Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius wrote music steeped in northern light, from the seven symphonies and Finlandia to intimate cello pieces, lullabies and songs that carry the same cool passion in miniature.
The symphonies form the spine of his output, moving from late-Romantic sweep toward a leaner, granite clarity. Around them stand tone poems drawn from the Kalevala and the Finnish landscape, the Violin Concerto with its dark lyric line, and Finlandia, whose hymn-like close has travelled far beyond the concert hall. Smaller forms hold the same northern colour. The Four Pieces for cello and piano, Op. 78, pass from a passionate Romance through a quiet Religioso to a light Rigaudon. A Berceuse from Op. 79 and songs such as The Tryst show how little space he needed to say a great deal. Nature, myth and a fierce sense of place run through almost everything he wrote.
Compositions by Jean Sibelius appear on
Northern Cello
Music for cello from northern European composers. Zoe Knighton and pianist Ian Munro centre the programme on Grieg’s romantic sonata, with Sibelius’s Op. 78 pieces, Vasks’s solo Gramata Cellam and Pärt’s Fratres.
Songs and Praises
Favourite hymns from the Australian Hymn Book, Vol. 3. Choir and organ fill Trinity College Chapel, Melbourne, with the thrilling sound that hymn lovers know so well.