THE STORY
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was passionately involved in the late 19th-century cultural movement called “Karelianism,” which advocated for the Karelia area located in Finland’s eastern tip.
He was commissioned by students from Helsinki University to compose music for a tableau honoring the history and culture of Karelia.
Sibelius noted in a letter to his brother that when Karelia Music was premiered, barely a note could be heard over all of the cheering and clapping.
The original Karelia Music included 11 movements, but much of the work was lost; it is believed to have been burned when Sibelius set fire to many of his manuscripts in 1945.
What remains is this three-movement suite that Sibelius created from selected sections of the original work. The suite has a nationalistic character, with rustic melodies and a sense of nobility that brings to mind the vast wilderness of Finland.
LISTEN FOR:
• A march-like theme in the Intermezzo, which represents a procession of Karelian laborers paying taxes
• The horn solo in the Ballade, evoking a minstrel entertaining a 15th-century king in his castle
• The exhilarating march of the third movement—which is in a light and sunny mood, although the original tableau that the music was taken from depicted a battle
INSTRUMENTATION:
Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings.