2nd symphony (Sibelius)

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Jean Sibelius began his second symphony in D major op. 43 in Rapallo in the winter of 1900 and completed it in Finland in 1902. The world premiere took place on March 8, 1902 with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of the composer. After this first performance, as with his first symphony , Sibelius made some changes and this revised version was first performed on November 10, 1903 in Stockholm under the direction of Armas Järnefelt. The symphony has an average duration of 45 minutes.

As with the first symphony, the first record was made in May 1930 by the London Symphony Orchestra under Robert Kajanus .

In 2009 the symphony landed in ninth place in the “ABC Classic 100 Symphony Countdown”.

sentences

The symphony has four movements according to the traditional pattern, although the third movement merges directly into the fourth without a break.

  1. Allegretto - Poco allegro - Tranquillo, ma poco a poco ravvivando il tempo all'allegro - Poco largamente - Tempo I - Poco allegro
  2. Tempo andante, ma rubato - Poco allegro - Molto largamente - Andante sostenuto - Andante con moto ed energico - Allegro - Poco largamente - Molto largamente - Andante sostenuto - Andante con moto ed energico - Andante - Pesante
  3. Vivacissimo - Lento e soave - Tempo primo - Lento e soave - (attacca)
  4. Finale: Allegro moderato - Moderato assai - Meno moderato e poco a poco ravvivando il tempo - Tempo I - Largamente e pesante - Poco largamente - Molto largamente

The work grows organically out of an ascending three-note motif that you hear at the beginning and that appears in countless changes throughout the symphony and also thematically determines the dramatic finale.

The Reclam concert guide said in 1965: "The work shows all the virtues of its style: power, tart colors, serious pathos, closeness to nature ... Sibelius' ability to turn small motifs into large, gripping pictures in gradual growth proves to be important."

In 1991 Barry Millington wrote in the supplement to the complete recording of the symphonies with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle 1984-88:

“The fact that Sibelius' Second Symphony is more contemplative and warmer than the joyless First is at least partly explained by his stay in Italy in 1901. There he was concerned with a work on the Don Juan legend that did not come about, but ultimately the material for created the main theme of the slow movement of the Second Symphony. As in the first movement of the First, the organic structure of the work is quite astonishing; however, Sibelius, whose compositional technique was constantly developing, was able to soar to even higher spheres here. "

reception

This extremely popular symphony, with its grandiose finale in Finland, has always been associated with the country's struggle for independence from Russia. At times it was called the "Symphony of Independence", especially at the time when the Finnish language and culture were suppressed in what was then Russian-occupied Finland. Sibelius' stance on the subject has often been the subject of controversy. Some claim that Sibelius never had such patriotic ambitions in composing and was only later associated with it. Others claim that he had this specific issue of "Finnish independence" in mind.

literature

  • Hans Renner, Klaus Schweizer: Reclam's concert guide. Orchestral music. [1959]. 12th edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1982, p. 498.

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