Sibelius Symphony No.2

SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN D MAJOR (Op. 43) Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Sibelius was born on 8^th December 1865, the son of a military doctor at Hämeenlinna in Finland. He did not show any particular music aptitude until he started to learn to play the violin. Initially he nurtured the ambition to be a professional violinist, but after a failed audition to join the Vienna Philharmonic, he seriously took up composition, with his first successful work being the Kullervo Symphony in 1892 which established his reputation and financially enabled him to marry Aino Järnefelt, sister of the composer of the well-known song, Berceuse. After further successes, Sibelius became almost a national hero to the extent that at the age of only 31 he was uniquely granted a life pension by the Finnish government so he could concentrate on composing.

Like the Helios Overture in the first half of the concert, the second symphony was largely inspired in the Mediterranean which may explain its warmth compared to much of Sibelius’s music. Sibelius started work on the symphony while staying at Rapallo, Italy in 1901 getting over the death of his youngest daughter from typhus.

In Italy, Sibelius originally started work on a four-movement orchestral fantasy on the subject of Don Juan, but soon decide to write a pure symphony instead with which Sibelius said in a letter that he had ‘fallen fatally in love’.

The D Major Symphony was first performed at a series of four sold out concerts in Helsinki in March 1902 where it was enthusiastically greeted by Finns as a symphony of freedom (Finland was under Russian rule until 1917), although Sibelius denied that the work had any such meaning.

The second symphony shows some influence of Borodin, Wagner and even Bruckner, although it is unmistakably by Sibelius. It is unusual, in that it basically starts as fragments which only come together as the work progresses. Sibelius described this as; ‘It is as though the almighty had thrown the pieces of a mosaic down from the floor of heaven and told me to put them together’.

I. Allegretto – The symphony starts with a series of string chords which preface a rustic theme played by the oboes and clarinets invoking the pastoral life of the Finns. After another idea by the horns and it all being thoroughly worked over, there is a pizzicato string passage which introduces a song of passionate longing in the woodwind. After a triumphant climax the movement quietly ends with the repeated string chords with which it began.

II. Tempo Andante ma rubato – In this large movement the Scandinavian coldness is most apparent, starting with the roll of timpani and pizzicato strings. Then the bassoons enter with a sombre theme which represented Death’s visit from the abandoned Don Juan project. After a strident climax and silence, there is a moment of total peace which builds to another climax with a haunting motif from the lower half of the orchestra. After a rather Mediterranean conversation between the trumpet and flute, there is a passage with hurrying strings, heavy falling figures and piercing woodwind. Apparently this was inspired by an experience Sibelius had while staying in a mountain hut one night, when he heard a mysterious repeated knocking on the door, but there was no one there and no tracks in the snow! All this is subjected to what Sibelius called “a spiritualised development” with the movement ending fortissimo.

III. Vivacissimo – The exuberant third movement is actually a scherzo with much scurrying strings and a poignant folk-like melody from the oboe invoking the patriotic spirit of the Finns. After the trio has been repeated twice, there is a bridge passage which builds seamlessly into the finale.

IV. Allegro moderato – The finale starts like a great journey across the Finnish wastes with the melody accompanied by a persistent two note rising figure from the tuba and basses. This is interrupted twice by an elegiac expression by the woodwind, over heaving strings. This was in memory of Sibelius’s sister-in-law who tragically committed suicide. However, the sorrow is overcome and the symphony builds momentum with trumpet fanfares and ends majestically and exultantly in deliverance from tyranny.

Programme notes by Jonathan Hodgetts