Sibelius - Symphony No. 5, Opus 82

Fifth symphony op. 82 Chamber Orchestra of Europe Paavo Berglund, conductor. First version 1915: 1. Tempo moderato assai, 2. Allegro commodo, 3. Andante mosso, 4. Allegro commodo - Largamente molto; first performance in Helsinki on 8th December 1915 (Helsinki City Orchestra under Jean Sibelius). Second version 1916: 1. Tempo molto moderato, 2. Andante mosso, 3. Allegro molto - Largamente assai; first performance in Turku on 8th December 1916 (Orchestra of Turun Soitannollinen Seura under Jean Sibelius). Final version 1919: 1. Tempo molto moderato - Allegro moderato (ma poco a poco stretto), 2. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto, 3. Allegro molto; first performance in Helsinki, 24th November 1919 (Helsinki City Orchestra under Jean Sibelius). The second and fifth symphonies compete for the title of Sibelius's most popular symphony. Both sound splendid and end in a blaze of glory. The sovereign mastery of the fifth symphony gives no hint of the years of hard decision-making that went into it. Ideas were conceived initially, then discarded, then rewritten, then finally taken up again in a new form. During the First World War Sibelius as a composer led his life "on two levels". His contacts with the outside world were sparse because of the war, and financial pressures forced him to produce a great number of small pieces for Finnish publishers. At the same time he was planning an entirely new kind of symphony. He would write three different versions of it before he was satisfied with the result. Sibelius had been thinking about the fifth symphony, at least since the spring of 1912 when he was working on other pieces. In the summer of 1914, just after the outbreak of the First World War, he wrote that he had got an idea for "a lovely theme". Then in the autumn of 1914 he wrote a prophecy to his friend Axel Carpelan: "Another depth of misery. But I can already make out the mountain that I shall ascend (...) God is opening his doors for a moment, and his orchestra is playing the fifth symphony." While Sibelius's diary notes show that his mood during the fourth symphony was one of determination, the initial stages of the fifth symphony seemed to be filled with ecstasy. "The autumn sun is shining. Nature in its farewell colours. My heart is singing sadly -- the shadows grow longer. The Adagio of my fifth symphony? That I, poor fellow that I am, can have moments of such richness!!" he wrote on 10th October 1914. And in November the sentiment grew even stronger: "I have a lovely theme. An adagio for the symphony -- earth, worms and misery, fortissimo and sordinos [mutes], lots of sordinos. And the melodies are divine!!" In another diary entry (April 1915) Sibelius wrote: "In the evening, working on the symphony. This important task which strangely enchants me. As if God the Father had thrown down pieces of a mosaic from the floor of heaven and asked me to work out the pattern." Indeed, he produced a "mosaic" of drafts during the autumn and winter of 1914. But from such an assembly of material can we know which draft belonged to which movement, or even to which work? In addition to the symphony Sibelius was planning a violin concerto, which he also discussed with Breitkopf & Härtel. And this plan began to develop into yet another work, the sixth symphony. Themes were moved from one draft to another. Part of the first drafts for the sixth symphony finally ended up in the fifth symphony - and the second theme of the finale of the sixth symphony can first be found among the drafts for the fifth symphony! On the 21st April Sibelius saw sixteen swans. In his diary he immediately wrote a magnificent thematic sequence, which ended up in the finale of the fifth symphony. "One of the great experiences of my life! God, how beautiful," he wrote in his diary.

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