![]() The coming into being of the Sixth Symphony took even longer. The first version of the Symphony was premiered on the composer’s 50th birthday, Decemthe second version exactly a year later and the final version on November 24, 1919. ![]() The first diary entry that refers to it is from July 25, 1914: “Got a wonderful theme!” The sudden appearance of a musical idea marked the beginning of a compositional process that, in this case, proved to be particularly difficult and took several years. In the summer of 1914, after having returned from America, where he had conducted the world premiere of his tone poem The Oceanides at the Norfolk Festival, Sibelius began to work on his Fifth Symphony. Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, harp, and stringsįirst Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: January 20, 1983, Michael Tilson Thomas conducting There are two main reasons for this uneasy feeling: 1) the seemingly traditional sequence of movements, each with its own character, turns out to be a continuum of remarkably unified thematic material 2) there is no clear order in key relationships. ![]() But the listener’s expectations are thwarted, leaving him/her disoriented. Sibelius’ Sixth Symphony, the “Cinderella” of the series, has not reached the popularity of its predecessor, but, for many Sibelian connoisseurs, it is the finest.Īt first the Sixth appears more traditional than the Fifth: its four movements resemble (in character and sequence) those of a classical symphony. ![]()
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