Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39

Composed 1898-1899 | Premiered April 26, 1899

Jean Sibelius

B. December 8, 1865, Tavastehus, Finland

D. September 20, 1957, Jarvenpää, Finland

Scored for 2 flutes (both doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings. (Approx. 38 minutes)

Sibelius began work on his First Symphony in 1898. After its premiere a year later, critic Richard Faltin, writing in the Nya Pressen, remarked that Sibelius moved in symphonic form “with remarkable freedom, following the flight of his inspiration and permitting himself such departures from its discipline as he considers fitting. Few specifically Finnish characteristics are to be found in the symphony: the composer speaks the language of all mankind, yet a tongue that is none the less his own.” A month later, Sibelius was awarded a grant of 2,500 marks from the State Fund for the encouragement of Finnish composers.

Still more significant was the fact that, a year after its premiere, the First Symphony was taken on a European tour by the Helsinki Orchestra, culminating in an appearance at the World Exposition in Paris. This came at a time when Russia had tightened its grip on Finland, and the issue of Finnish nationalism had become acute. The crowds at the Paris concerts may have been small, but Sibelius’s music had been well received in other cities on the tour. He had asserted, however quietly, that Finland was a land with a culture of its own.

The similarities between the principal theme of the first movement and the corresponding one in Borodin’s First

Symphony have been pointed out. Indeed, the scholar Cecil Gray sees in the symphony a struggle of Finland against Russia, the principal themes being Russian and the subsidiary ones Finnish. In fact, the resemblance to Borodin is more apparent on paper than in performance, and the only movement that sounds strongly Russian is the Andante, with its drooping main theme, reminiscent of Tchaikovsky.

Apparent at once is Sibelius’s mastery of symphonic structure, not in the sense of pouring his own materials into a preset outline, but in taking possession of the symphonic tradition and turning it to his own purposes. His achievement is most unassailable in the first movement, which moves surely, without a hint of padding or stitching. Already, there is a hint of his characteristic telescoping of form, in a development that is blended so unobtrusively into a shortened reprise that the listeners are hardly aware when they have crossed the border.

The melodic material of the Andante may belong to the era of overstuffed furniture and high collars, but Sibelius’s treatment of it is anything but commonplace. The Scherzo is energetic but never in haste.

The last movement is less secure, its main subject not quite distinctive enough for extensive treatment, and the second subject is too sentimental for some tastes. Especially welcome are the parallels between the first and last movements: the introductory clarinet theme of the first movement transformed into a cry of the full orchestra in the finale, and the same quiet ending for both, on a pizzicato chord.

Michael Fleming

The DSO most recently performed Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 in March 2016, conducted by Thomas Dausgaard. The DSO first performed the work in January 1928, conducted by Georg Schneevoigt.