In 1917, Finland also found itself at war with Russia after its declaration of independence from that country. Composing, frequently difficult for Sibelius even under the best of circumstances, was made even harder by his ill health (he was misdiagnosed with throat cancer in 1916).įrom 1914–18, the chaos and brutality of World War I engulfed Europe. In the years 1910–14, Sibelius struggled with the desire to be perceived by the world as a “modern” composer, but at the same time he rejected the prevailing styles established by Debussy, Mahler, and Strauss. Sibelius’ attempts to write a version of the Fifth Symphony that withstood his implacable self-criticism were hampered by personal problems and global upheaval. Always his own harshest critic, Sibelius struggled to give voice to his original musical conception of this strong, complex work over a period of six difficult years. “These symphonies of mine are more confessions of faith than are my other works,” wrote Jean Sibelius in 1918, while working on his third revision of his Symphony No. Some background notes from David Danzmayr for the Oregon Symphony: This week's selection is Jean Sibelius' Symphony no. You can go back to that thread to share your thoughts if you want, Welcome to another week of our music listening club! The piece of the week we listened to last time was Reger's Variations and Fugue on a theme of Bach.
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