Gunnar Sundberg finds parallels between the orchestral works of
Sibelius and Bax, though some appear rather forced; to take just one example, I can hear how the First World War affected Bax's music, but I am less less able to recognize its influence on
Sibelius's, despite Sundberg's observations to the contrary.
In addition to this musical overview, there was an all-day symposium on December 6 under the general aegis of Professor James Hepokoski of the University of Minnesota.(2) Professor Hepokoski gathered together eminent Sibelians from the United Kingdom, Finland, and the United States to ponder such topics as "The Development of a Voice: Influences on
Sibelius" "Controversies Surrounding
Sibelius" and "The Legacy of
Sibelius." The upshot: over the figurative dead bodies of Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg,
Sibelius's music still commands a large and fervent audience.
The penultimate symphony in the
Sibelius season, his 6th, will be performed at the Gateshead venue by Royal Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Olli Mustonen, on May 5.
Sibelius is the only Finnish composer of commanding international stature.
Sibelius, himself a fine violinist, starts the work at a gallop and maintains momentum all the way through.
It will be equally enthralling to see what Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy makes of
Sibelius' Symphony No 5 when he conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance of the work at St David's Hall, Cardiff on March 18.
There is an unswerving logic to
Sibelius symphonic music, often coupled with a sense of fear and trembling, but almost always ending with a satisfying sense of peaceful closure, which hopeful will bring comfort to Clive James as he listens to them.
I can't say that I was exactly teleported to the apogee of Empire in 1910, nor did I sniff pine needles but the Slaithwaite Phil, conducted by Benjamin Ellin and led by Michele Northam, gave us very good accounts of Elgar's Symphony No 2 and
Sibelius's Symphony No 5, both of which are key early 20th century works, even if they did stand apart from the mainstream of musical development.
but also the texts of telegrams and postcards) shared between
Sibelius and his passionate British advocate, Rosa Harriet.
Newmarch was to be a big player in establishing
Sibelius as a household name: her 1906 lecture on his music, published as Jean
Sibelius: A Finnish Composer (Leipzig: Breitkopf and Hartel, 1906), became the first book-length treatment of his music in any language (as Bullock notes on pp.
Musition 4 is a significant upgrade for
Sibelius's excellent and exhaustive music theory program.
Spurred maybe by his own Finnish roots, Oramo can deliver outstanding
Sibelius, but maybe he or the players were suffering from
Sibelius overload in Coventry.
