Sibelius Five and Inspiration

Conductor Delta David Gier, SDG’s Associate Artistic Director, recently lead the South Dakota Symphony in performances of one of my favorite orchestral works, Jean Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony. While I was nowhere near Sioux Falls when the concerts were given a week or two ago, I did enjoy a bit of video interview that Maestro Gier gave in connection with the performances (I’ve included links below).

Jean Sibelius in 1939In particular, an anecdote Gier shared from Sibelius’ diary (in video #5) was especially interesting and has come to mind several times since. The concluding movement of the composer’s fifth symphony is marked by a glorious melody. This I knew and appreciated already, but what was previously unknown to me was the inspiration behind the theme. As Gier relays, the music is tied to a moment of awe in which Sibelius was struck by the beauty of a flock of swans seen near his home at Lake Tuusula in Finland. Wrote Sibelius:

“…Today at ten to eleven I saw 16 swans. One of my greatest experiences! Lord God, what beauty! … Their call, the same woodwind type as that of cranes, but without tremolo. The swan-call closer to the trumpet … A low-pitched refrain reminiscent of a small child crying. Nature mysticism and life’s Angst! The Fifth Symphony’s finale-theme: legato in the trumpets!”

What a profound interplay of expression, human and Divine. Sibelius’ words revel in an impulse that, to me, is inspiring - to perceive and receive mystery and beauty, signatures of the Divine, in the natural world around us and to find in one’s own soul a deep resonance and response. Could there be anything more noble to stir the composer’s creative spirit? Of all music’s many layers, uses and reasons, to me the sensitivity to move in imitative re-creation, however finite, to God the First Creator, is the most endearing of all.

Interestingly, Delta Gier recently remarked that to him, Sibelius’ spiritual orientation is not entirely evident. This thought, too, I find intriguing - that a God-given perception of beauty can be so intuitively and perhaps independently hardwired to its source. As far as labels go, Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony is not a work one might properly call “sacred music”, but at its core it it is spiritual and oriented toward the sacred. At least that’s how I’m inclined to receive it, having glimpsed this seminal exchange between composer, Creator and creation.

The videos below are part of a series of interviews by David Xenakis, a member of the South Dakota Symphony’s board of directors. Other music addressed in the series include Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, Loel Libermann’s Piano Concerto and Puccini’s Tosca. Video links are posted on the South Dakota Symphony’ s website, and they are worth checking out.

1) Sibelius and his style of composition
2) The influence and view of the work of Sibelius
3) The Sibelius search for musical unity in light of modern composition styles and the development of the 5th symphony.
4) The melodic structure of Sibelius Symphony #5
5) Sibelius Symphony #5 from the conductor’s point of view

I poked around elsewhere and found a video (below) that captures a great performance of the fifth symphony’s final movement. Finnish conductor/composer Esa-Pekka Salonen directs the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy.

January 30, 2008 | Filed Under Recommendations, Videos | 4 Comments