Jean Sibelius

Symphonie Nr. 7 in einem Satz op. 105

Sibelius' 'Symphonie fantastique' 1919 was a truly 'symphonic' year in the work of Jean Sibelius: he revised his 5th, began the 6th and at the same time sketched a 'Fantasia sinfonica', from which the single-movement 7th, the last surviving symphony, was to develop by early 1924. Although the score and parts were printed only after several performances, the material was not free of errors and was only half-heartedly corrected during Sibelius' lifetime. The reception of the 7th Symphony in the contemporary press was ambivalent. Sibelius found himself caught between the fronts of modern developments and conservative critics who wanted to see in him a tonal rock in the chaotic surf. This was one of the reasons why the Finnish composer kept silent ever since, or later destroyed the manuscript of his 8th Symphony ...