Jean Sibelius

The creative work of Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957), Finland’s national composer par excellence, is closely linked to the awakening of the national movement in his homeland in the 19th century. Sibelius frequently derived his inspiration from traditional Finnish legends, fairy tales and sagas. This inspiration was purely material, and only on rare occasions did Sibelius actually make use of traditional folk melodies. It can generally be said that none of the essential elements of his composition can be traced back to the folk music of Finland. 

The orchestral works form the core of his creative output. As a composer, Sibelius works with themes and motifs which remain essentially unchanged, together with fixed elements from which he creates innovative, often generously dimensioned soundscapes that merge into individual, non-schematic forms. Despite this originality, Sibelius still clings to 19th-century musical tools with which he creates something new and in contrast to the music around him, which is characterised by revolutionary upheavals.

Sibelius grew up in a family of enthusiastic musicians, but the idea of practising music professionally was far removed. He started as an autodidact and only began violin lessons at the age of about 15. He finally studied violin and composition with renowned teachers in Helsinki, Berlin and Vienna. For a long time, Sibelius was unaware of his creative talent and wavered between a career as a violinist or as a composer. An unsuccessful audition with the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1891 brought the decisive turning point. He abandoned the plan of becoming a professional violinist, and at the same time discovered the orchestra as a medium for transporting his ideas as a composer. In the following year, he composed the symphonic poem “Kullervo” based on a subject taken from the Finnish national epic “Kalevala”. This was his first large-scale work and brought the young composer instant fame in his homeland when it was first performed in April 1892. His Symphony no. 2 (1901/02) later gained international recognition. His works were performed frequently, particularly in Germany and the USA, and Sibelius, the conductor, soon received invitations from across the world.

The Symphony No. 3, composed from 1904 onwards, marked a certain stylistic turnaround in his creative work. His previous works had tended towards the ornamental, but his compositions now became increasingly more ascetic and austere and adopted a more independent formal structure. After completing his symphonic poem “Tapiola” in 1925, Sibelius, who had suffered from lifelong self-doubt, and whose composing style had been isolated from musical development elsewhere, finally fell silent. Although he composed no new works, the royalties from his previous compositions, which continued to be performed across the world, brought him prosperity. Jean Sibelius died in 1957, more than 30 years after his last major composition.