Jean Sibelius"The Finn Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), together with Edvard Grieg, is the most prominent and popular composer to have emerged from Northern Europe. Although he is known primarily as a symphonist, his Violin Concerto and some smaller works such as the symphonic poem Finlandia have also become staples of the orchestral repertoire. His music is quintessentially the product of the natural landscapes (physical, ethnic, historical and political) of his native country, his inspiration frequently coming from literature, such as the Finnish epic Kalevala. Throughout his life Sibelius oscillated between a vision of himself as a cosmopolitan figure in European music, and the nationalist tone-poet closely tied to Finland's move towards independence. His creative output reflected this dualism, between the abstract and the programmatic, the classical and the romantic, with himself as both high priest of the symphony and perpetrator of light music pot-boilers. In his homeland he attained monumental status, becoming his country's primary cultural export. For so public a figure, however, much of his life has been shrouded in mystery. Sibelius himself became increasingly selective about details of his life, not least his creative output in the last three decades when he released very few new works. As this new study shows, Sibelius was plagued by self-doubt throughout his life and frequently sought refuge in alcohol. The long silence of his final thirty years was in reality bound up with the composition of his Eighth Symphony which he ultimately destroyed. This is the first single-volume biography on Sibelius in English to be published in nearly a decade, and it includes much new material not previously available." --Book flap. |
Contents
Introduction | 9 |
Chapter | 10 |
The Forging of Thors Hammer 191419 | 121 |
Copyright | |
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Adolf Paul Aino Aino's Ainola Andante April Armas Järnefelt baritone Berlin Breitkopf Busoni cantata Carpelan cello and piano Choral chorus and orchestra composer composer's composition Concert Suite conductor critics Eero Eero Järnefelt Eighth Symphony Erik Fantasia February Fennoman Fifth Symphony final Finland Finlandia Finnish fp Helsinki fp probably G minor German Gothenburg Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Hämeenlinna incidental music Janne Jean Sibelius Johan Runeberg Kajanus Kalevala Karelia Kullervo later Lemminkäinen Lienau Loviisa Mahler major male chorus March mixed chorus month movement Neeme Järvi November Oceanides October opera Overture Pelléas performance Philharmonic pieces play Pohjola's Daughter première published Revised version Ride and Sunrise Rosa Newmarch Russian Scaramouche score Sibelius's music Six Songs solo Sonata soprano string orchestra string quartet summer Swan of Tuonela Swedish symphonic poem Symphony Orchestra conducted Tapiola text by Johan tone-poem transcription Turku Valse triste Vienna Viktor Rydberg violin and piano Violin Concerto Voces intimae voice and piano Wegelius