Product Description
Full orchestral scores of Finlandia, Valse Triste, The Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkainen’s Return, En Saga, Pohjola’s Daughter, Night Ride and Sunrise, and The Oceanides. Masterly compositions reveal the Finnish composer’s great gifts for thematic development and formal structure, as well as his ability to infuse his music with strong, tightly reined emotion. Reproduced directly from authoritative German editions. Table of contents. List of instruments.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Jean Sibelius/Kalevala: the connection.
This book explains the rich life of one of our great musical composers.

Early in his career Sibelius began setting lines in Finnish
from the Kalevala.These became symphonic poems.From there
he wrote a violin concerto and seven symphonies.

His musical works and personal life are well discussed in this
book. The photographs form an important part.

Recommended!

Dag Stomberg
St.Andrews, Scotland

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Product Description
Three of the most popular modern violin concertos, reproduced from authoritative European and Russian editions: Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47—among the most played and recorded of all violin concertos; Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B Minor, Op. 61, a ravishing combination of bravura and sweetness; and Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 82, a masterpiece of lyricism and virtuosity. Instrumentation.
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Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Presentation of Great 20th Century Violin Concertos
This excellent set of scores, published by Dover, brings Dover's consummate work at a reasonable price. The editors do a marvelous job of staying true to the original text from which their reprints are derived. The print is clear, and the staves are nice and distinct. (The only concern maybe that too much erasing could permanently wipe off the ink on the page.) Instruments are clearly labled and numberings of key pts. in the concerti help a lot. I highly recommend this book to any music enthusiast, and especially to all violinists who are playing, or will play, any of these great violin concerti. ... Read more

Product Description
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is perhaps Finland's most important musical figure. His beautiful compositions, inspired primarily by Finnish landscapes and literature, helped to form a national identity for his homeland. Sibelius' innovative symphonies and descriptive tone poems encapsulate his desire to create 'pure' music, and have become staples of the orchestral repertoire all over the world. This intriguing biography, which includes previously unavailable material, examines the life and work of this radical yet understated composer.


Jean Sibelius is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information. This edition of the book features a whimsical new cover by Jean-Jacques Sempé, the world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Well-Written Biography of Jean Sibelius!!!
Guy Rickards' biography of Jean Sibelius is probably the most throroughly written document on the great Finnish composer who lived from December 1865 to September 1957.
Greatly researched with detailed emphasis, Rickards not only offers an historic insight to Sibelius as a composer but also as a person. The author goes to great lengths to reveal the troubled spirit behind the man who created such monumental works as "Finlandia", "Kullervo" and seven well-crafted symphonies amongst many others. Not only that, Rickards provides an insight to the Finnish/Swedish culture that Sibelius was born into. This book is as much of a history of Finland in the late 19th and early 20th century as it is of Sibelius.
This is probably the most accurate and well-written biography on Jean Sibelius. It is presented in an up-close-and-personal fashion and provides the reader with an opportunity to 'meet' Sibelius so-to-speak. Readers will no doubt finish this book with a greater appreciation for Finland's greatest musical hero.
Excellent Book!!!

good life-and-works biog.
Rickards gives us a good all-around introduction to Sibelius.It's mostly biographical, with very little technical detail on the music itself.It's fairly brief (took me an afternoon and a couple of train rides to read) anddescribes Sibelius's life, interaction with other composers, andrelationship to the music of the early 20th century.

"Inner Logic"
Reading this book was above all a learning experience.First it is very sobering, for example, for its lucid account of the financial/material excesses and terrible debts of this great composer, as well as his strained but somehow unbrokable relationship with his wife, Aino, to whom he was married for over 60 years.

And yet it subtly brings to light the essentially "natural" genius that is Sibelius.Rickards does not talk so much about his music (which to the reader unfamiliar with it, would perhaps be a flaw), but writes 'around' them, showing the reader the overall environment which surrounds Sibelius and his works.The result is often like a sudden realization of something you already know.I was for example stirred by his account of Sibelius's struggle with the premiere of the Kullervo Symphony, of how the 32-year old composer employed the "sheer force of his will" to unify the multi-cultural group that was to perform it.Somehow you can hear this in the music.In fact, Rickards, as in his careful account of Sibelius's long struggle with the 5th Symphony, makes you want to hear the music again.

Rickards's selection of quotations with regards to Sibelius's compositional aesthetics really hit home.On the 'title'-page of Chapter 6, aptly titled "The Forging of Thor's Hammer" (a reference to the 5th Symphony's 'Swan Hymn'), the following quotation is printed:

"My symphonies were a terrible struggle. But now they are as they must be."

Sibelius's pursuit of organic unity, of "inner logic" is unobtrusively taught to the reader.There are powerful descriptions of Sibelius's kinship with nature. Sibelius recounted that at the moment he finished the final version of the 5th Symphony (which he revised four times in four years), twelve white swans settled on the lake (outside his house), and then circled the house three times before flying off - spine-tingling stuff. Again, my impression is that Rickards lets this demonstrate itself. In the same way, Sibelius's music demonstrates its material itself.Like the composer, the author of this book recognizes himself as a middleman. Sibelius considered himself the composer of a jigsaw puzzle that dropped from heaven. He only (re)constructed that which already existed.Likewise, Rickards is a faithful deliverer of Sibelius's life, not seeming to do more than the pieces demanded.Both are therefore the artist who allows the art to speak for itself.

Like this inner logic, I found myself connecting the things Rickards writes about. He makes a number of attempts to 'defend' Sibelius's rather strange habit of composing salon pieces next to symphonic masterpieces.One of these is the key quote regarding the 6th Symphony, that each symphony is a "phase in one's inner life." In this, the inevitability of change (as excruciatingly shown via the composer's intense self-criticism and rampant revision of his works) and the recognition of 'permanency' ("phase") is somehow explained.

It's so difficult to explain.Suffice to say, I've always known this quote.But after reading this book, I finally understood what it meant, and yet I am unable to explain it.Not surprisingly, this is the same with nature and Sibelius's music.Things you "understand" but cannot explain.

And so, it was with genuine pleasure and high spirits that I read the 2nd last sentence of the Epilogue:

"His music survived the vicissitudes of fashion across a century and has still been found to contain within it the seeds for the future..."

Something which I have always told my friends. It is something which I seem to know, to feel; in saying this, Rickards, whom I do not know, echoes my sentiments, and makes me feel that thing which I have always felt when conversing with my fellow Sibelius-supporters: natural, unspoken kinship of the type in which we don't often realize we share.

And isn't that none other than kinship with Mother Nature?

CHIA Han-Leon,
Singapore ... Read more

Product Description
JEAN SIBELIUS - His Life and Personality by EDWARD BIRSE. Originally published in 1935.FOREWORD: THERE have been biographies of Sibelius before this of Karl Ekmans, but his is the first to pre sent us with something like the essentials of the portrait of the man. I say something like the essentials be cause we know, from previous experiences of the kind, that the first official or quasi-official biographies of great men are apt to be as remarkable for their reti cences as for their revelations. We have to resign our selves to that, for if it were not for these reticences there could be no first biographies at all. I am not, of course, suggesting that there is anything in Sibeliuss life that needs to be hushed up I doubt whether a world avid for scandal about Queen Elizabeth will ever have the thrill, blent of horror and delight, of learning that he ever robbed a bank, forged a cheque, or even committed a minor homicide. All I mean is that experience in these matters has shown us that in a first biography of any great artist a good deal that concerns his opinions of other . people and his relations with other people has to be discreetly touched in with the lightest of strokes, if only because there are intimacies and susceptibilities on all sides to be considered. I am not contending, then nor, I fancy, would either the author or the subject himself do so that this book of Karl Ekmans will be the final biography of Sibelius fifty years hence. But I do contend that it is a work of high value. All first biographies should be written by someone with the entree to the inner circle of the subject able, consequently, not only to extract illu minative reminiscences and avowals from the subject himself but to tap, before it is too late, the memory of those who were intimate with him in the formative early and middle periods of his life. Ekman has had special facilities for doing this and so his book con tains a mass of hitherto inaccessible information that is of the highest interest and value to students of Sibelius. The book is interesting not only because it furnishes us with so many details, gathered at first hand, of what, for all its relative seclusion from the greater world, has been a life of immense energy, but also because it con firms at every point the impression of Sibelius the man which those of us who have been studying him for the last thirty years or so had formed from his music. We now realize better than ever the strain of independence in the mans personality that has made his music what it is. External influences upon him have always been of nthe slightest he has passed through other composers music, through contacts with contemporary artists, through public musical life in various European cities, calmly extracting from them all, with the unconscious sureness of an animal or a tree, just what he needed for nourishment and development in accordance with the inner law of his own being, and calmly rejecting the unassimilable remainder. His instincts have always been sound even when his procedure may not have been strictly logical. It was not strictly logical of him, for instance, to become an anti-Wagnerian at an early age on the strength of a rather limited acquaintance with Wagners works certainly long before he had seen any of them on the stage... ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A masterpiece of musicology and cultural history
This is a miraculous book. Goss's portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest and most enigmatic composers is set against the backdrop of Finland's rise to nationhood. The author's meticulous research and vivid portrayal of the key players in the drama - Jean Sibelius, Robert Kajanus, Axel Gallén and others - makes the book almost read like a novel. Goss is dead-on in many of her musical assessments and peppers her narrative with flashes of wit. If you are interested in the music of Sibelius, this is essential reading. I only wish a writer of similar talents would take on the legacy of Dmitri Shostakovich in similar fashion. ... Read more

Product Description
Jean Sibelius was not only Finland's greatest composer, he was one of the most distinctive and appealing musical voices in the first half of the 20th century, especially renowned for his characterful handling of the romantic symphony orchestra. His example has led directly to an unprecedented cultural flowering in his homeland, making this small country of 5 million people a powerhouse in the world of classical music composition and performance. Sibelius The Orchestral Works - An Owner's Manual considers over 80 individual orchestral pieces, from songs and choruses to symphonies, tone poems, overtures, and theatrical music. Along the way, readers are invited to identify and enjoy the fascinating mix of elements that make up Sibelius's colorful personal idiom. Two CDs accompanying the text offer not only a rich selection of music by Sibelius, including two complete symphonies and two of his most popular tone poems, but also a representative selection of the best Finnish music by his contemporaries and successors. This approach offers a unique opportunity: to hear Sibelius in context and gain an understanding of exactly what distinguishes him from his contemporaries, how he influenced later generations, and how it was that he came to be viewed as the musical spokesperson of an entire nation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not ideal for those looking for a more abstract introduction, but perhaps useful for people brought up on Romanticism
David Hurwitz's SIBELIUS, THE ORCHESTRAL WORKS: An Owner's Manual" is a guide to the symphonies and major tone poems of the great Finnish composer, meant for an audience of home listeners who may not be able to read music. He attempts to give people a movement-by-movement guide to what is going on within each work, concentrating on the musical development itself and not really the historical background of the pieces. If you are a novice classical listener who still has difficulties with recognizing things like sonata form, Hurtwitz's book can be useful to better understand how Sibelius structured this music so successfully. Hurwitz's also brings one's attention to aspects of Sibelius' orchestration that one might initially overlook.

Still, there's much I don't like about the book. Hurwitz's knocks of modernism seem entirely unnecessary, and his neglect of some figures in favour of less important ones is ridiculous (Dvorak was the great master of using "fake" folk materials, not Bartok?). Throughout he speaks of the music in arbitary terms ("this sounds like a forest", "the Third is a story of tragedy") that might make sense to people brought up on a diet of Romanticism, but will probably alienate people who want to enjoy the music as abstraction. The book also introduces in boxed texts several later Finnish composers who were inspired to some degree by Sibelius, and some extracts of their works are included on a second CD. Why he limited himself to Finnish composers I don't know (maybe Ondine wanted his help in marketing), but Sibelius' influence spread throughout all the Nordic countries. The Danish composer Vagn Holmboe, for example, would be better selected to show such influence than Magnus Lindberg, whose generation was trying to shake Sibelius off. Another Danish composer, Per Norgard, has long spoken of his admiration for the last movement of the Fifth, where Sibelius has a theme moving in different tempi simultaneously, and Norgard sees it as an inspiration for his own infinity series.

If you can read music, a great guide to Sibelius' Fifth is tSibelius: Symphony No. 5 (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by James Hepokoski. I hope to find similar more rigorous introductions to the other symphonies. But for listeners who don't want anything academic, I'd still suggest looking at Hurwitz's book, though it is sure not to please everyone.

A Must-have Book for Sibelians!!!
David Hurwitz's book on the orchestral works of composer Jean Sibelius is definitely a must-have for anyone doing extensive research on Sibelius's music.
This book offers a highly detailed analysis on all of Sibelius's symphonies, tone poems and shorter works and puts these works under the microscope so-to-speak. Granted, after reading this book, you'll probably never listen to a Sibelius piece the same way again.
Additionally, the book comes with two audio CDs. One is nearly 80-minutes worth of highlights from Sibelius's masterworks including the third and seventh symphonies heard in their entirety. The second disc is a compilation of music from various Finnish composers who have followed in Sibelius's footsteps. Brief bios of these composers are spread throughout the book as well.
Mr. Hurwitz has definitely performed his research well in writing this book. I personally have never read such an analysis on Sibelius's music that cuts right down to the most minute detail until this book was released. It's about time too.
Definitely a must-have for die-hard Sibelians!!!

An in-depth, at times modestly technical analysis
Written by radio commentator David Hurwitz, Sibelius the Orchestral Works An Owners Manual is a book and CD set celebrating the classic creations of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The text discusses Sibelius' musical language, symphonies, violin concerto, tone poems, theatrical music, and more, while two full-length CDs offer a beautiful cross-section of not only Sibelius' work, but also the compositions of his contemporaries and successors. An in-depth, at times modestly technical analysis, written especially for dedicated music lovers and musicologists, and a "must-have" for anyone interested in learning about and experiencing the Finnish master.

Gigantic Book for a Tiny Market
When I call the book Gigantic, I'm not referring to its physical size, which is quite modest.I'm talking about its intent and accomplishment.

Writing about classical music is difficult.Much of the terminology is unfamiliar to most readers, and there's always the temptation to go in one of two unwelcome directions: either over-popularizing the subject or being dry and academic.The effective path lies along a fine line between those two extremes, and David Hurwitz walks that line beautifully.I'm so impressed by this treatise on Sibelius that I'm going to immediately start collecting the rest of his similar books on Dvorak, Mahler, Haydn, and anybody else he's covered that I don't know about yet.

Although the market for a book like this one must be incredibly narrow, Mr. Hurwitz has waxed expansive and entertaining.His insights into the composition techniques employed by the Finnish master are unparalleled.The illustrative samples on the two included CDs are both wisely chosen and luminously recorded-- bravo!

I should probably explain that I consider myself somewhat of an expert on Sibelius and his music, having studied both the composer and his output for well more than fifty years.David Hurwitz, who is considerably younger than I am, has nevertheless studied these subject even more deeply than I have, and his analyses and evaluations ring absolutely true.From now on, when people ask me about Sibelius, I will quote Hurwitz rather than myself!

For anyone familiar with the jargon of classical music essays and with an interest in the subject, this book is a godsend.I had high expectations for it, and it exceeded them.

Must have for teachers/students
I have some of the other books from this Unlocking the Masters series, and they are WONDERFUL!!!Not only are they factual and informative, but they are easy to read and really show you what to look/listen for in the music!It comes with a CD which has musical examples of pieces that are talked about in the book!This book is a wonderful tool for any student! ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Jean Sibelius," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Jean Sibelius in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Jean Sibelius when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Jean Sibelius, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a comprehensive annotated bibliography of writings about the life, times, and music of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Over 1,000 sources in 11 different languages are represented, from the earliest writings, which appeared in the 1890s, to studies published through 1994. Historical information and background are supplied together with an indication of the reliability of each source. Translations of studies into English, German, and French are noted, particularly important in a field where so many items are in Finnish and Swedish. Introductory essays to each section discuss Sibelius in different contexts: for example, vis--vis his contemporaries in Scandinavia, in relation to folk music, in reception history, and in the scholarly literature. Individual musical compositions have their own sections with bibliography. Comprehensive indexes cover the musical works, authors, and people and subjects mentioned. Index. ... Read more

Product Description
Jean Sibelius His Life and Personality BY KARL EKMAN With a Foreword by ERNEST NEWMAN. PREFACE IT is not our intention in this book to enter into competition with the numerous responsible and subtle commentators, who have analysed and described Jean Sibelius the composer and his work in an excellent way. We are attracted by a hitherto untrodden field and have devoted our interest to Jean Sibelius the man, the unique personality behind his work. Whenever we have found it necessary to discuss some of the creations of this master hand as especially typical of important stages of his life and of striking features of his personality, we have kept our analysis and characterisation on the plane of common humanity. An attempt to give a complete picture of Jean Sibelius the man calls for no excuse. Like every artist of a high order Sibelius has exerted an influence on his contemporaries far in excess of the limits of the direct effects of his art. As a proclaimer in music of the feelings and dreams of his people he has become a leading figure in the history of Finland, as a fearless combatant in the lists of universal musical art one of the great, whose struggle and purpose contributed towards forming the spiritual physiognomy of the twentieth century. What such a man experienced, how he viewed the personalities he met, how he wrestled with the problems that life set him, how he reacted to tendencies and events in various spheres of lifenone of this can be a matter of indifference to his contemporaries. Most of the materials of this book are the result of personal conversations with Sibelius in a dozen sittings lasting all day in his country home at Jarvenpaa, an hours journey by train to the north of the capital of Finland In our talks the master placed himself at our disposal with all the kindness of his generous nature without allowing his persistent questioner to notice any sign of impatience. We have endeavoured as far as possible to express Sibelius views of all that is important in his lifeand even of what is less important, when this has come quite naturally in the course of easy conversationin his own words, either as we jotted them down on paper during our sittings or wrote them down immediately after, as the train steamed through the countryside of Nyland towards Helsingfors in the twilight. During our talks in Jarvenpaa we had occasion . more than once to recall that formerly Sibelius had consistently frustrated all attempts at inducing him to speak at all about himself and the reality that formed the background of his works this attitude was due on the one hand to the noli me tangere of an aristocratic and susceptible nature towards the insistent outside world, and on the other to the spontaneous revulsion of a proud artist against the mere idea of being suspected of wishing to encourage public interest by any other means than his art. We must admit that we, too, failed to ascertain all that we, and, no doubt, our readers would have liked to know. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Glenda Dawn Goss draws on nearly thirty years of correspondence as she examines the zealous promotion of composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) by the conservative New York Times music critic, Olin Downes (1886-1955) and analyzes the process by which an influential critic shapes public musical taste. ... Read more