{"id":1229,"date":"2009-05-11T22:55:48","date_gmt":"2009-05-12T02:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1229"},"modified":"2018-08-09T15:54:51","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T19:54:51","slug":"sibelius-symphony-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1229","title":{"rendered":"Sibelius Symphony #1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Akseli<\/a>

Akseli Gallen-Kalle\u00adla\u2019s paint\u00ading Sym\u00adpo\u00adsium<\/em> made in 1894. Sym\u00adpho\u00adny #1 was com\u00adplet\u00aded in 1899. From left: Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Oskar Merikan\u00adto, Robert Kajanus and Jean Sibelius. They were a clique of young bon vivants<\/em> in Helsin\u00adki. Sibelius had already devel\u00adoped his trade\u00admark scowl. Kajanus would con\u00adduct the symphony.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jean Sibelius\u2019s Sym\u00adpho\u00adny No. 1 in E minor, Opus 39 was writ\u00adten in 1898, and first per\u00adformed the next year. Sibelius was aged 33, but he had been com\u00adpos\u00ading seri\u00adous\u00adly for less than ten years. The sev\u00aden sym\u00adphonies con\u00adsti\u00adtute a cor\u00adpus of work that begins with the con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal sym\u00adphon\u00adic form and grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly evolves into an entire\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent approach. Stand\u00ading at the begin\u00adning of this process, the First is essen\u00adtial\u00adly con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal in form. Its resem\u00adblance to Tchaikovsky\u2019s sym\u00adphonies is so obvi\u00adous that most lis\u00adten\u00aders will spot it instant\u00adly, but it also dis\u00adplays many of Sibelius\u2019 dis\u00adtinc\u00adtive man\u00adner\u00adisms. The first move\u00adment begins with a long clar\u00adinet solo over a tim\u00adpani roll, and you can\u2019t get any more Sibelian than that. The finale, as always with Sibelius, is a nose-thumb at the con\u00adven\u00adtions of the time. While it is a Late Roman\u00adtic piece, with the emo\u00adtion\u00adal the\u00adatri\u00adcal\u00adi\u00adty asso\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded with that era, con\u00adduc\u00adtors tend to exag\u00adger\u00adate its con\u00adfor\u00admi\u00adty to the tem\u00adplate by ignor\u00ading Sibelius\u2019 clear\u00adly marked tem\u00adpi, and play\u00ading the first move\u00adment in a \u201cgrander\u201d style than he intend\u00aded. In mod\u00adern record\u00adings, only Osmo V\u00e4n\u00adsk\u00e4 seems to con\u00adduct it as indi\u00adcat\u00aded. Either way, it is not a mere begin\u00adner\u2019s work. It can hold its own with most of the reper\u00adtoire of major sym\u00adphonies reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly per\u00adformed in con\u00adcert halls. Despite being far away from the arcane splen\u00addours of the lat\u00ader sym\u00adphonies, I still find pas\u00adsages from it pass\u00ading through my head at idle moments. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, I don\u2019t have a copy of the V\u00e4n\u00adsk\u00e4 ver\u00adsion. I reg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly play the Col\u00adin Davis one. But of spe\u00adcial inter\u00adest, and avail\u00adable on CD<\/span>, is the first record\u00ading ever made, that of Sibelius\u2019 inti\u00admate friend Robert Kajanus, made in 1930 with the Lon\u00addon Sym\u00adpho\u00adny. This is an amaz\u00ading per\u00adfor\u00admance, essen\u00adtial to every seri\u00adous Sibelian, but it would not sat\u00adis\u00adfy today\u2019s audio\u00adphiles. It\u2019s a dig\u00adi\u00adtal trans\u00adfer from 78rpm shel\u00adlac discs and cylin\u00adder record\u00adings. This prob\u00ada\u00adbly rep\u00adre\u00adsents the com\u00adposers inten\u00adtions more than any oth\u00ader record\u00ading. Lean\u00ader, mean\u00ader, much sharp\u00ader and less grandiose.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jean Sibelius\u2019s Sym\u00adpho\u00adny No. 1 in E minor, Opus 39 was writ\u00adten in 1898, and first per\u00adformed the next year. Sibelius was aged 33, but he had been com\u00adpos\u00ading seri\u00adous\u00adly for less than ten years. The sev\u00aden sym\u00adphonies con\u00adsti\u00adtute a corpus \u2026<\/p>\n

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