# What qualities does Sibelius have that are unique?



## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

What qualities does Sibelius have that are somewhat unique to him and give his music characteristics that isn't found in many other or any other places?


----------



## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

His methods changed throughout his composing career - early Sibelius is worlds away from late Sibelius. Compare the First and Seventh symphonies. The first is long, luxuriant, dramatic and nationalistic. The last is terse, concise, orchestrated with much reduced forces. Taken as a whole, it's hard to say what single quality his music has that instantly is identifiable. He was a master of taking a simple idea and organically building a large structure from it. Maybe that's it.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

If I should describe how Sibelius music sounds to me, I would use the word "organic". It is organic like nature, ie not mathematical, not having straight lines and right angle edges, but rather convoluted. It probably sounds like nonsense, but it is hard to define the feeling


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Not unique, but Sibelius very successfully employs lots of ostinato to develop and enhance mood. And I like ostinato .


----------



## Michael Diemer (Nov 12, 2017)

Agree with the above comments. I might add, he often uses low strings, which really lets his woodwinds sound clearly. Also, he seemed to approach each work as if he were composing for the first time. all of his symphonies have a different sound, in some cases extremely different. his music also has a lot of motion. 

I once came up with the following analogy to explain the effect on me of two of my very favorite composers:

You are in a train station, out on the platform. the Debussy train comes in. Each car is adorned with the most beautiful, intricate artwork. The train slowly proceeds through the station. You take in each car by itself. Each is complete, yet connects to the next car perfectly.

Then, the Sibelius train comes roaring in. It barely slows down. As it hurtles by, an arm reaches out and grabs you, pulling you aboard, and off you go on an adventure, to wherever Sibelius wants to take you. 

I love each composer equally. you know, I have often felt that much of Sibelius' music could be called Impressionistic. Certainly The Oceanides.. Also En Saga. Now, there's an adventure for you, something right out of Jack London. A tale of the frozen north.


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

essentially his sound world. His music evokes frozen northern landscapes with the occasional breakthrough of the sun. He may use the same tools as Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, et. al., but the edifice he creates is unique


----------



## R3PL4Y (Jan 21, 2016)

Certain unique aspects of Sibelius's oeuvre are more quantifiable. He usually has fairly unique rhythms, especially in his accompaniments, with chords and so on often starting in unusual places. He often makes heavy use of syncopation and sometimes unusual phrase lengths in a manner that leaves a unique impression.


----------



## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Sibelius has a musical identity that is unique, expansive and evolutionary on its own terms. The usual term post-romantic is insufficient in his case. Mahler's famous comments look more and more like envy, unless you agree with him, which I don't. And it's all rather beautiful, just about all the time, even when the mood is tragic or disturbing.

I like the Jack London analogy. The 4th could be the soundtrack for To Build a Fire...


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

I recently read this and feel the same way about what the composer is so often doing: 

“Sibelius takes us into an intense world of nature where terrifying storms may brew up at a moment’s notice and where the sudden hushes are more ominous still. He also leads us into a world which may usually seem dormant under its snowy mantle, but is actually teeming with life as any naturalist will tell you. Hear what he finds under the surface of the strangely unsettling trio to the scherzo of no. 1. Feelings of organic growth with each idea grows out of the one before.” —Christopher Howell

I personally would add that his music is like secretly eavesdropping on nature without those forces knowing that they are being observed by the human element. He plays off the different sections in the orchestra sometimes against and sometimes for each other, even like they’re talking together and discussing the day. It’s pure, innocent and unspoiled. His delight is a miracle and shows what’s possible when we begin to observe the beauty and depth of our own natural surroundings. —Lark


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Sibelius also has a superlative gift for musical exultation/exaltation such that, when those moments come, you want to just jump up out of your chair. _Pohjola's Daughter, Lemminkainen's Homecoming, Finlandia,_ parts of most of the symphonies..., the examples are everywhere, and serve to bond those people like me who are particularly moved by such moments, even more tightly to his music. Sibelius has Seen the Light, and shows it to us.


----------



## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

For me Sibelius had the ability to capture the essence of nature in music. He could musically portray a gentle breeze, the silence
of nature to the raging full power of nature at its most destructive.


----------



## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

There's a gnomic quality to Sibelius' writing that reminds me of Beethoven's late music - and he orchestrates beautifully.


----------



## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Sibelius' later music was a reaction to/against the opulence of Richard Strauss and, to lesser extent, the growing influence of the Second Viennese School. He sought a middle ground between the forces making reactionary and futuristic music arguments. Combined with his own personal demons -- his alcoholism and fear & loathing the USSR would take over his homeland as it had done earlier -- he became a unique force in the 20th century.


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Larkenfield said:


> I personally would add that his music is like secretly eavesdropping on nature without those forces knowing that they are being observed by the human element. He plays off the different sections in the orchestra sometimes against and sometimes for each other, even like they're talking together and discussing the day. It's pure, innocent and unspoiled. His delight is a miracle and shows what's possible when we begin to observe the beauty and depth of our own natural surroundings. -Lark


As a Sibelius devotee, I was feeling mildly embarrassed at not having an answer to the OP. Now Larkenfield has absolutely nailed it. 
Sibelius had a delight in, and feeling for, the natural world like no other composer. What comes across in his music, whether in the lyrical opening of Oceanides or the darkness of Tapiola, is the reality of nature - fleeting, ominous, intricate, but above all disinterested in us and our petty little concerns. With other composers we get "This is how Nature makes me feel". With Sibelius we get "This is how Nature is".
And we get that expressed in gloriously diverse soundscapes that dextrously manipulate the resources of the orchestra.

It's just a pity so much of his piano music is...well...rather banale.


----------



## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

I agree with comments in here but I'll go a bit out there and compare him to one of my favorite novelists, Henry Green. They are both naturalistic, pastoral, but still very domestic and intimate. And of course they are both understated masters of their craft.


----------



## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

I would add to that the simplicity of those 'cells' in his later works that simply grow and grow, developing a momentum that sweeps you away.


----------

