, where he was particularly attracted to Arnold Schönberg. Back in Finland, he began working on The Oceanides, commissioned by American millionaire Carl Stoeckel for the Norfolk Music Festival. The work was originally set in D-flat major, but after extensive revision, the final D-major version was presented in Norfolk and was well received, along with Finlandia and the Valse sad i>. Henry Krehbiel considers The Oceanids to be one of the most beautiful pieces on the sea ever composed; the New York Times commented that Sibelius's music was the most notable contribution to the festival. Sibelius was invested with an honorary doctorate from Yale University and, almost simultaneously, from the University of Helsinki, an act that Aino attended on his behalf.

World War I

While traveling from the United States, news reached Sibelius about the events in Sarajevo that led to the outbreak of World War I. Although he was far from the fray, he stopped receiving royalties from abroad. To get by, he was forced to compose a large number of small works for publication in Finland. In March 1915, he was able to travel to Gothenburg, Sweden, where The Oceanides was very well received. While working on his Fifth Symphony in April, he saw sixteen swans flying, which inspired him to compose the finale. “It was one of the most glorious experiences of my life!” he commented. Although he made little progress on the symphony over the summer, he was able to finish it by his 50th birthday on December 8.

On the night of his birthday, Sibelius conducted the premiere of the Fifth Symphony, at the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Despite Kajanus's praise, the composer was dissatisfied with his work and soon began revising it. Around this time, Sibelius was sinking into more and more debt. The grand piano he had received as a gift was about to be seized by bailiffs until singer Ida Ekman paid off much of her debt after a successful fundraising campaign.

A year later, on December 8, 1915, Sibelius presented the revised version of his Fifth Symphony in Turku, merging the first two movements and simplifying the last. A week later the new version was played and was well received by Katila, but Wasenius did not take kindly to the changes, which led the composer to revise it again.

In early 1917, Sibelius began to drink again, leading to arguments with Aino. However, their relationship improved with the excitement resulting from the start of the Russian Revolution. At the end of the year, Sibelius composed The Jäger March, a piece that became particularly popular after the Finnish parliament accepted the Senate's declaration of independence from Russia in December 1917. The Jäger March, was performed for the first time on January 19, 1918, coinciding with the start of the Finnish civil war, pleasing Helsinki's elite for a short time until on January 28, the Finnish Red Guard, supporting the Russians, seized power in Helsinki. When the Red Guards were defeated by Gustaf Mannerheim, Sibelius led the march in Helsinki, reinforcing his national hero image.

Better Fortune

Sibelius in 1923. When he entered the quarantine, for pure vanity, he decided to shave his head so that no one would notice his incipients canicie.

In early 1919, Sibelius decided to change his image, shaving his skull completely due to increasingly graying hair. In June, together with Aino, he visited Copenhagen on his first trip outside Finland since 1915, presenting with success his Second Symphony. In November he conducted the final version of his Fifth Symphony , receiving repeated applause from the public. At the end of that same year, he was already working on the Sixth .

In 1920, despite a growing tremor in his hands, Sibelius composed the Hymn of the Earth to texts by the poet Eino Leino for the Finnish Vocal Choir and orchestrated its Valse lyrique . The wine helped him to mitigate the tremor and to be able to write on the scores. On his birthday in December 1920, Sibelius received a donation of 63,000 marks, a considerable sum that the tenor Wäinö Sola had raised from Finnish companies. Although he earmarked a portion of the money to pay off his debt, he also spent a week partying in Helsinki.

Sibelius enjoyed a successful trip to England in early 1921 conducting concerts throughout the country, playing such works as the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, The oceanides and the ever-popular Finlandia and the Valse triste. Immediately after, he conducted the Second Symphony and the Valse triste in Norway. Despite the fact that he began to feel symptoms of physical exhaustion, the reviews were still very positive. Returning to Finland in April, he presented Lemminkäinen's Return and Fifth Symphony , at the Nordiska Musikdagar festival.

At the beginning of 1922, after suffering several headaches, he decided to buy a pair of glasses; although he was careful not to wear them in the photographs. In July the death of his brother Christian affected him greatly. In August, he joined the Finnish Freemasons and composed ritual music for them. In February 1923, his Sixth Symphony was premiered, which was highly praised by Evert Katila, calling it "a pure idyll". Before the end of the year he also conducted concerts in Stockholm and Rome, the first with excellent reception, the second with divergent reviews. He then headed to Gothenburg, where he enjoyed a warm crowd, despite arriving at the concert hall after a heavy meal. Despite continuing his drinking habit, to Aino's disapproval, Sibelius managed to complete his Seventh Symphony early in 1924. In March, it premiered in Stockholm under the title Symphonic Fantasy , where it was successful. It was even more appreciated at a series of concerts in Copenhagen at the end of September. Sibelius was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog.

He spent most of the rest of the year resting as a recent spate of commitments put additional stress on his heart and nerves. She composed a couple of small pieces and increasingly resorted to alcohol. In May 1925, his Danish publisher Wilhelm Hansen and the Royal Danish Theater invited him to compose incidental music for a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. He completed the work early enough for it to premiere in March 1926. It was well received in Copenhagen, although Sibelius was not present on its opening day.

Latest significant contributions

Sibelius and Aino in Järvenpää (decade of 1940).

In 1926 a sharp and lasting decline in Sibelius's output was noted: after his Seventh Symphony he composed only a couple of significant works for the rest of his life. Undoubtedly two of the most important were the incidental music for The Tempest and the symphonic poem Tapiola.For most of the last thirty years of his life, Sibelius she even avoided speaking publicly about his music.

There is ample evidence that Sibelius was working on an Eighth Symphony. He promised the premiere of this symphony to Sergei Kusevitzky in 1931 and 1932, and a performance in London in 1933 with Basil Cameron conducting that was even announced to the public. The only concrete evidence of the symphony's existence on paper is a 1933 sketch of a fair copy of the first movement and short dirty excerpts that were published and premiered in 2011. Sibelius had always been rather self-deprecating; he went so far as to tell his close friends, "If I can't write a better symphony than my Seventh , this will be my last." Since no manuscripts have survived, some sources consider it likely that Sibelius destroyed most of the autograph scores, probably in 1945, during a year in which, indeed, a large number of documents went up in flames. wife Aino recalled:

In the 1940s there was a great car of faith in Ainola. My husband gathered several manuscripts in a basket of clothes and burned them in the dining room fireplace. Parties Karelia Suite They were destroyed—after I found traces of pages that had been torn out—and many other things. I didn't have the strength to keep presiding and I got out of the room. So I don't know what he threw into the fire. But after this my husband became more calm and gradually his mood improved.

On January 1, 1939, Sibelius participated in an international radio broadcast in which he conducted his Andante Festivo. The performance has been preserved on transcription disks and was later released on CD. It is the only extant example of Sibelius conducting his own music.

Last years of life and death

Sibelius in 1939.

From 1903, and for many years after, Sibelius lived in the country. From 1939 he again had a house in Helsinki, but moved to Ainola in 1941, visiting the city only occasionally. After the war he returned to Helsinki only a couple of times. The so-called "Silence of Järvenpää" became a myth, since in addition to the numerous official visits and his colleagues, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren also spent their holidays in Ainola.

Sibelius avoided making public statements about other composers, but Erik W. Tawaststjerna and Santeri Levas, Sibelius's personal secretary, have documented his private conversations in which he admired Richard Strauss and considered Béla Bartók and Dmitri Shostakovich the composers brightest of the new generations. In the 1950s he promoted the young Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.

Their 90th anniversary, in 1955, was widely celebrated, with both the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Thomas Beecham giving special performances of their music.

Erik Tawaststjerna also relates an anecdote regarding the death of Sibelius:

He was returning from his usual morning walk. Euphoric, he told his wife Aino that he had seen a flock of cranes approaching. “The birds of my youth come,” he exclaimed. Suddenly, one of the birds separated from the formation and turned over Ainola. Then he rejoined the flock to continue his journey.

Two days later, on September 20, 1957, Sibelius died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 91 in Ainola. At the time of his death, his Fifth Symphony , conducted by Malcolm Sargent, was being broadcast from Helsinki. He was buried in the Ainola garden.Another well-known Finnish composer, Heino Kaski, passed away on the same day. Aino lived there for the next twelve years until her death on June 8, 1969, and she was buried next to her husband.

Music

Sibelius is widely known for his symphonies and symphonic poems, especially Finlandia and the Karelia Suite. His reputation rose in Finland in the 1890s with the choral symphony Kullervo , which, like many later pieces, was inspired by the epic poem Kalevala . His First Symphony was premiered to enthusiastic audiences in 1899 at a time when Finnish nationalism was evolving. In addition to the other six symphonies, he gained popularity at home and abroad with his new incidental music and symphonic poems, especially En saga, The Swan of Tuonela and Sad Waltz. Sibelius also composed a number of works for violin and orchestra, including a Concerto for violin and orchestra, the opera Jungfrun i tornet, many short orchestral pieces, chamber music, works for piano and violin, choral works and numerous songs.

In the mid-1920s, after his Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, he composed the symphonic poem Tapiola and incidental music for The Tempest. Thereafter, although he lived until 1957, reaching the age of ninety-one, he published no further notable works. For several years, he worked on an Eighth Symphony that he later burned.

In terms of his musical style, hints of Tchaikovsky are particularly evident in his early works, such as the First Symphony and his Violin Concerto, although at one period, especially during the composition of his opera, he felt overwhelmed by Wagner. It is also possible to see more permanent influences such as Ferruccio Busoni and Anton Bruckner, but his symphonic poems draw mainly from Liszt. Similarities to Bruckner can be seen in the brass parts of his orchestral work and the generally slow tempo of his music. his music.

Sibelius progressively divested himself of the formal issues of sonata form in his works and, instead of contrasting multiple themes, focused on the idea of continuously evolving cells and fragments culminating in a big way. His later works are notable for their sense of uninterrupted development, progressing through permutations and thematic derivations. The comprehensiveness and organic feel of this synthesis has led some to suggest that Sibelius began his work with a finished idea and worked backwards, although some analysis suggests otherwise, as three- and four-note cells and melodic fragments later they are developed and expanded giving rise to "themes" of great duration.

Portrait of Sibelius of 1892 of his brother-in-law Eero Järnefelt.

This self-contained structure contrasts with the symphonic style of Gustav Mahler, Sibelius' main "rival" in symphonic composition. While thematic variation played an important role in the works of both composers, Mahler's style employed disparate themes, contrasting and with abrupt changes, while Sibelius sought to transform thematic elements slowly. In November 1907 Mahler undertook a concert tour in Finland as conductor, and the two composers enjoyed a long walk together, leading Sibelius to the following conclusion:

He told me that he admired [in a symphony] the gravity of style and the profound logic that creates an internal connection between all motives... Mahler was of the contrary opinion. "No, a symphony must be like the world. He must embrace everything. »

Symphonies

Sibelius began work on his First Symphony in E minor, Op. 39, in 1898, completing it in early 1899, aged 33. It was premiered on 26 April 1899 by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under the composer's orders, in a well-received original version that has not survived. After the premiere, Sibelius made some adjustments, resulting in the version that is played today. The revision was completed in the spring and summer of 1900, and it was given its premiere in Berlin by the Helsinki Philharmonic, conducted by Robert Kajanus on 18 July 1900. The symphony opens highly original with a somewhat desperate solo on clarinet accompanied by a faint timpani roll.

The Second Symphony, his most popular and frequently recorded symphony, was first performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society on March 8, 1902, with the composer conducting. The initial chords with their ascending progression are the motif that will be developed throughout the work. The heroic theme of the last movement with its three-note motif is played by the trumpets instead of the woodwinds. During the period of Russian oppression, he cemented Sibelius's reputation as a national hero. After its premiere, Sibelius made some changes, the fruit of which was a revised version that was premiered by Armas Järnefelt on November 10, 1903 in Stockholm.

The Third Symphony is an affable, triumphant piece with a deceptively simple sound. The premiere of the symphony was given by the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by the composer, on September 25, 1907. There are themes from Finnish popular music in the first chords of the piece. Composed shortly after he moved to Ainola, it contrasts sharply with the first two symphonies, with the clarity of its mode of expression that unfolds in the marching tones of the last movement. His Fourth Symphony was premiered in Helsinki, on April 3, 1911 by the Philharmonic Society, under the baton of Sibelius. It was written while Sibelius was undergoing a series of operations to remove a tumor from his throat. His somber tone can perhaps be explained as a reaction to his (temporary) giving up drinking. The opening bars, featuring cellos, double basses, and bassoons, convey a new approach to rhythm. It then develops into melancholy sketches based on the composer's adaptation of Poe's The Raven . The waning end is perhaps a premonition of the silence that Sibelius would experience twenty years later. In contrast to typical sonorous endings, the work ends simply with a "leady thump".

The Fifth Symphony premiered in Helsinki to great acclaim conducted by Sibelius himself on December 8, 1915, on his 50th birthday. The most commonly performed version today is the final revision, consisting of three movements, presented in 1919. The Fifth is Sibelius's only symphony in a major key throughout all of its movements.. From its soft introduction played by the horns, the work develops in rotating repetitions of its different themes with important transformations, until reaching the swan song in the trumpets in the final movement. While the Fifth had begun to deviate from sonata form, the Sixth, conducted by the composer at its premiere in February 1923, strays even further from the canons. Tawaststjerna comments that "the structure of the last movement does not follow any familiar pattern". Composed in the Doric mode, it takes some of the themes that Sibelius developed while he was working with the Fifth, as well as material intended for a concerto for violin and orchestra. Now following a purified approach, Sibelius tried to offer "fresh spring water" instead of weird cocktails by making use of the softness of flutes and strings instead of the "heavy" brass of the Fifth.

The Seventh Symphony in C major was the last symphony published. Completed in 1924, it is characterized by having a single movement. It has been described as "completely original in form, subtle in its handling of tempi, unique in its treatment of tonality, and totally organic in its growth". Sibelius's most notable compositional composition". Initially titled Symphonic Fantasy, it was premiered in Stockholm in March 1924, conducted by Sibelius. It is based on an adage that he had outlined almost ten years earlier. Although strings predominate, it features a distinctive trombone theme.

Symphonic poems

After the Seven Symphonies and the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Sibelius's thirteen symphonic poems make up his most important works for orchestra and, along with Richard Strauss's symphonic poems, represent some of the most important contributions to the genre since Franz Liszt. Taken together, the symphonic poems span the entirety of Sibelius' artistic career (the first was composed in 1892 and the last in 1925), show the composer's fascination with nature and Finnish mythology (particularly the Kalevala), and provide a comprehensive portrait of his stylistic maturation over time.

En saga ("A Fairy Tale") was first performed in February 1893, under the direction of Sibelius. The one-movement tone poem was possibly inspired by the poetic manual of Icelandic mythology Prose Edda, although Sibelius simply described it as "an expression of his mood". It begins with a dreamy string theme, which is developed by woodwinds, continuing with horns and violas, demonstrating Sibelius's ability to use orchestral color. It is the composer's first major orchestral piece and it was revised in 1902 when Ferruccio Busoni invited Sibelius to conduct his piece in Berlin. After a successful reception he wrote to Aino: "I have been recognized as an accomplished 'artist'."

The Forest Nymph, a one-movement symphonic poem for orchestra, was written in 1894. It premiered in April 1895, in Helsinki, under the baton of Sibelius, and is inspired by the homonymous work of the Swedish poet Viktor Rydberg. Organizationally, it is made up of four informal sections, corresponding to each of the poem's four stanzas, each evoking the mood of that particular episode: heroic vigour, frenetic activity, sensual love; and lastly, inconsolable sadness. Despite the beauty of the music, many critics blame Sibelius for excessively "relying" on the narrative structure of the source source.

The Lemminkäinen Suite was composed in the 1890s. Originally conceived as a mythological opera, Veneen luominen ("The Building of the Ship"), on a similar scale to that of Richard Wagner, Sibelius later changed his musical goals and the work became a four-movement orchestral piece. The suite is based on the protagonist Lemminkäinen from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. It can also be considered as a collection of symphonic poems. The second/third section, The Swan of Tuonela, is often performed independently.

Finland, probably Sibelius' best-known work, is a highly patriotic piece that was first performed in November 1899 as one of the tableaux for the Celebrations from the Finnish press. It received its public premiere after a revision in July 1900. The current title arose later, first in the piano version, and then in 1901 when Kajanus conducted the orchestral version under the name Finlandia. Although Sibelius insisted that it was primarily an orchestral piece, it became a favorite choral piece throughout the world, especially the hymn-like episode. Finally, the composer agreed that it should have this title and in 1937 and 1940 he agreed on the lyrics of the hymn, first for Freemasons and later for general use.

The Oceanides is a one-movement symphonic poem for orchestra written between 1913 and 1914. The piece, which alludes to the nymphs of Greek mythology who inhabited the Mediterranean, premiered on June 4, 1914, at the Norfolk Music Festival in Connecticut under the direction of Sibelius himself. The piece, in D major, was hailed at its premiere as "the best evocation of the sea ever produced in the history of music". It consists of two themes that Sibelius gradually develops in three informal stages: first, a placid ocean; second, a storm; and third, the powerful crash of a wave that constitutes the climax. The storm subsides, and a final chord sounds, symbolizing the power and limitless expanse of the sea.

Tapiola, Sibelius's last major orchestral work, was commissioned by Walter Damrosch for the New York Philharmonic Society where it premiered on December 26, 1926. It is inspired by Tapio, a forest spirit of the Kalevala. In the words of the American critic Alex Ross, "it turned out to be Sibelius's most serious and concentrated musical statement". Even more emphatically, composer and biographer Cecil Gray states: "Even if Sibelius had composed nothing else, this work entitles him to a place among the greatest masters of all time."

Other important works

Karelia, one of the composer's earliest works, written for the Vyborg Students' Association, was premiered on November 13, 1893 to a noisy audience. The suite arose from a concert that took place on November 23, from the overture and three movements that were published as Op. 11, under the name Karelia Suite. It remains one of Sibelius's most popular pieces.

Valse triste, now much better known as a separate concert piece, is one of six short orchestral works originally part of Sibelius's incidental music composed for Kuolema ("Death"), a play by his brother-in-law Arvid Järnefelt premiered on December 2, 1903. The waltz accompanies a sequence in which a woman rises from her deathbed to dance with ghosts. In 1904, Sibelius revised the piece for a performance in Helsinki on April 25, where it was performed as Valse triste. It was an immediate success, took on a life of its own, and remains one of Sibelius' most iconic pieces.

The Violin Concerto in D minor was first performed on February 8, 1904 with Victor Nováček as soloist. Because Sibelius barely finished the piece in time for the premiere, Nováček did not have enough time for rehearsals, resulting in a disastrous performance. After extensive revisions, the Berlin State Orchestra conducted by Richard Strauss premiered a new version on October 19, 1905. With the orchestra's concertmaster Karel Halíř as soloist it was a tremendous success. The piece has become increasingly popular. most popular and is currently one of the violin concertos composed in the XX century that has been recorded the most times.

Kullervo, one of Sibelius's earliest works, is sometimes described as a choral symphony, but is best described as a set of five symphonic movements in the style of a symphonic poem. Based on Kullervo's character from the Kalevala, premiered on April 28, 1892 with Emmy Achté and Abraham Ojanperä as soloists and Sibelius conducting the choir and orchestra of the recently founded Helsinki Orchestra Society. Although the piece was only performed five times in the composer's lifetime, since the 1990s it has become increasingly popular for both live concerts and recordings.

The String Quartet in D minor “Voces intimae”, op. 56 is his only published string quartet (1909) and his most famous chamber music work. It premiered on April 25, 1910. It was composed when Sibelius had already become an internationally famous composer. At the same time, he was immersed in a personal crisis as a result of the operation performed on him in 1908 to remove a malignant tumor in the larynx and his growing addiction to alcohol, which he had to stop for health reasons. He is in a phase of his life marked by depression, anxiety and doubts and tries to find a new personal, mature, intimate musical language.

Freemasonry

When Freemasonry was revived in Finland, after being banned during Russian rule, Sibelius was one of the founding members of the "Suomi No. 1" Lodge in 1922, and later became the Titular Organist of the Grand Lodge of Finland. He composed the ritual music used in Finland (Op. 113) in 1927 and added two new pieces composed in 1946. The new revision of the ritual music of 1948 is one of his last works.

Nature

Sibelius loved nature and the Finnish landscape often served as material for his music. He once said of his Sixth Symphony, "it always reminds me of the smell of the first snow." The woods around Ainola are said to have often inspired he Tapiola's composition of him. On the subject of Sibelius's ties to nature, his biographer Erik Tawaststjerna wrote:

Even for the Nordic standards, Sibelius responded with exceptional intensity to the states of nature and the changes of seasons: he traveled the skies with his binoculars in search of geese that overflew frozen lakes, listened to the sound of the cranes and paid attention to the groanings of the zarapitos in the pantanous lands of Ainola. He enjoyed the spring flowers at the same time as the colors and autumnal aromas.

Reception

Leevi Madetoja, one of the most remarkable students of Sibelius and great defender of his work.

Sibelius exerted a considerable influence both on symphonic composers and on musical life in general, at least in English-speaking and Nordic countries. The Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja was a student of Sibelius. In Britain, Vaughan Williams and Arnold Bax dedicated their fifth symphonies to Sibelius. In addition, reminiscences of Tapiola can be heard in Bax's Sixth Symphony and in Ernest Moeran's Symphony in G minor. Sibelius's compositional techniques can be seen in William Walton's First Symphony. When these and numerous other British symphonic works were written, during and around the 1930s, Sibelius's music was very much in was in vogue and had conductors such as Thomas Beecham and John Barbirolli as champions of their music, both in concert halls and on recordings. Walton's fellow composer and friend Constant Lambert even claimed that Sibelius was "the first great composer since Beethoven whose mind naturally thinks in symphonic form". Granville Bantock had previously defended Sibelius (the appreciation was mutual: Sibelius dedicated his Third Symphony to the English composer, and in 1946 he became the first president of the Bantock Society). More recently, Robert Simpson advocated and endorsed the Finnish composer. Malcolm Arnold acknowledged his influence, and Arthur Butterworth also saw Sibelius's music as a source of inspiration for his work.

Eugene Ormandy and, to a lesser extent, his Philadelphia Orchestra predecessor Leopold Stokowski, were instrumental in bringing Sibelius's music to an American audience by regularly programming his works. Ormandy developed a friendly relationship with Sibelius throughout his life. At the end of his life, the American critic Olin Downes was also a great supporter and wrote a biography of the composer.

In 1938 Theodor Adorno published a critique, notoriously charging the composer: "If Sibelius is good, it invalidates the standards of musical quality that have persisted from Bach to Schoenberg: the richness of interconnection, articulation, unity in the diversity, the multiple facets in a whole.” Adorno sent his essay to Virgil Thomson, a music critic for the New York Herald Tribune, who was also not a fan of Sibelius. Thomson, agreed with the general sentiment of the article, but replied that "the tone used is more likely to antagonize Adorno than Sibelius". Later, the composer, theorist and conductor René Leibowitz was more back in calling Sibelius "the worst composer in the world" in a 1955 pamphlet.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Sibelius has drawn so much praise and ire from critics is that in each of his seven symphonies he approached the basic problems of form, tonality, and their architecture of form. unique and singular. On the one hand, his symphonic and tonal creativity was novel, while others thought the music should take a different route.Sibelius was dismissive of criticism: “Don't pay attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic."

Sibelius' birthplace in Hämeenlinna.

In the last decades of the 20th century, Sibelius began to be reconsidered in a more favorable light: Milan Kundera dubbed the composer's approach "anti-modern modernism", remaining oblivious to the continuing musical advances of the time. In 1990, the composer Thea Musgrave was commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra to write a piece in honor of Sibelius's 125th anniversary: Song of the Magician was premiered on February 14, 1991. In 1984, the avant-garde composer American Morton Feldman gave a lecture in Darmstadt, Germany, where he stated that “the people who you think are radicals could really be conservatives; the people you think are conservatives may actually be radicals,” after which he began humming Sibelius's Fifth Symphony.

In 1996, Pulitzer Prize winner and music critic Tim Page stated, “There are two things that immediately need to be said about Sibelius. First, he is terribly uneven (most of his chamber music, much of his songs, and most of his piano music could have been mass-produced by a second-rate 19th century composer). in a single afternoon). Second, the best thing about him is that he's often weird."

As December 8, 2015 marked the 150th anniversary of Sibelius's birth, the Helsinki Music Center planned an illustrated and narrated "Sibelius Finland Experience Show" every day during the summer of 2015. It is also planned that the production will run through 2016 and 2017. On December 8, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds performed a commemorative concert with the works En Saga, Luonnotar and the Seventh Symphony.

Legacy

In 1972, the composer's daughters sold Ainola to the State of Finland. The Ministry of Education and the Finnish Sibelius Society reopened it as a museum in 1974. The Sibelius Museum in Turku preserves about 1,400 musical instruments and manuscripts of the composer.

Bill of 100 Finnish frames.

The 100 Finnish mark note bore his effigy until its withdrawal in 2002 following the introduction of the euro. Since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on December 8, the composer's birthday, also known as the "Finnish Music Day". During 2015, on the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, a series of special concerts and events took place, especially in the city of Helsinki. The Finnish mint also issued coins for the occasion. silver and gold euro commemoratives as well as a circulation of one million euro 2 commemorative coins. As early as 1999 silver coins with a face value of 100 marks had been issued.

Both the International Jean Sibelius Competition, which is held every five years and was instituted in 1965, and the Sibelius Monument, unveiled in 1967 in Helsinki's Sibelius Park, exist in his honour, as well as the asteroid (1405) Sibelius and the Sibelius Glacier, on Alexander I Island in Antarctica.

Sibelius kept a diary between 1909 and 1944 and his family allowed its full publication in 2005. The diary was edited by Fabian Dahlström and published in Swedish that same year. To celebrate the composer's 150th birthday, the entire diary was translated into Finnish in 2015. Several volumes of Sibelius's correspondence have also been edited and published in Swedish, Finnish and English.