• Name: Jean Sibelius
• Birthday: 12/08/1865
• Birth Place: Hämeenlinna, Finland
• Died: 09/20/1957
• Place of Death: Järvenpää, Finland
• Period: Modern
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
(318) Finlandia, tone poem for orchestra, Op. 26	1930
(156) Karelia Suite, for orchestra, Op. 11	1992
(111) Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39	2006
(187) Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43	1984
(76) Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52	2007
(91) Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63	1937
(133) Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82	1986
(78) Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104	1983
(103) Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105	1991
(226) Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
(12) Karelia Overture, for orchestra, Op. 10	1987
(7) Kuolema (Death), incidental music for orchestra (I), Op. 44	1985
(6) The Wood Nymph (Skogsrået), tone poem ("Ballade") for orchestra, Op. 15	1996
(2) Allegretto, for string quartet in B flat major	2005
(2) Allegretto, for string quartet in D major, JS 20	2004
(2) Allegro, for string quartet in E minor, JS 28	2004
(2) Allegro, for string quartet in F minor, JS 14	2004
(2) Allegro, for string quartet in G minor	2004
(2) Andante & Allegro molto, for string quartet in D major, JS 32	2004
(3) Andante cantabile, for piano & harmonium in E flat major, JS 30b	2003
(2) Andante molto sostenuto, for string quartet in B minor, JS 37	2004
(2) Andantino, for string quartet in C major, JS 39	2004
(2) Fire on the Island (Saarella palaa), partsong for male chorus, Op. 18/3 WA	1979
(2) La pompeuse Marche d'Asis, for violin, cello & piano, JS 116 WA	1979
(2) Ljunga Wirginia, quartet for violin, cello & piano, 4 hands	2003
(3) Moderato-Allegro Appassionato, for string quartet in C sharp minor, JS 131	2004
(2) Molto Moderato - Scherzo, for string quartet, JS 134	2004
Now Christmas has Come (Nu så kommer julen), song for voice & piano, Op. 1/2	2005
(2) Piano Quartet, for 2 violins, cello & piano in D minor, JS 157	2003
(2) Presto, for string quartet in F major, JS 154	2004
(2) Quartet for violin, cello, harmonium & piano in G minor, JS 158	2003
(2) Scherzo, for string quartet in B minor	2004
(2) Scherzo, for violin, cello & piano, 4 hands in E major, JS 165	2003
(2) Small Pieces (33), for string quartet	2004
(2) The Boat Journey (Venematka), partsong for male chorus, Op. 18/9 WA	1979
(2) The Water Sprite (Nåcken), songs (2) as incidental music for voice, violin, cello & piano (wriiten with Martin Wegelius), JS 138 WA	1979
(2) Theme and Variations, for string quartet in C sharp minor, JS 195	2004
(2) Theme and Variations, for string quartet in G minor, JS 197	2004
(2) Themes (4), for string quartet	2004
(2) To Sea (Till havs), partsong for male chorus, Op. 84/5 WA	1979
(3) To the Fatherland (Isänmaalle), partsong for male chorus, Op. 18/1 WA	1979
Ye Sisters, Ye Brothers (I systrar, I bröder), song for voice & piano, Op. 86/6 WA	1979
(8) In Memoriam, funeral march for orchestra, Op. 59	1990
(11) Humoresques (2) for violin & orchestra, Op. 87b	1990
(28) Pelléas et Mélisande, suite for orchestra (or piano), Op. 46	1988
(17) Spring Song (Vårsång), tone poem for orchestra, Op. 16	1988
(11) Swanwhite, suite for orchestra, Op. 54	1988
(5) The Maiden in the Tower (Jungfrun i tornet), opera	1983
(4) 'Neath the fir trees (Under strandens granar), song for voice & piano, Op. 13/1 WA	1994
A Catalogue of Themes, 50 pieces for piano	1999

Finland's Jean Sibelius is perhaps the most important composer associated with nationalism in music and one of the most influential in the development of the symphony and symphonic poem. Sibelius was born in southern Finland, the second of three children. His physician father left the family bankrupt, owing to his financial extravagance, a trait that, along with heavy drinking, he would pass on to Jean. Jean showed talent on the violin and at age nine composed his first work for it, Rain Drops. In 1885 Sibelius entered the University of Helsinki to study law, but after only a year found himself drawn back to music. He took up composition studies with Martin Wegelius and violin with Mitrofan Wasiliev, then Hermann Csillag. During this time he also became a close friend of Busoni. Though Sibelius auditioned for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he would come to realize he was not suited to a career as a violinist.

In 1889 Sibelius traveled to Berlin to study counterpoint with Albert Becker, where he also was exposed to new music, particularly that of Richard Strauss. In Vienna he studied with Karl Goldmark and then Robert Fuchs, the latter said to be his most effective teacher. Now Sibelius began pondering the composition of the Kullervo Symphony, based on the -Kalevala legends. Sibelius returned to Finland, taught music, and in June 1892, married Aino Järnefelt, daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, head of one of the most influential families in Finland. The premiere of Kullervo in April 1893 created a veritable sensation, Sibelius thereafter being looked upon as the foremost Finnish composer. The Lemminkäinen suite , begun in 1895 and premiered on April 13, 1896, has come to be regarded as the most important music by Sibelius up to that time.

In 1897 the Finnish Senate voted to pay Sibelius a short-term pension, which some years later became a lifetime conferral. The honor was in lieu of his loss of an important professorship in composition at the music school, the position going to Robert Kajanus. The year 1899 saw the premiere of Sibelius' First Symphony, which was a tremendous success, to be sure, but not quite of the magnitude of that of Finlandia (1899; rev. 1900).

In the next decade Sibelius would become an international figure in the concert world. Kajanus introduced several of the composer's works abroad; Sibelius himself was invited to Heidelberg and Berlin to conduct his music. In March 1901, the Second Symphony was received as a statement of independence for Finland, although Sibelius always discouraged attaching programmatic ideas to his music. His only concerto , for violin, came in 1903. The next year Sibelius built a villa outside of Helsinki, named "Ainola" after his wife, where he would live for his remaining 53 years. After a 1908 operation to remove a throat tumor, Sibelius was implored to abstain from alcohol and tobacco, a sanction he followed until 1915. It is generally believed that the darkening of mood in his music during these years owes something to the health crisis.

Sibelius made frequent trips to England, having visited first in 1905 at the urging of Granville Bantock. In 1914 he traveled to Norfolk, CT, where he conducted his newest work The Oceanides. Sibelius spent the war years in Finland working on his Fifth Symphony. Sibelius traveled to England for the last time in 1921. Three years later he completed his Seventh Symphony, and his last work was the incidental music for The Tempest (1925). For his last 30 years Sibelius lived a mostly quiet life, working only on revisions and being generally regarded as the greatest living composer of symphonies. In 1955 his 90th birthday was widely celebrated throughout the world with many performances of his music. Sibelius died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1957. ~ Robert Cummings, All Music Guide