Donald Macleod explores Sibelius’s battles with his Fifth Symphony, which reflected his precarious mental state.
The 1910s were a crucial decade in Sibelius’s life. He would write some of his greatest works during these ten years, including his fourth and fifth symphonies and the beginnings of his sixth. Sibelius’s meditations on the symphony and its role in his creative life are a recurring theme in the week’s programmes. This period also reflects Sibelius’s life in microcosm, including his battles with alcohol and indebtedness; his need for the stimulus of foreign travel, and the periods of creative inertia, which would decisively return during his later years. We travel around the world with Sibelius, returning to Finland at the outbreak of the First World War, which would have a major impact on his life and work, not least with the Finnish Civil War of 1918 and Finland’s subsequent independence: these were formative events for Sibelius.
In this programme, Donald Macleod hears Sibelius’s meditations on what the symphony meant to him, “more of an inner confession at a given stage of one’s life”. The symphonic form was the very core of his compositional world, always in the back of his mind, even when he was working on non-orchestral works.
Here we explore the genesis of Sibelius’s mighty Fifth Symphony, including its many aborted starts, which came to him in such quantity and quality that they spawned the later Symphonies No 6 and No 7, in addition to Tapiola. All the while, the natural world surrounding Sibelius’s home continued to inspire his work, not least the play of the seasons, and the sight and sound of sixteen swans in flight which he described as, “One of my greatest experiences! Lord God, that beauty!” This experience stayed with him for the rest of his life, and gave his symphony’s finale its theme.
Sonatina Op. 80 for violin and piano
Nils-Erik Sparf, violin
Bengt Forsberg, piano
Jokamies (Everyman), Op. 83
IV. Tanssilaulu (Dance Song)
X. Allegro molto
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor
Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis, conductor Show less