THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2019-2020
57
Program Notes
JAN SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
SYMPHONY NO. 7 IN C MAJOR, OP. 105
Duration: ca. 21 minutes
For most concertgoers, Sibelius is best known for
his riveting tone poem of 1900, Finlandia, which
evokes the struggle of the Finnish people and
quickly became a symbol of nationalism. Sibelius
was essentially a romantic composer who bridged
the 19th and 20th centuries, and whose best work
is perfumed with the mists of his homeland, its
terrain, forests, and cold winters. Like Wagner,
he was fascinated by myth and legend, and wove
ancient characters into many of his foreboding tone
poems.
Although uniquely gifted and long lived, his musical
career lay fallow the last three decades of his life.
After composing seven symphonies – and hundreds
of songs and piano pieces – he retired in 1929, living
out his days on a government stipend. What shut off
the creative spigot? Why would a composer of such
iconic status, and with so much time to explore and
develop, suddenly close the book?
Historians have posited a number of theories:
the composer’s hypercritical attitude toward his
work, depression, a sense of accomplishment and
completion, creative exhaustion, and alcoholism.
Sibelius answered the question himself: “My
drinking has genuine roots that are both dangerous
and go deep. In order to survive, I have to have
alcohol. And that’s where all my problems begin.’’
His problem came to a head the night he tried
to conduct his Sixth Symphony in Gothenburg,
Sweden. Shortly before curtain, Sibelius went
missing. Panicked managers searched the
neighborhood, only to find the composer in a
restaurant, drunk on champagne. Ushered back to
the hall, Sibelius attempted to lead the orchestra,
but with disastrous results. His wife, Aino – who was
in attendance – never forgave him.
Sibelius had one symphony left to write, finishing it
in 1924. Originally titled Fantasia Sinfonica, it would
be his most unusual. Although it shares the glacierlike
feel of so much of his orchestra work, with
suspended crescendos and climaxes, the Seventh
is cast as a single movement without a break. Its
free-flowing structure leaves the traditional sonata
form – intro, development, recap – behind, and
challenges listeners to follow where a theme might
go.
The music begins with a barely heard beat on
the kettledrums and a slow rise from the strings.
Soon, the full orchestra opens its arms as if to
embrace some great expanse, inviting listeners on
an uninterrupted sonic experience over the next
20 minutes. A vibrant unrest links the four sections
together, and a main theme is developed through
a solo trombone rising above the orchestra. This
is ripe, expressive music from start to finish, its
impact all the more remarkable through its hyperconcentration.
“It’s really a perfect symphony, like the Beethoven
Eighth on this program,’’ said TFO Music Director
Michael Francis. “Even though it’s short, there’s
this amazing sense of perfection, of being on a
symphonic journey.’’
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
SYMPHONY NO. 8 IN F MAJOR, OP. 93
Duration: ca. 26 minutes
Hearing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 for the first
time, not knowing who composed it, a curious
listener might think it belongs to Haydn, for it
fits snugly into the classical-era framework that
Beethoven would both master and move past.