Sibelius, Symphony No 2 in D major, Opus 43.

Composed in 1901-02 and first performed in Helsinki (the capital city of Finland) conducted by Sibelius on 8 March 1902, where it was an immediate success.
Sibelius wrote the initial plans for the second symphony whilst in a mountain villa in Italy in 1901. This trip was funded by his friend and patron Axel Carpelan, who Sibelius later dedicated the symphony to.

Sibelius rejected the claim that the second symphony was a patriotic battle hymn.

Listening Points

Sibelius’ music paints pictures of Finnish landscapes – close your eyes and see if you can picture the landscape whilst listening.
Listen out for the way the brass section creates a choral sound at climactic moments.

Notice how the different sections of the orchestra are heard in blocks i.e. one idea in the strings and another in the woodwind, often with one section answering another.

Movement I: Allegretto
Unison strings open the symphony, quickly answered by a unison folk-like melody in the woodwind.
Notice how Sibelius sweeps the orchestral sound up into beautiful tutti sections with rich harmony and then suddenly takes it all away leaving a solo instrument.
Listen out for the pizzicato section in the strings, which accelerates into a woodwind melody with ascending scales in the violins. The opening theme returns.
Towards the end of the first movement there is a section for the brass accompanied by high trills in the violins.
After another climax, the first movement slows down with a quiet ending in D major.

Movement II: Tempo Andante ma rubato
This movement was sketched in Florence and the Italian mountains – the idea behind the main theme originates from the story of Don Juan.
The opening timpani roll is followed by pizzicato lower strings – listen to how the pizzicato idea is initially in the foreground, but later becomes part of the background to accompany the bassoon melody.
Listen to the abruptly changing moods, for example a loud brass section followed by legato strings with flute solo.

Movement III: Vivacissimo
The opening is in 6/8 with scurrying violins playing very fast and quiet, often behind slower moving melodies.
The interrupting slow section is a beautiful oboe solo that is reminiscent of the opening of the symphony.
The 6/8 section from the opening returns, followed by the solo oboe before a long build up to the grand finale – there is no gap between the third and fourth movements.

Movement IV: Allegro moderato
The strings have a 3 note theme accompanied by low brass and timpani, with a grand answering call from the trumpets – see if you can spot this dotted theme when it returns later.
The second theme, in a minor key, appears over a swelling figure in the lower strings. This swelling accompaniment is built on and used towards then end of the symphony to create the final climax

JEAN SIBELIUS 1865 – 1957

Finnish, nationalistic composer.

Sibelius came from a musical family and learnt the violin from the age of 14.

Whilst a music student in Helsinki, Sibelius adopted his first name ‘Jean’ as his music-name, having been christened Johan Christian Julius Sibelius.

Sibelius pursued his study as a violinist with the intention of becoming a soloist until composition gradually took over as his major interest, which he studied in Berlin and Vienna. He initially composed studies for the violin and chamber music.

The majority of Sibelius’ later compositions are orchestral, including 7 symphonies. He often addressed nationalistic and political subjects in his works.

After destroying his completed eighth symphony, Sibelius did not write any more music for the last 25 years of his life.

Sibelius was a central figure in creating a voice for Finnish music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nationalism was thriving in Finland around this time following release from Swedish control (from 12th to early 19th century) and the threat from the Russian Revolution in 1917. Sibelius was seen as a national hero.