21 April 1915, Ainola, Finland
Today at ten to eleven I saw 16 swans. One of my greatest experiences! God, how beautiful! They circled above me for a long time. They disappeared into the haze of the sun like a gleaming silver ribbon. The sounds are like a kind of woodwind, the same as the sound of the cranes, but without the tremolo. The sound of the swans is closer to the trumpet, even if it clearly recalls the timbre of the sarrusophone. A low refrain, which is like the crying of a small child. Nature mysticism and the pain of life! The finale of the fifth symphony -
Legato in the trumpets!! This had to happen to me, who has been an outsider for so long. So I've been in a holy place today, 21st April 1915.
Fredrik Lähnn Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony underwent the longest, most difficult gestation of all his works. He began composing it during the late summer of 1914 but made slow progress, writing in his diary, “It is as if God had thrown down mosaic pieces from heaven’s floor and asked me to put them back as they were.”
By April 1915 he was struggling with the finale, searching in vain for the theme that would bring the great work to a fitting conclusion. The problem was solved on the morning of 21st when inspiration finally came with the spring arrival of Finland’s national bird, the whooper swan.
By April 1915 he was struggling with the finale, searching in vain for the theme that would bring the great work to a fitting conclusion. The problem was solved on the morning of 21st when inspiration finally came with the spring arrival of Finland’s national bird, the whooper swan.
Click the button to hear Stephen Johnson on Sibelius's 5th Symphony in BBC's Discovering Music series.
RSS Feed
