Sibelius

One of the twentieth century's greatest composers, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) virtually stopped writing music during the last thirty years of his life. Recasting his mysterious musical silence and his undeniably influential life against the backdrop of Finland's national awakening, "Sibelius" will be the definitive biography of this creative legend for many years to come.

Glenda Dawn Goss begins her sweeping narrative in the Finland of Sibelius's youth, which remained under Russian control for the first five decades of his life. Focusing on previously unexamined events, Goss explores the composer's formative experiences as a Russian subject and a member of the Swedish-speaking Finnish minority. She goes on to trace Sibelius's relationships with his creative contemporaries, with whom he worked to usher in a golden age of music and art that would endow Finns with a sense of pride in their heritage and encourage their hopes for the possibilities of nationhood. Skillfully evoking this artistic climate – in which Sibelius emerged as a leader – Goss creates a dazzling portrait of the painting, sculpture, literature, and music it inspired. To solve the deepest riddles of Sibelius's life, work, and enigmatic silence, Goss contends, we must understand the awakening in which he played so great a role.

Situating this national creative tide in the context of Nordic and European cultural currents, "Sibelius" dramatically deepens our knowledge of a misunderstood musical giant and an important chapter in the intellectual history of Europe.


Content

List of Illustrations
Preface: Methods and Miracles, Debts and Confessions
Practical Questions: Names and References
Abbreviations
Towns and Place-Names
Introduction

PART I: a window to the world
The Autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire
1. Finland's Nature: Vart Land? Our Land
2. Pillars of Finnish Identity
3. Nineteenth-Century Finland: Scenes historiques
4. Imperial Helsinki
5. Crosswinds
6. From Russian Empire to Musical Empire

PART II: heraa suomi!? awake, finland!
7. Finland from Afar
8. Young Finland and the Carelian Call to Arms
9. Science, Art, and Symbolism
10. Of Sagas and Springtime
11. Aphrodite and the National Project
12. National Aspirations and Symbolist Angst
13. The Politics of the Theatrical
14. From Russia but Not with Love
15. The Finnish Resistance
16. A New Millennium: Helsinki, Paris, the World!
17. Italian Classicism and Finnish Nationalism
18. Country Living and the Finnish National Movement. 1905: The Crucial Hour

PART III: taide kuuluu kaikille? art belongs to all
19. Connections East and West
20. Proletarians versus Bourgeoisie
21. Turning Points
22. Onward, Ye Powerful People!
23. The Militaristic State
24. Might Makes Right: The 1930s
25. The Close

Notes
Bibliography
Index