Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 5
The long career of Jean Sibelius is inextricably bound with the recent
history of his home country, Finland -- and not simply because he is that
country's most famous composer. Born during increasing Russian repression in the
1870's that led to a Finnish nationalistic movement, Sibelius attended one of
the first Finnish-language schools, in Hämeenlinna. His schooling in Finnish
literary tradition provided him the thematic basis for much of his life's work,
as his musical compositions consistently referred to the Finnish mythological
cycle, the Kalevala, for inspiration. Indeed, some of his early successes as a
composer were symphonic poems based on tales from the Kalevala: Kullervo (1892)
and the Lemminkäinen Suite, which includes his well-known Swan of Tuonela
(1893). His other inspiration came from the very landscape around him: the
mountains, lakes, and river valleys of Finland. By 1897 his work was considered
so important to his country's culture that the Finnish government gave him a
pension for life so he could compose his works undisturbed by more mundane
matters.
In 1913, when Sibelius began work on his fifth symphony, his music was known
for its novel groupings of instruments, striking harmonic shifts, and resonant
orchestral colors. But he was also withdrawing from the tides of modernism that
he felt engulfed him with either self-indulgence (Mahler, Richard Strauss) or
incomprehensibility (Debussy, Schoenberg). His work went slowly, beset as he was
by troubles both personal (marital tensions, struggles with alcohol) and
political (the growing war that would cut off his German royalties). Yet he
still felt inspired, as he wrote in September of 1914: "In a deep valley
again. But I already begin to see dimly the mountain that I shall surely ascend
... God opens His door for a moment and His orchestra plays the Fifth
Symphony." He completed his first revision of the work in 1915, premiering
it on his fiftieth birthday in December, celebrated as a national holiday. He
was not yet satisfied with the piece, however, and presented another version in
1916. World war abroad coupled with the isolation brought by the Finnish civil
war prevented him from completing the symphony until 1919, when he premiered it
in its final form in Helsinki on November 24.
The version of 1915 had four movements, but for the 1919 revision he
completely rewrote the first movement, compressing it and the Scherzo of the
original second version into one movement with two distinct, though
interrelated, parts. The third movement, he wrote to a friend, contained
portions of the original first, while he reworked the fourth to make it
"stronger ... triumphal." The result is perhaps his most distinctive
example of the "profound logic," the concentration and relation of
harmonic structure he felt every piece of music should possess.
The first movement's two parts (Tempo molto moderato and Largamente, followed
by Allegro moderato and Presto) treat the same thematic material in two distinct
ways. The horns and woodwinds introduce the theme in a series of naturalistic
calls, seemingly calm, but growing to what music analyst Donald Tovey calls a
"cloudy chromatic trembling" in the strings, while the "original
figure moans in the clarinet and bassoon" (marked lugubre and patetico).
The development continues with whirling figures in thirds by pairs of woodwinds
and increasing agitation in the strings, building to the restatement in a
broader, almost heroic form. Suddenly the first theme is part of a dance tune,
and the movement transforms into the original symphony"s scherzo. This
section gradually accelerates from allegro moderato to presto, ending on a
repeated chord that consists of the four notes of the horn call from the
movement's opening.
The second movement, Andante mosso, quasi allegro, presents a series of
variations on a rhythmic theme containing two groups of five quarter notes,
separated by a quarter rest. This theme, presented first in pizzicato by the
strings, is contrasted with sustained notes from the woodwinds, balancing motion
against stillness--but not tranquility. The extended notes can become dissonant
against their moving counterparts, while a series of sliding calls by the
trombones and swelling chords from brass and timpani lend a vaguely threatening
aura. However, Sibelius brings the movement to a delicate close with a quiet
final statement of the rhythmic motif.
Music analyst Michael Steinberg notes that the moving figure of the second
movement is twice supported by the bass playing a "swinging" figure in
octaves and ninths -- a figure which becomes the second theme of the final
movement. This figure was inspired by the sight of a flock of flying swans,
which Sibelius described in a sketchbook: "One of my greatest experiences!
Lord God, that beauty! ... Nature's mysticism and life's angst!" Sibelius
introduces this motif following a perpetual-motion whirring (Allegro molto) from
the strings in the symphony's original key of E-flat. Two pairs of horns begin
antiphonal calls, the "swan song," which, contrasted against another
rhythm and melody in the woodwinds and cellos, presents an indelible image of
majestic movement (Misterioso). This motion grows to an increasingly complex
climax, when the tolling theme slows and stretches over building, sometimes
dissonant chords, as if it were breaking apart. As the movement slows to
Largamente assai, we seem to be developing to a broad, triumphal ending -- but
then Sibelius surprises us. A series of six isolated pulses rings out, four
chords and two unisons, that bring the work to an imperious, astonishing close.
February 23, 2003
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