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GREAT MOMENTS IN CLASSICAL MUSIC

Jean Sibelius Image Name: Jean Sibelius

 

“It was as if God the Father had thrown down the shards of a mosaic from the floor of heaven and asked me to find out what it had looked like”  Jean Sibelius describing in his diary the creative process of his Symphony No.5 (1915-19).  He was just reaching his fiftieth birthday at the time, cause for huge celebrations in Finland in honour of their most eminent musical figure.  But although Sibelius had made his name by writing rousing Finnish music, his mature work has international value by anyone’s standards; Sibelius ought to rank as one of the greatest symphonists there’s ever been.

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