Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was virtually the only person from Finland known to the world for many years. As such, he was so revered in his home country that his birthday was declared a national holiday. For his 50th birthday celebrations, the Finnish government commissioned him to compose a new symphony, his Fifth. Sacramento's Christian Baldini - Music Director of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, Professor of Orchestral Conducting and Music Director of Sacramento's Camellia Symphony Orchestra - calls Sibelius's 50th birthday symphony "one of the really great late-Romantic symphonies." For the birthday celebration concert in 1915, Sibelius conducted a program of his own music including two Serenades, a symphonic poem, and the new Fifth Symphony. In the years following he revised it a couple times before he was satisfied with his 1919 revision in which he condensed everything from the original four movements to three. The Sibelius Symphony #5 is today's Midday Masterpiece at 2:00 pm.
Classical Music Playlist, July 20, 2022
July 20, 2022