Soon, the other instrumental voices spring to life, and we are swept into a wild and joyful romp. It’s a single melodic thread which seems to be self-organizing, working out every motivic combination as it pushes forward. The first movement begins with a rustic peasant dance in the cellos and basses. Sibelius wrote to a friend,Īfter hearing my Third Symphony Rimsky-Korsakov shook his head and said: ‘Why don’t you do it the usual way you will see that the audience can neither follow nor understand this.’ The initial audiences were bewildered by this bold new music. As a symphonist, Sibelius admired “severity of form, and the profound logic that created an inner connection between all the motives.” In the Third Symphony, the composer’s distinctly austere sound world comes into full focus. Set in three movements, it is music which moves away from the overt Romanticism of Sibelius’ previous symphonies to embrace a newfound purity and classicism. You can hear all of this in Sibelius’ Symphony No. Similar circular, repeating phrases can be found throughout Finnish folk music. Often, it unfolds in a way which feels static and circular, seemingly influenced by Finland’s land of the midnight sun, where the cycle of day and night is replaced by extended periods of light alternating with darkness and gloom. It can be simultaneously icy, brusk, brooding, austere, and eternally soulful. Jean Sibelius’ music is filled with the magic and mystery of ancient northern woods.
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