Jean Sibelius is usually credited with inventing the musical “voice” of Finnish nationalism in the late nineteenth century, a time during which national identity was a hot musical topic. The challenge he set for himself was steep: he wanted to create music that sounded Finnish but did not directly imitate Finnish folk music. As he shared with his wife Aino, “I would not wish to tell a lie in art…But I think I am now on the right path. I now grasp those Finnish, purely Finnish tendencies in music less realistically but more truthfully than before.” In 1899, he composed Finlandia, the work most strongly associated with this effort. That same year, he also composed his very first symphony. First performed in April 1899, the work invites comparisons with the music of Russian composers Borodin and Tchaikovsky, yet the melodic and rhythmic gestures associated with his unique musical voice are already firmly in place.

The opening Andante, ma non troppo begins with a striking introduction: a long-limbed, melancholy melody for clarinet with little accompaniment. Equally memorable is the music to which it leads—a yearning, lushly romantic theme in the violins that quickly cedes to the full orchestra. The melodies that dominate the ensuing Andante (ma non troppo lento) sound related, yet not derivative. The driving Scherzo offers a somewhat lighthearted break before the Finale (Quasi una fantasia): Andante; Allegro molto that recapitulates the symphony’s passion and pushes it even further to new expressive heights. 

—©Jennifer More, 2022