Sibelius Festival #3

Two weeks, seven symphonies and Robert Trevino on the podium – these are the ingredients for this ambitious Sibelius Festival.

It took a long time for Sibelius to complete his Symphony No. 3, working on it as he did for almost four years between 1904 and 1907. Several themes contain discernible folk music influences, for example the swinging strings in the first movement, and the beginning of the finale. It can also be noted how the rhythm comes through here and there as an at least equally significant and meaningful component as the melodic material.

Four years later he completed Symphony No. 4, which is one of his most enigmatic works. It is characterised by a sense of the utmost gravity, even in the faster movements. Whatever the composer was trying to express with this work, it is impossible not to be moved by it.