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Home , Aino Sibelius, Jean Sibelius, Santeri Levas

Taking the measure of Finnish composer

By John Bechtel Critics and intellectuals attempt to out of your reverie by a sound akin to Freelance culture and travel writer Or do they? be the taste makers and curators of In a book, yes. In music, maybe not. the dropping of a stack of dishes on usic is a language, and it has a vocabulary all of culture, and their opinions are often Who decides such things? a marble floor, and that in turn being its own. Without understanding the structure, derived from the prevailing philosophy How would you evaluate a composer drowned out by a deafening earthquake the themes, chapters, paragraphs, sentences, and of a civilization and time period of who intentionally seems to be taking of sound? What’s going on? You are grammarM of music, it can bore us or enthrall us, without which they are also a part. They are you in one direction, either joyful or trying to understand. You are not sure our ever knowing why. Music is a more direct, unfiltered generally knowledgeable in a narrow grim, and who then changes direction what you are feeling, and you are not communication to our emotions than spoken language, as field, and often have a high opinion very dramatically and unexpectedly, sure what the composer wants you to happens when we find ourselves stirred by instrumental of their opinions. They do not always leaving you the listener, quite uncertain feel. music and either can’t hear or understand the words. agree with each other, and sometimes about what he is doing or where he is What if the musical score repeats Both literature and music are part of a society’s the general population ignores what taking you? What if you are hearing itself, over and over, haltingly, then culture, and opera and orchestral music are they say and makes their own choices. serene and calm, almost library- picking up strength, then halting once considered aspects of high culture, aka high art, as induced drowsiness, only to be shaken (Continued on page 00) distinguished from popular (hoi polloi) culture. Popular opinion is derided by critics High culture implies the stamp of approval by as evidence of ignorance, poor taste, upper class experts, the aristocracy of a society, or a mob response, unless of course, who take it upon themselves to speak for popular opinion mirrors their own. everyone else in matters of taste and what is Critics can make or break careers of good and moral, sophisticated and intellectually those in the arts; they can be arrogant challenging. They seek to define for the masses and nasty, and they can be very, very the difference between what sells well in the wrong. George Orwell once declared, free market, and what in their opinion has high “Some things are so preposterous only intrinsic value but needs to be subsidized by an intellectual could believe them” but tax dollars specifically because it doesn’t sell the fact is, intellectuals have often well. Commercial sales can be measured, but taken entire civilizations down paths intrinsic values are highly subjective. Critics they lived to regret. make judgments on both quality and taste, which are not the same thing. Evaluating quality is a technical exercise; passing judgment on style or The architecture of music taste is telling others whether or not to eat steak, In music, the smallest unit of a regardless of how well it is prepared. complete musical form is called a phrase. It could be roughly compared Critics as politicians of culture to the words in a sentence separated by These experts usually achieve recognition as such with a comma or a period. The composer, or their appointments as critics by big name newspapers and writer, takes a small breath so to speak, other media. They tell us what movies to see, what books to before proceeding on. Those pauses in read, and the difference between music and noise. They tell us music are called cadences, tiny reposes. the difference between a romance novel and classical literature There are limits to this analogy, but Portrait of Jean Sibelius at (even though the latter often contains romantic content); the let’s compare musical notes to the age 70 by Finnish artist and art difference between what people like and what they ought to letters of the alphabet, and the group professor Eero Järnefelt, 1935. like. They tell us what art is and what it isn’t, and what should of notes that are separated by a vertical impress us and what should be passed over or horrify us. They line in musical notation called a bar, provide us with predictions of what will pass the test of time or measure, are the words. A phrase, and what is only a fad. Critics are often labeled intellectuals composed of notes and measures, is and thought leaders. They teach the teachers and the teachers part of a larger thought or theme. There teach everyone else. has to be some kind of coherence in a body of work, as you move from phrase to phrase. The sentences need to seem like they belong to each other, that they Young Sebelius with violin. SHEET MUSIC: JWPEPPER.COM

are part of an integrated whole. WWW.TARISIO.COM PHOTO:

O SUMMER 2018 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | SUMMER 2018 O (Continued from page 00) does he seek to go in new directions, can interpret the message, with no Classical period Jean Sibelius was born in 1865 more, sort of like a man stumbling and risk the ire of the critics? Or the guarantee that the interpretation of to Swedish-speaking parents in The Classical period was from 1730 to 1820 and was marked along, falling down, then getting up disregard of the paying public? their work will match the composer’s Hämeenlinna, . His father was by the rise of melody, light elegance, variety and contrast, and the again, over and over? What if the How would you evaluate the intentions. a doctor who mismanaged money, and introduction of many new instruments in the . This is music stops? What happened? Was this composer? Would you like him? At Composers are a global community; when he died (when Jean was three partly because music was increasingly patronized by the nobility, a tragedy? What if, at the end of the this point, you might be glad to have if they do not know each other years old), he left his family bankrupt. , you still can’t quite figure a music critic tell you what to think, personally, they at least know of each and therefore available outside the Church. Public concerts and The family moved in with Jean’s out the plot? Was there a plot? to explain to you what you just heard. other, and they are influenced by each operas became popular in most cities in Europe. The music, with the mother’s sister, and Jean was raised in Musicologists have said that But how does the critic know what other’s work, even that of the deceased development of new instruments, became more complex. Composers a mostly female environment. When symphony music is rotational music; was in the head of the composer when ones. Styles develop in musical became more mobile and did more traveling to visit with each other he was a toddler he crawled beneath that in every symphony there are he wrote these notes? What was the composition, just as they do in fashion and they became sources of inspiration to each other. There was less his mother’s square , associating certain ideas that come around composer thinking? The critic may and haircuts. Conservative styles stay choral and more instrumental music. The compositions became musical notes with the colors in the rug. again and again. They maintain that know enough to technically identify in fashion longer and change less. But more abstract and detached from storytelling. The compositions were Born Johan, he changed his first musical form is all about the mean how the composer coaxed certain people, both the patrons of the arts given technical titles such as Piano No. 1 in , and name to the French Jean in early between unrelieved repetition and sounds from his orchestra, but all you and the creators, tire of the same thing, there was a heavy emphasis on the technical aspects of composition adulthood. He went to law school, but unrelieved alteration. Unrelieved know is whether you liked it or not. and want to push the boundaries of and musical form. You will recognize the names of Haydn, Mozart, didn’t like it. He loved the violin, but repetition is when you fall asleep their art; they want to experiment. Schubert, Bach, and Beethoven from the Classical period. didn’t begin formal training with it during a symphony performance, and Musical historical periods Through periods that lasted 100 to until he was fifteen years of age, and alteration is when you wake up because 150 years each, certain identifiable Romantic period was encouraged to switch his interests of a dramatic and loud change in the in Western culture characteristics achieved dominance to composing. The Romantic period was from 1780 to 1910. Towards the end music. The crescendo continues until Composers do not compose in in the world of musical composition, Finland was a border region, and it of his life Beethoven transitioned from the Classical period to the it, in turn, is relieved by a return to the a vacuum; they are all a part of a and became ‘schools of thought.’ We was not always clear to whom a Finn’s Romantic period in his compositions. These musicians wanted to original repetitive score. particular culture and time period, give these periods of time in Western loyalty belonged. Jean was raised in a throw off the restraints of their forebears and write music with more When a composer sits down to including political events, the evolution culture labels, and three of them that Swedish culture, and Finnish was his appeal to the emotions; love, hate, grief, death, the stuff of life. Many create his piece, what influences his of their profession, and of course, impacted composer Jean Sabilius are second language. His violin teacher of the composers were also orchestra conductors and showmen. There style? Does he seek to conform to what money and the criticisms of others. briefly described hereinafter. The dates was the Russian Mitrofan Wasilieff, and were even more new instruments introduced into the , and other composers (and critics) have Theirs is a lonely profession; they write are of necessity somewhat arbitrary, although he showed influences from the introduction of the tone poem (also called the ), established as the acceptable norm? Or in code, and only other musicians controversial, and overlapping. Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky a one-movement work evoking a story or poem. A school called in his work, Jean joined forces with the the Nationals favored compositions based on folk songs, national Finnish independence movement. histories, and patriotic storytelling. You will recognize Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Verdi, Puccini, Liszt, Chopin, Dvorak, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Wagner, Berlioz, and as mentioned above, Beethoven from this period. As a late Romantic composer, much of Jean Sibelius’s early work was based on stories drawn from the legends of the Finnish . The early Modern period The early Modernists of 1890to 1930 thought the Romantic compositions were over-indulgent, and wanted music for music’s sake, and stories, poems, and histories were excess baggage. There was experimentation with atonalities, and connections between harmonies became tenuous. It became more difficult to identify styles of music, and there were fewer guidelines for both conductors and listeners. This became a very difficult time for late Romantic composers trying to adapt to a new world in music. A number of

them simply stopped composing. You may recognize Mahler, Strauss, ALBUM: BIS RECORDS Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Debussy, Bartok, Prokofiev, and Jean Sibelius In the best Romantic fashion, from this early Modern period. Sibelius’s first major success was , an eighty-minute tone poem PHOTO: WWW.TARISIO.COM PHOTO: based on the Kalevala legend about a Jean Sibelius, circa 1880s. Jean Sibelius as a transitional composer warrior by the same name. This young man raped a woman, only to discover . that she is his sister. She commits PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA.COM PHOTO: {{{ suicide; he goes to war, to return later Sorting the daily mail. Sibelius’ private secretary , wife, , to the scene of the rape, only to throw and Jean Sibelius in the library, 1940-1945. (Continued on page 00)

O SUMMER 2018 | SCANDINAVIAN PRESS SCANDINAVIAN PRESS | SUMMER 2018 O (Continued from page 00) of-step, much as septuagenarians today Germany. With the world in flames, himself on his sword in remorse. might feel technologically challenged Sibelius now saw nothing but the Kullervo premiered in in 1892 and outdated. obliteration of his income, legacy, and to enthusiastic audiences, and Sibelius produced reputation. Had he come this far just spent the rest of the decade composing only five major works from 1917 until to lose it all to politics? He writes in and performing more tone-poem his death in 1943: He commented, “I his diary: “The tragedy begins. My pieces, such as , the feel like a ghost wandering in a world burdensome thoughts paralyze me. The Suite, and Finlandia. grown alien. I cannot cast out the old cause? Alone, alone. . .” way of writing, and I cannot acquire The Seven the new. I have made intense effort to Celebrity composers in Sibelius composed seven feel the musical manner of today, but little countries it will not come to me. . . .I cannot cast symphonies, and you can hear his Composers from small nations out my musical gods in a moment and Sibelius style evolving from the Romantic to have some unique problems. Because SIBELIUS FOUNDATOIN PHOTO: the Modern as his career progresses. bend the knee to new ones.” of the small size of their country of disappointment when it isn’t. It is as if His Second Symphony was widely Sibelius felt it too: “Not everyone origin, they have an astonishingly they want all innovation to stop once perceived as Finland’s Symphony of can be an innovating genius.” After his intense culture. But small countries you produce something they really like. Independence, but it is not clear that tone poem in 1926, Sibelius have the same problems as small towns: But sometimes the public gets one over Sibelius intended it as such. Both of only created minor pieces, and from everyone knows everyone, and envy on the critics by recognizing something his first two symphonies were big 1940 to the end of his life in 1957 he rears its ugly head. To be innovative of real, enduring value that they remain Romantic era pieces, and he was able to composed nothing at all. is to break the rules, and that can loyal to. combine his initial style with Finland’s be taken as arrogance—to separate In 1955 a critic named Rene growing national self-awareness in yourself from the pack. You can be Sibelius and the Nazis Leibowitz wrote a paper entitled: a pas de deux. He wrote patriotic ostracized and isolated. Becoming Later in life, Sibelius benefited by “Sibelius: The Worst Composer in anthem-sounding pieces, but that isn’t SYMPOSION GALLLEN KALLELA PHOTO: a national hero can be a burden. being viewed favorably by the Nazis, the World.” No one remembers Mr. what his compositions were really Akseli Gallén-Kallelan painting of Jean Sibelius, right, and his drinking friends Small countries tend to have celebrity . possibly because his early work with Leibowitz, but audiences are still about. It was a case of his Finnish composers: in Norway, far more concerned about perfection commissioned by Finland in honor mythology and nationalism resonated flocking to Jean Sibelius’ performances. audiences finding what they were Antonin Dvorak in the Czech Republic, of form in his music than in any stories of his 50th birthday, and it has a with them. Sibelius, in 1935, accepted Sometimes popular sentiment gets it looking for, and Sibelius was pleased to and in Denmark. his compositions might tell. most peculiar ending. You can listen a Goethe Medal that Adolf Hitler right. support the independence movement. Jean Sibelius wrote frequently In his forties, Sibelius got throat confirmed with his signature. From He was rewarded with a 10-year to it online for free. The same can about a supposedly completed Eighth cancer and thought he was going to die. at least 1941, he drew a German pension that was eventually extended be said for his Seventh and last Symphony. Then one day his wife saw A heavy drinker and often depressed, pension that was worth half the average for the rest of his life, and he became Symphony. Even though Sibelius lived him throwing much of his remaining he struggled with manic-depressive German annual income. In 1942, Third the only 20th century composer to an additional three decades, this one work in the fireplace. There was no more extremes of behavior. In 1927, when Reich officials approved the founding become a legend in his own lifetime. seems to flatly declare, ‘That’s all, folks.’ talk of an Eighth Symphony. Much of he was 61, he wrote, “Isolation and of the German Sibelius Society. As a Nordic (Aryan) composer, he Sibelius’ work that was appropriated as loneliness are driving me to despair Other Challenges patriotic may have been him grieving Sibelius was considered by some got rave reviews from Germany, and . . . In order to survive, I have to about a vanished youth, something few as the last master in the grand Jean Sibelius suffered from perennial was almost considered a German artist, have alcohol . . . Am abused, alone, money problems, in spite of having of us are immune to as we age. That may Beethoven symphonic tradition. His his performances exceeding those of and all my real friends are dead. My been granted decades of subsidy from also be a key to the universal appeal of in was first . He purportedly even prestige here at present is rock-bottom. Finland and growing income from some of his pieces. performed in 1904 and today is the wished an audience of Nazi troops a Impossible to work. If only there were copyright fees. Fame did not help most recorded violin concerto of the a way out.” speedy victory. with either money or the alcoholism. Jean Sibelius is not only the most 20th century. For a short time Sibelius gave up his Defenders of Sibelius say at the Sibelius often conducted his own famous composer in Finland’s history, hard-living lifestyle and sank into dark worst, he was vain, childlike, and liked works, and he was known to drink he established a permanent place in His appeal was not universal. In melancholy. His Fourth Symphony his money. He valued his acclaim in before a performance and disappear for Finnish culture for classical music. 1940, critic and composer Virgil reflects his frame of mind. Even though Germany, because Finland viewed days afterward. A well-known painting Finland spends vast amounts of money John Bechtel is a professional Thomson, writing for the much of the romantic era music was Germany as a cultural mecca. Finland by his friend, Finnish artist Akseli for performance halls, orchestras, Herald Tribune, called his Second emotional and melancholy, Sibelius’s itself had a complex relationship with freelance writer for the food, Gallen-Kallela entitled “The Problem” opera houses and music schools. Symphony “vulgar, self-indulgent, and technique with the Fourth Symphony depicts Sibelius drinking with his Germany. It was the Soviet Union that wine, and tourism industries; provincial beyond all description.” was clearly Modern. One conductor friends, with his eyes rolled back in his invaded Finland first, in 1939, and the ghostwriting non-fiction books; Paris and Germany ignored him, but he described this piece as an essay on how head. He obviously had a very hardy Finns viewed Germany as a foil against And the critics? Sibelius said: and web content strategist for “Never pay any attention to what achieved celebrity status in the U.S. and to be happy—and failing—on purpose. constitution. the Bolshevik threat. So in 1941 it allied businesses. Britain. Ironically, this symphony is the darkest In some respects he successfully itself with Germany, partly to avoid a critics say. . . . A statue has never been In his Third Symphony, Sibelius piece Sibelius ever wrote, but he lived managed the transition from hostile takeover, and partly to regain set up in honor of a critic!” As for the Follow him on his website: www. distances himself style-wise from another 49 years, to die at almost 92 to modernism. Survivors territory lost to the Soviets. masses, after a composer creates a big johnbechtelwriter.com romanticism. In a famous conversation years of age. of a previous era in music development Then, in 1944 Finland began a hit, the public always wants the next with fellow composer Mahler, he was His Fifth Symphony was often left some old-timers feeling out- seven-month Lapland war against pieces to be just like it, and show their

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