(orchestra tuning up)
- What happens to a composer when their defining feature,
that special quality that distinguishes them from all others
falls out of fashion?
Having once been heralded as the poster boy
for Finnish music, by 1911, Jean Sibelius
was engulfed in a deep personal crisis.
His life's work, inspired by the landscape
and legends of his beloved homeland,
was in danger of being seen as nothing more
than a nationalistic frivolity.
His diary tells us, "Been down the last few days.
"The 'Berliner Tageblatt' maintains
"that my earlier works were good,
"but that now my imagination has deserted me.
"It's difficult to live this life."
In the early 20th Century, composers were searching
for a new musical language, something to follow
the romanticism of the 19th Century.
Although Sibelius had been a successful export for Finland,
he now found himself trying to compete
with cutting edge composers
such as Stravinsky and Schoenberg.
And with war raging in Europe,
was his picture postcard sound still relevant?
Composed throughout the entire duration
of the First World War, Sibelius's 5th Symphony
took quite some time to perfect.
Sibelius conducted its premier in Helsinki
on his 50th birthday, which had been declared
a national holiday in his honour.
So in Finland, at least, Sibelius was still a celebrity
and his new symphony was well received.
But Sibelius was a ruthless perfectionist.
"I am ashamed to say it, but I am again
"working on the 5th Symphony.
"I am wrestling with God.
"I'd like to give my new symphony another,
"more human form, something closer to the earth,
"something more alive."
Exactly one year later, on his 51st birthday,
a second, reworked version of the Symphony was performed,
but now the reaction wasn't so positive.
Sibelius immediately withdrew the work,
dismantled it entirely, and start to rebuild it
from the ground up.
So it wasn't until the 24th of November, 1919,
that the music would find its final and most perfect form.
And interestingly, after so many revisions,
it now contained just three movements
and not the original four.
(SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5, I)
The Symphony begins with a call from the French horns.
Sibelius then presents a series of tiny musical fragments,
like seeds which are planted into the woodwind section.
These seeds start to grow upwards,
a bit like a flower starting to bloom.
But then, something new arrives.
Notice how this music flows with a wave-like motion.
In the first minute of the Symphony,
we meet three musical ideas, all of which
have roots in nature.
Unusually, they're all introduced
by the woodwinds and horns.
The string section, who are normally
the lifeblood of a symphony, are yet to play a note.
These three ideas are so compact,
it's difficult to think of any of them as full-blown themes.
They're really just tiny fragments
which Sibelius manipulates throughout the movement.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, I)
Notice that the string section has now finally joined in,
though their persistent motion
starts to disrupt this idyllic scene.
Then all of a sudden, things become far more threatening.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, I)
Sibelius is famous for creating vast,
beautiful landscapes in sound,
bringing Finland into the orchestra.
So why does this music sound so unsettled?
Well there are three possible answers.
War, depression, and ill health.
The 5th Symphony was composed
during a period of incredible turmoil,
with the First World War and Finnish Civil War
profoundly affecting Sibelius's life.
Plus, his inner confidence was shattered
and he'd undergone 14 surgeries,
the last of which removed a tumour from his throat.
With all that, it's not surprising
that there are darker moments in the Symphony.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, I extract)
When this symphony evokes darkness,
irrespective of whether that's a bleak Finnish winter
or something far more personal, that darkness is created
using the notes of a chromatic scale.
On a keyboard, the chromatic scale
simply moves to the closest possible note
using all available pitches.
(Plays a chromatic scale)
It has a much tighter sound than a conventional scale.
It feels like you're being constrained.
(Plays chromatic notes on keyboard)
Structurally, the first movement
is just one big accelerando.
Think back to how slow and measured
the opening horn call was.
But by the end of the movement, it sounds
more like a whirlwind has arrived in the orchestra.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, I)
The second movement begins with a long sustained chorale
in the winds and horns, whilst a pizzicato theme
appears in the strings.
And that poses a bit of a problem to the listener.
Which one is the tune?
What are you supposed to focus on?
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, II)
These two ideas are so disparate.
It's like you're listening to two different pieces of music
at the same time.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, II)
If you look at these ideas separately,
there's nothing to them.
They're both very straightforward, unremarkable, even.
It's what happens to them next that's most interesting.
Sibelius adds dissonant notes into the wind chorale.
Basically, he puts wrong notes into his score.
And of course, they clash with everything around them,
well until they're resolved and replaced
with the right notes, whilst underneath,
the pizzicato theme in the strings
turns into an elegant dance.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, II)
The second movement is basically a set of variations,
so we hear several different versions of the same material.
One of the tricks Sibelius uses
to make these variations sound different
is to alter the speed of the music.
Though when things slow down,
you don't get to relax for long.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, II)
The third and final movement is an electrifying finale.
This music seems to fizz and sparkle
and it begins at breakneck speed.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, III)
Sibelius has saved something very special for this finale.
We know that inspiration for the music
arrived on the 21st of April, 1915,
because in his diary he wrote,
"Today at 10:50 AM, I saw 16 swans,
"one of my greatest experiences.
"Lord God, that beauty, they circled over me
"for a long time, then disappeared into the solar haze
"like a gleaming silver ribbon."
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, III)
It's amazing music, and at its heart
is a glorious theme representing the 16 swans
played by the French horns, and it's known as the Swan Hymn.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, III extract)
Although it's nothing more than a simple
repeating sequence of notes, this music
perfectly embodies the image of flying swans.
Just look at its shape:
This theme is the work of a genius.
Sibelius battled for years to find the perfect shape
for the Symphony, and he eventually succeeded
by carefully controlling its tempo.
Think back to the first movement.
It started slowly but gradually got faster.
Whilst here, it starts off like a racehorse,
but then slows to a majestic finale.
The perfect form turned out to be nothing more
than a simple arc.
And it's no surprise that in the closing bars,
the brass section triumphantly sing out the Swan Hymn.
But then something quite unexpected happens.
(SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5, III)
Sibelius struggles to find the perfect final chord.
(chord)
And it's definitely not that one.
(chord)
But that's Sibelius down to a T.
He's a perfectionist
(chord) who always gets things right in the end.
(final chords)