Twentieth Century symphony: Sibelius and Nielsen

Research Point: What is a Symphony

Kennedy & Kennedy (2007) state that a symphony is “a short instrument piece often consisting of 3 short sections or movements in quick-slow-quick succession”. 

However, many composers from Beethoven to Mahler have created pieces with a variety of movements and lengths.  It seems that tonality plays a large part in the formation of a classical symphony, as it provides an important tool to draw together the different elements of the piece.  My listening log details my brief thoughts on some symphonies I have listened to.

Research Point: Sibelius and Nielsen

Before studying both Sibelius and Nielsen’s Fifth Symphony’s, I wanted to spend a little time familiarising myself with the styles, techniques and works of both composers. 

Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957)

Sibelius was a Finnish born composer famous for numerous compositions including seven Symphonies.  It is believed that Sibelius’ love of music grew later in life, whilst at university, and led him to draw inspiration for many other composers of that time, including Bartok and Shostakovich.   In addition to this, as a Finnish nationalist, Sibelius composed large pieces focused on Finland’s national identity.

Throughout his life, it is clear that Sibelius spent large portions of time travelling Europe and gaining valuable insights into folk music and traditions.  In addition to this, as an avid Freemason, Sibelius had a large role in composing ritualistic and ceremonious music.  This, teamed with Sibelius' overwhelming admiration for the works of Wagner, seem to have shaped much of his work, especially his symphonies. 

Although Sibelius seems to traditionally stick to diatonic systems, I found his opinions of the structure of symphonies to be very interesting.  Unlike his rival Mahler, which relied on disjunct and abrupt movements between sections, Sibelius believed that his symphonies should be more ‘developmental’, flowing seamlessly between sections. 

Sibelius’ Symphonies were often shorter than those of other composers of his time.  Service (2007) writes:

“You could play his last three symphonies in the same time it takes to perform a single Mahler symphony, but the musical power of these pieces is inversely proportional to their length.”

However, despite the length of Sibelius’ compositions, the power and intensity of his music is so strong that it creates of sense ‘losing time’ for the listener. 

Carl Nielson (1865 – 1931)

Nielsen was a Danish composer credited with six symphonies and numerous operas, concertos, chamber compositions and incidental theatrical pieces.  His interest in music began from a very young age and he began composing before he reached his 10^th birthday.   My belief is that his years spent in military service have also contributed to his musical styles.

Throughout his career Nielsen experimented with ideas around tonality and is credited with using a system of ‘progressive tonality’ in a number of his compositions.  He is often reported to ‘reshape’ scales to fit within traditional folk styles.    

Exercise: Writing Programme Notes

Sibelius – Symphony No. 5 in E flat major (1915) found on Spotify

I: Tempo molto moderato

The opening section of Sibelius’ symphony holds a great deal of feeling and emotion and truly paints the picture of its subject.  It begins with a gentle opening from the brass sections, giving the impression of ‘waking’.  The woodwind's lighter tones at this stage help to continue this feeling until the low humming patterns of the bassoon marks a change of colour.  At this stage the strings enter with a rapid and tense motif, which is backed by dramatic rolls of the timpani.  In the middle section of this composition all of the instruments seem to crescendo and the loud tones of the brass section gives a feeling of grandeur and ceremony.  This turns into more of a waltz-like feel before being contrasted with a large falling motion signifying danger and tension.  The rich and textured crescendo at the end gives this section a feeling of symmetry and paves the way for the next movement.

II: Andante mosso

This section holds more of a feeling of ‘flowing’, perhaps mimicking the movement of the tides.  The composition begins with very rich and dark tones underpinned by short light skipping motifs from the strings and woodwind.  I found it interesting that the two sections seem to share, echo and mimic each other's melodies in a playful way.  This airy feel slowly builds to a very joyous middle section, where I detected dissonant tones between the strings and woodwind, somehow blending perfectly with the central theme.  The pattern of moving between a gentle, soft section, to a louder and more dramatic pattern continues throughout this piece, ushering in a feeling of peace and serenity, quickly contrasted with danger and tension.  The ending of this piece was obviously carefully constructed to flow gently into the final section.

III: Allegro molto

There is definitely a greater sense of drama in this final section, which builds nicely to a feeling of resolutions at the end of the piece.  Initially I noticed a faster tempo and much more hectic feel, with all sections overlapping with rapid motifs and dark tones.  However, there is certainly a feeling of ‘breaking through the clouds’ as the piece moves to an almost awe-inspiring sound, with a rich blend of motifs from all sections of the orchestra.  This gave me a very vivid impression of the swans in flight, floating elegantly through the air.  This feeling continues through larger parts of the finale, mingled with gentler motions and drops in both volume and tempo.  Towards the end, despite the very large crescendo, there is a definite feeling of a cadence approaching and perhaps the swans ‘slowing down’.   However, it was the ending bars that I found very interesting.  Sibelius chose to end his Fifth symphony with short and loud bursts, mixed with periods of silence.  I couldn’t help but think that the silence may have been the greater feature here as opposed to the ‘bursts’.

I found Sibelius Symphony to be a fantastic representation of the theme of ‘swans in flight’.  Initially I found the brass section's large part quite unusual, given the elegance and fluidity of a swan's nature. However, as the piece progressed I found that it was actually the blend of instruments and the simplistic motifs that created the greatest effect. 

Nielsen – Symphony No. 5 in D (1922) found on Spotify

I: Allegro Giusto

The piece begins with a background of gentle oscillations from the violins, whilst the bassoons play intertwined high range melodies.  At this stage the strings give an impression of fading in and out before great sections of drama interrupt the gentle feeling.  There is a clear feel of the military influence in this piece as the rhythm changes to a march like pattern.  The percussion, notably the drums, plays a huge role in creating a war-like feel.  This marching pattern continues throughout the piece, falling and rising in tension, and this is where the woodwinds give the piece a slightly ‘dreamy’ and surreal feeling before building back to the ominous tension of war.   

II: Adagio non troppo

The final section holds a much brighter and lighter feeling in places, but the military influence remains very much a prominent feature.  This section undoubtedly contains more drama and intrigue and I found the strings to play a much larger role this time.    There seems to be quite a blend of both serenity and tension throughout the composition and I found it interesting to hear how Nielsen has managed to blend the drudgery of military with tension and a sense of serenity.

Whilst there are many differences between the symphonies of both Nielsen and Sibelius, I found that both composers made a good use of the instruments to create a story or picture.  In the case of Sibelius, the ‘swans’, and in particular their flight, was clear throughout the composition, yet with different instruments representing them at different times.  Nielsen’s use of percussion proved very interesting and only served to create a more tense and dangerous military feel.  

PROGRAMME NOTES

I have chosen to write my programme notes focusing on Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony. 

In 1915 Jean Sibelius was commissioned by the Finnish government to compose his infamous Fifth Symphony.  By 1919, after three revisions to the score, the piece was premiered by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and was directed by Sibelius himself.  This piece was not only in celebration of the composer's 50^th birthday, but is now heralded as one of Sibelius’ greatest works. 

Composed using a traditional symphony structure of three parts, Sibelius used his expertise of blending orchestral techniques to create a symmetrical composition telling the story of the elegance of swans in flight.  Usually, Sibelius’ ideas on ‘unifying’ his symphony create a seamless ‘flow’ between the movements, echoing the grace of the swan.

The first movement, Tempo molto moderato, guides the listener through a journey of perfectly blended brass, woodwind and strings sections creating rapid changes in colour and emotion.  The middle movement contrasts playful sections where the strings and woodwind ‘dance’, with darker and ominous tones provided by the brass section. 

The closing section of this piece holds more drama and intrigue with the strings playing short and sharp motifs, overlaid with complex harmonies from the other sections.  This tensions ebbs and flows before leading to a dramatic ending, making good use of not only tones, but the silence between those tones.