Sibelius: Violin Concerto / Sinding: Violin Concerto No. 1

Description

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957):Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 Serenade in G minor, Op. 69bChristian Sinding (1856-1941):Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 45 Romance in D major, Op. 100The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born in 1865,the son of a doctor, in a small town in the south ofFinland, the language and culture of his family beingSwedish. It was at school that he was to learn Finnishand acquire his first interest in the early legends of acountry that had become an autonomous grand-duchyunder the Tsar of Russia, after the defeat of Charles XIIof Sweden. Throughout the later nineteenth centurythere were divisions between the Swedish-speakingupper classes and the Finnish-speaking people, thecause of the latter embraced by influential nationalistsand accentuated by the repressive measures introducedby Tsar Nicholas II, before the revolution of 1905. Inthis society Sibelius was deeply influenced by hisassociation with the family of General Jarnefelt, whosedaughter Aino became his wife. Neverthelesslinguistically Swedish remained his mother tongue, inwhich he expressed himself more fluently than he couldin Finnish.The musical abilities of Sibelius were soon realised,although not developed early enough to suggest musicas a profession until he had entered university inHelsinki as a law student. His first ambition had been tobe a violinist. It later became apparent that any abilityhe had in this direction was outweighed by his gifts as acomposer, developed first by study with MartinWegelius, then with the pedantic Becker in Berlin andwith Goldmark and, more effectively, Robert Fuchs inVienna.In Finland once more, Sibelius won almostimmediate success in 1892 with a symphonic poem,Kullervo, based on an episode from the Finnish epicKalevala. There followed compositions of particularnational appeal that further enhanced his reputation inHelsinki, including the incidental music to the patrioticstudent pageant Karelia, En Saga and theLemminkainen Suite. During this period Sibeliussupported himself and his wife by teaching, as well asby composition and the performance of his works, but itproved difficult for him to earn enough, given, as hewas, to bouts of extravagance, continuing from his daysas a student. In 1896 he was voted the position ofprofessor at the University of Helsinki, but thecommittee's decision was overturned in favour ofRobert Kajanus, the experienced founder and conductorof the first professional orchestra in Helsinki. Asconsolation for his disappointment Sibelius wasawarded a government stipend for ten years, and thiswas later changed into a pension for life. The suminvolved was never sufficient to meet his gift forimprovidence, inherited, perhaps, from his father, whoat his death in 1868 had left his family in somedifficulty.Sibelius continued his active career as a composeruntil 1926, his fame increasing at home and abroad. Thesuccessful Symphony No. 1 of 1898 was followed by thestill more successful Finlandia. Busoni had tried toarr