Leader, BERTRAM LEWIS
Conductor, RICHARD AUSTIN
Solo violins,
JELLY D'ARANYI and ADILA
FACHIRI
Relayed from
The Pavilion, Bournemouth
The Symphony in E minor, written in 1899, was not actually Sibelius's first symphony, for as early as 1893 he had written a choral symphony, ' Kullervo '. But ' Kullervo ' has never been published, and is not reckoned in the list of the composer's symphonic compositions. When Sibelius wrote his E minor Symphony at thirty-four he had not yet completely found his own way. The Symphony is far less austere. far more easily approachable than his later, more mature works. But though romantic and colourful in a vein that Sibelius has long abandoned, it could have been written by no one but him. The striking, passionate chief theme of the first movement, the grim scherzo, the magnificent finale—all bear the stamp of Sibelius's unique mentality.