Vänskä Conducts Sibelius and Beethoven

Come enjoy a pre-concert talk covering highlights and backstories of this program, one hour before concert-time.

Guest speaker for this weekend: Alex Greenbaum, Hausmann Quartet & SDSU Cello / Chamber Music Lecturer.

Composer Jean Sibelius

JEAN SIBELIUS: TAPIOLA

Composed: 1926
Length: c.20 minutes
Orchestration: three flutes, two oboes, one cor anglais, two clarinets, one bass clarinet, two bassoons, one contrabasson, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, strings

One of Jean Sibelius’ most powerful and original compositions, Tapiola was also his last major work – Sibelius composed it during the summer of 1926, then lapsed into the silence that marked the final thirty years of his life. But Tapiola is a masterpiece, a magnificent conclusion to Sibelius’ career as a composer.

In Finnish mythology, Tapio was the god or spirit of the vast forests of the north. With his wife Mielikki, Tapio presided over those forests, inhabiting the woodlands, protecting animals and receiving the prayers of hunters. The title Tapiola has generally been understood to mean “the realm of Tapio,” and in the score Sibelius prefaced the music with these four lines:

   Widespread they stand, the Northland’s dusky forests,
   Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams;
   Within them dwells the forest’s mighty God,
   And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets.

Tapiola is not a musical depiction of “the realm of Tapio” – it is not scene-painting – but is instead a powerful evocation of the mystery, magic, beauty and strength of those deep forests. The concentration of this music is remarkable: the entire piece grows out of its opening two measures, and that opening is simplicity itself – the timpani sounds a stark call to order, and strings stamp out a powerful chorale-like statement.

This is the fundamental “gesture” of Tapiola, and over the next twenty minutes it will be repeated, fragmented, elongated, concentrated. It will move between sections of the orchestra, it will be colored differently, it will be heard at different speeds at the same time. Sometimes this theme builds up to moments of overwhelming tension; sometimes it sings, sometimes it dances, sometimes it turns playful. Sibelius was 61 when he wrote Tapiola, he had completed all seven of his symphonies, and now – at the end of his composing career – he wrote with the hand of a master.

- Excerpt of program notes by Eric Bromberger

For this classical music concert, purchased drinks should only be enjoyed in the lobbies pre-concert or during intermission, and should not be brought inside the concert hall.

For Jacobs Masterworks concerts, only children ages five years and older will be allowed into the concert hall. These children must have a ticket and be able to sit in an un-accompanied seat.

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