The Greatist Recordings of All-Time

#60-"Symphony No. 6 Op.104"-Jean Sibelius

Departing this earthly realm the same year i entered it-1957-Jean Sibelius is a thouroughly
modern composer who held steadfastly to the "Symphonic Form" long after most of his contempor-
aries left it for Schonberg's 12 note system of composition,or "Les Six of Paris" who were pushing
the boundries of classical music form;with "Tone Poems" and other neo-classical devices.Igor
Stravinsky is a good example.
While Sibelius's 7 Symphonies do include traits of tone poem composition-they also clearly
show evidence of the influence of "Contrapuntal Sonorities" of the early masters of the Symphonic
form;yet they are assembled and presented in a unique modern style that only Sibelius was able
to master.Though many considered the Finnish Composer's music old-fashioned-in the early 20th century.Now-his music is seen in a totally differant light.Various modern composers have
all had words of great praise for Sibelius in modern times.The english composer George Benjamin called one of Sibelius's compositions "unprecented in it's approach".French composer
Pascal Dusapin regarded Sibelius as "This Gigantic Master" and German composer Detlev Glanert said Sibelius "is undoubtably one of the Giants of Music".
By uniting the best of the older musical orders with the best of the new-Sibelius was
able to become a popular composer in own lifetime and he has also become a figure of great
admiration for the modern composers of today.This is the Great Achievment of a man who
was not a follower but a leader.He has earned a large and permanent place in the world of
Classical Music.Just listen to "Symphony No.6" and you'll know why.

referance notes:Sibelius-The Complete Symphonies and Tone Poems-album notes-
Edward Clark-2001
Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved