The Snowshoed Sibelius

[Turner]

Finland, as I was told back in my Danish school, The Land of a Thousand Lakes, so an easy option ... 

[aukhawk]

The question is how much do these cover images condition our response to the music. 
I know Sibelius frankly stated that he was strongly influenced by the natural beauty and grandeur that surrounded his home - so this is 'nature music', no question about that really - - but I prefer to listen to music as an abstract thing, and as one who likes Sibelius' late symphonies a lot I am often a bit annoyed when I can't get these images out of my head ...

[Karl Henning]

Amusing how pictures of lakes seem to be pretty much standard on recordings of Sibelius!

Aye.

[Turner]

I have nothing against those landscape pictures, having grown increasingly fond of the Nordic wilderness & cultural traditions with age. Of course, Nature was of extreme importance, as a means of communicating artistic messages, in his days.

Sibelius himself was indeed quite photogenic, as regards an expressive, physical presence, but showing portraits of him can get tiresome as well. And conductor´s portraits on record covers are certainly much too plentiful as well.

Btw, the relatively old Philips series of the symphonies conducted by Colin Davis probably represented an attempt to renew the visual imagery, by presenting Edvard Munch pictures, where the human figures and their moods have more importance:
https://www.google.dk/search?hl=da&biw=2049&bih=993&site=imghp&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sibelius+lp+philips+davis&oq=sibelius+lp+philips+davis&gs_l=psy-ab.3...132866.134251.0.134514.6.6.0.0.0.0.126.568.0j5.5.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.0.0.eupnWRzymIo

[aukhawk]

Ah yes - interesting, those.

[Florestan]

The question is how much do these cover images condition our response to the music. 
I know Sibelius frankly stated that he was strongly influenced by the natural beauty and grandeur that surrounded his home - so this is 'nature music', no question about that really - - but I prefer to listen to music as an abstract thing, and as one who likes Sibelius' late symphonies a lot I am often a bit annoyed when I can't get these images out of my head ...

Music is not, and cannot be, "an abstract thing" because music is created, performed, and listened to, by human beings --- and as such, there are no less than three inescapable levels of bringing in a heavy cultural, psychological and ideological baggage. Just saying (for the umpteenth time )

[relm1]

Does this make you think of Sibelius?


or does this make you think of John Adam's City Noir?

[Brian]

Actually I once put on Sibelius' Seventh Symphony in the car while driving on an expressway through central Dallas very very late at night - after midnight - when the traffic was gone and the city was a stark monumental landscape. And you know what? It was freaking perfect. One of the best Sibelius listening experiences I've ever had. Something about the cool aloofness of a huge metropolis at night pairs perfectly with his music. Try it some time!

[Karl Henning]

You're on!  Excellent suggestion.

[Karl Henning]

Actually I once put on Sibelius' Seventh Symphony in the car while driving on an expressway through central Dallas very very late at night - after midnight - when the traffic was gone and the city was a stark monumental landscape. And you know what? It was freaking perfect. One of the best Sibelius listening experiences I've ever had. Something about the cool aloofness of a huge metropolis at night pairs perfectly with his music. Try it some time!

I shall try it in eleven days 

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Classical CD Of The Week: Hidden Sibelius Gems
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/09/06/classical-cd-of-the-week-hidden-sibelius-gems/

[Madiel]

Yay. I have that one, I chose it precisely because it collected a group of interesting works that usually get buried.

[vandermolen]

Great new performance of Tapiola and En Saga. Tapiola sounds slower than usual to me at the start, is beautifully recorded and is as moving a performance as I have ever heard. Haven't got round to the orchestrated songs yet:
[asin]B074YJSLDD[/asin]

[North Star]

Great new performance of Tapiola and En Saga. Tapiola sounds slower than usual to me at the start, is beautifully recorded and is as moving a performance as I have ever heard. Haven't got round to the orchestrated songs yet:

That sounded alarming but I see the track length is just a bit over 18 minutes, so while it's slower than Berglund or Vänskä, it's certainly not dragging too much.

[vandermolen]

That sounded alarming but I see the track length is just a bit over 18 minutes, so while it's slower than Berglund or Vänskä, it's certainly not dragging too much.

No, it doesn't drag at all - just a matter of emphasis in my favourite section a couple of minutes in. I expect that it may have been here that the British composer Arnold Bax was described as listening with tears streaming down his face. It is especially, in my view, poignant in this performance.

[relm1]

Great new performance of Tapiola and En Saga. Tapiola sounds slower than usual to me at the start, is beautifully recorded and is as moving a performance as I have ever heard. Haven't got round to the orchestrated songs yet:
[asin]B074YJSLDD[/asin]

I thought this was a fabulous release.  Very fine interpretations in a gorgeous recording.  Full of atmosphere and mythology.  Highly recommended.

[André]

In all honesty I don't need another Tapiola or En Saga, but it just so happens that they are my 2 favourite orchestral works of Sibelius (ex-symphonies), AND that I have never heard any of the songs. So that would be a nifty purchase for me, especially considering the very favourable comments I'm reading here...

[Dancing Divertimentian]

In all honesty I don't need another Tapiola or En Saga, but it just so happens that they are my 2 favourite orchestral works of Sibelius (ex-symphonies), AND that I have never heard any of the songs. So that would be a nifty purchase for me, especially considering the very favourable comments I'm reading here...

The songs are awesome. See my OP.

[North Star]

Happy 152th birthday to Janne too

[Mirror Image]

Happy 152th birthday to Janne too

+1