Jean Sibelius
Finland's Jean Sibelius is perhaps the most important composer associated with nationalism in music and one of the most influential in the development of the symphony and symphonic poem.
Sibelius was born in southern Finland, the second of three children. His physician father left the family bankrupt, owing to his financial extravagance, a trait that, along with heavy drinking, he would pass on to Jean. Jean showed talent on the violin and at age nine composed his first work for it, Rain Drops. In 1885 Sibelius entered the University of Helsinki to study law, but after only a year found himself drawn back to music. He took up composition studies with Martin Wegelius and violin with Mitrofan Wasiliev, then Hermann Csillag. During this time he also became a close friend of Busoni. Though Sibelius auditioned for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he would come to realize he was not suited to a career as a violinist.
In 1889 Sibelius traveled to Berlin to study counterpoint with Albert Becker, where he also was exposed to new music, particularly that of Richard Strauss. In Vienna he studied with Karl Goldmark and then Robert Fuchs, the latter said to be his most effective teacher. Now Sibelius began pondering the composition of the Kullervo symphonic poem, based on the Kalevala legends. Sibelius returned to Finland, taught music, and in June 1892, married Aino Järnefelt, daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, head of one of the most influential families in Finland. The premiere of Kullervo in April 1893 created a veritable sensation, Sibelius thereafter being looked upon as the foremost Finnish composer. The Lemminkäinen suite, begun in 1895 and premiered on April 13, 1896, has come to be regarded as the most important music by Sibelius up to that time.
In 1897 the Finnish Senate voted to pay Sibelius a short-term pension, which some years later became a lifetime conferral. The honor was in lieu of his loss of an important professorship in composition at the music school, the position going to Robert Kajanus. The year 1899 saw the premiere of Sibelius' First Symphony, which was a tremendous success, to be sure, but not quite of the magnitude of that of Finlandia (1899; rev. 1900).
In the next decade Sibelius would become an international figure in the concert world. Kajanus introduced several of the composer's works abroad; Sibelius himself was invited to Heidelberg and Berlin to conduct his music. In March 1901, the Second Symphony was received as a statement of independence for Finland, although Sibelius always discouraged attaching programmatic ideas to his music. His only concerto, for violin, came in 1903. The next year Sibelius built a villa outside of Helsinki, named "Ainola" after his wife, where he would live for his remaining 53 years. After a 1908 operation to remove a throat tumor, Sibelius was implored to abstain from alcohol and tobacco, a sanction he followed until 1915. It is generally believed that the darkening of mood in his music during these years owes something to the health crisis.
Sibelius made frequent trips to England, having visited first in 1905 at the urging of Granville Bantock. In 1914 he traveled to Norfolk, CT, where he conducted his newest work The Oceanides. Sibelius spent the war years in Finland working on his Fifth Symphony. Sibelius traveled to England for the last time in 1921. Three years later he completed his Seventh Symphony, and his last work was the incidental music for The Tempest (1925). For his last 30 years Sibelius lived a mostly quiet life, working only on revisions and being generally regarded as the greatest living composer of symphonies. In 1955 his 90th birthday was widely celebrated throughout the world with many performances of his music. Sibelius died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1957.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
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Thomas Adès - Jean Sibelius : Violin Concertos
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da AVIE Records il 3 mar 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies nos. 1-7, En Saga, Finlandia & Night Ride and Sunrise
Kurt Sanderling, Berlin Symphony Orchestra
Sinfonie - Pubblicato da Berlin Classics il 31 mag 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Silbelius: Finlandia - Valse Triste - The Swan of Tuonela - Pelleas & Melisande Suite - Karelia Suite
Orchestra of the Sofia Opera, Ivan Marinov, Slovenian Symphony Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Int - Bertus il 30 set 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphony No.2, The Oceanides, Pohjola's Daughter
Classica - Pubblicato da Halle Concerts Society il 6 mag 2013
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Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 5, 7 & En Saga
Hallé Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder
Musica sinfonica - Pubblicato da Halle Concerts Society il 8 apr 2016
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Sibelius: En Saga and Symphony No. 7
New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert
Classica - Pubblicato da New York Philharmonic il 30 set 2016
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Jean Sibelius, Symphony No. 2 In D, Op. 43
Classica - Pubblicato da Classical.com Music il 16 feb 2009
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Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
Jean Sibelius, Christian Lindberg, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da EUROPEAN GRAMOPHONE il 11 apr 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius and Barber: Violin Concertos
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da MSR Classics il 11 giu 2013
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Tchaikovsky, Sibelius: Violin Concertos
Vaclav Hudecek, Jiří Bělohlávek , Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pyotr Illitch Tchaïkovski, Jean Sibelius
Classica - Pubblicato da Supraphon a.s. il 4 feb 2002
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Sibelius: Canzonetta in G-Sharp Minor, Op. 26a (Digitally Remastered)
Chamber Ensemble of Culture Symphony Orchestra, Guennadi Rosdhestvenski
Classica - Pubblicato da EMG Classical il 29 giu 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 'From the New World' / Sibelius: Finlandia
Chineke! Orchestra, Kevin John Edusei
Classica - Pubblicato da Signum Records il 7 lug 2017
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Sibelius - Great Recordings
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 7 dic 2020
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Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 & 5 The Swan of Tuonela
Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Jean Sibelius, Akeo Watana
Classica - Pubblicato da Denon il 1 gen 2010
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Nordic Lights
Edvard Grieg, Carl Nielsen, Jean Sibelius
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 18 lug 2020
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Finlandia: Finland Independence Day
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 5 dic 2020
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Sibelius: The Essential Orchestral Favourites
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto, Leif Segerstam, Jean Sibelius
Classica - Pubblicato da Ondine il 11 nov 2014
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Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47 (1945)
Classica - Pubblicato da The Digital Gramophone il 8 gen 2014
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Sibelius: Emotions
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 15 set 2022
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Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 - The Swan Of Tuonela - Finlandia (Alternate Mix)
Classica - Pubblicato da YOYO USA, Inc. il 1 gen 2006
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Sibelius: Essential Recordings
Classica - Pubblicato da UME - Global Clearing House il 5 dic 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo