Jean Sibelius Biography

Johan Julius Christian "Jean" Sibelius (December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957) was a Finnish composer of classical music, and one of the most popular composers of the late 19th and early 20th century. His music and genius have also played an important role in forming the Finnish national identity.

Sibelius was born into a Swedish-speaking family in Hämeenlinna in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. Although known as "Janne" to his family, during his student years he began using the French form of his name, "Jean", from a stack of visiting cards used by his seafaring uncle.

Significantly, against the larger context of the rise of the Fennoman movement and its expressions of Romantic Nationalism, his family decided to send him to an important Finnish language school, and he attended The Hämeenlinna Normal-lycée from 1876 to 1885. Romantic Nationalism was to become a crucial part of Sibelius's artistic output and his politics.

The core of Sibelius's music is his collection of seven symphonies. Like Beethoven, Sibelius used each one to work out a musical idea and/or to further develop his own personal style. These continue to be popular in the concert hall and in recording.

Among Sibelius's most famous compositions are Finlandia, Valse Triste, the Violin Concerto, the Karelia Suite and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkäinen Suite). Other works including pieces inspired by the Kalevala, over 100 songs for voice and piano, incidental music for 13 plays, an opera (Jungfrun i tornet, translated The Maiden in the Tower), chamber music, piano music, 21 separate publications of choral music, and Masonic ritual music. Until about 1926 he was prolific; however, although he lived into his 90s, he completed almost no compositions in the last 30 years of his life after his seventh symphony (1924) and the tone poem Tapiola (1926).

Sibelius graduated from high school in 1885. He started to study law at Aleksander's Imperial University in Helsinki, but music was always his best subject at school and Sibelius quit his studies. From 1885 to 1889, Sibelius studied music in the Helsinki music school (now the Sibelius Academy). One of his teachers there was Martin Wegelius. Sibelius continued studying in Berlin (from 1889 to 1890) and in Vienna (from 1890 to 1891).

Jean Sibelius married Aino Järnefelt (1871–1969) at Maxmo on June 10, 1892. Jean and Aino Sibelius's home Ainola was completed at Lake Tuusula, Järvenpää in 1903, where they lived for the rest of their long lives. They had six daughters: Eva, Ruth, Kirsti (who died at a very young age), Katarine, Margaret, and Heidi.

In 1911 he underwent a serious operation for suspected throat cancer. This brush with death colored several works he composed at the time, including Luonnotar and the Fourth Symphony.

Sibelius loved nature; the Finnish landscape largely informed the 'natural' style of his music. Regarding his Sixth symphony, he said, "[It] always reminds me of the scent of the first snow." It has been said that the forests surrounding Ainola largely influenced his composition of Tapiola. Erik Tawaststjerna, a Sibelius biographer, has said:

These are ordered chronologically; the date is the date of composition rather than publication or first performance.