Posted on 12/08/2015 7:14:14 AM PST by Borges
Jean Sibelius, born 150 years ago on Dec. 8, 1865, was the first Finnish composer to reach an international audience, but his popularity began at home. In the late 1890s, Finland was a part of the Russian empire and its people were striving for independence. Sibelius, who would struggle with alcoholism and loneliness, found a way to express their frustrations and hopes through patriotic pieces like Finlandia — and less obviously in his seven symphonies.
Sibelius' stature outside Finland swayed severely during the composer's long life (he died in 1957 at age 91). In 1940, critic and composer Virgil Thomson, writing in the New York Herald Tribune, called the Second Symphony "vulgar, self-indulgent, and provincial beyond all description," while conductors in England and America clamored to perform Sibelius' music.
"He is one of the great symphonists," Steinberg, who died in 2009, told NPR seven years earlier. "And 'great' is a word I'm inclined to be fairly stingy with. I am so moved by the strength of the vision, the individuality of the vision. Here is an unmistakable voice that says, in virtually every phrase, 'Jean Sibelius was here.'"
Steinberg sat down to talk with NPR about Sibelius and his seven symphonies (an Eighth was composed but mysteriously disappeared). The audio excerpts that follow here are doubly satisfying — not only to recall Steinberg's enlightening yet down-to-earth way of explaining music, but also to hear the sounds of a composer whose symphonies evoke the great forests and fables of Finland and adventures far beyond and deep within.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Classical
The 2nd is truly beautiful.
I’ve always liked the stark, sparing quality of Sibelius’ later orchestral music, particularly his 7th symphony. It’s a shame that he burned his 8th symphony and barely wrote a single note for the last 30 years of his life.
Have ‘em all and love them. The Finnish wife, of course, agrees.
Other than the Karelia Suite, which I like, I am not familiar with his other works.
Sibelius, one of my favorites along with Mendelssohn and others.
The second symphony seems to be everyone's favorite, I'm more a fan of the less "lush" 3,5,7. His violin concerto is worth checking out too.
As is the Fifth (”Inextinguishable”)
The “Inextinguishable” is Nielsen, not Sibelius.
Ach - you are right. Insufficient coffee in brain. I do admire the works of both composers, though. I have most of their works on LPs.
Wonderful, wonderful music!
While I love the 2nd, the end of the 5th is one of the greatest emotional rushes in the repertory.
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