There’s an inextricable and glorious connection between
Jean Sibelius’s music and Finland.
Finlandia,
Kullervo and dozens of other Sibelius works were inspired by Finnish folk literature (primarily the Finnish epic poem, the
Kalevala) and the country’s forests, lakes and wildlife. One might argue that Sibelius is the sound of Finnish music.
It’s ironic that Sibelius (1865–1957) grew up in a Swedish-speaking home in a country that was hardly a country at all, because at the time of Sibelius’s birth, Finland was a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. But a national identity was already forming. He learned the Finnish language in a progressive school and studied Finnish traditional literature. Sibelius might have sharpened his musical skills in Berlin and Vienna, but his first great successes as a composer were pieces that celebrated Finnish culture:
Kullervo, the epic work for vocal soloists, male chorus and orchestra based on the
Kalevala; and
Finlandia, his great patriotic tone poem. Sibelius was at the heart of an intellectual movement that would eventually give birth to a Finnish nation.
Every September for the past decade, the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra has paid homage to “Janne” with the International Sibelius Festival—a long weekend of concerts devoted to his music. The orchestra, formed in 1949, has grown and expanded its repertoire over the years. In 1988, when
Osmo Vänska became principal conductor, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra became a frequent visitor to the recording studio, where it made numerous award-winning albums for the Swedish record label BIS. Spanning repertoire from
Beethoven to contemporary Finnish master
Kalevi Aho, the orchestra’s discography is eclectic and consistently excellent; it is far and away the finest Sibelius orchestra.
When Robert von Bahr founded BIS in 1973, he hoped to realize his dream of recording Sibelius’ music, “every note he ever wrote.” In 1986, Sibelius scholar Andrew Barnett helped von Bahr lay the groundwork for the epic Sibelius Edition, a 13-volume set of recordings that’s one of the greatest single composer collections ever created. The final volume, devoted to miscellaneous works and music by composers in Sibelius’s circle, will be released in September and Ariama will have it for you.
The Lahti Symphony’s new principal conductor,
Okko Kamu, is now the Sibelius Festival’s artistic director. This month, Maestro Kamu will lead the orchestra in a series of concerts of the complete Sibelius symphonies. Kamu and the orchestra will also record all the symphonies for BIS and the set will be released in 2015 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Finland’s greatest composer.
Ariama’s editor, Craig Zeichner, will be at the festival and will report on daily events on the Ariama
blog. Be sure to watch for these updates and check out our selection of outstanding albums by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
by Craig Zeichner
