Homage to Sibelius

Join the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as they celebrate renowned composer Jean Sibelius, with an evening of his greatest works at the Lighthouse, Poole on Wednesday 5 May. The BSO’s Celebrated Composer and soloist Johan Dalene come together to pay homage to Sibelius with a rousing evening of symphonies you won’t want to miss.

Sibelius is the master of northern mists, melodies of austere simplicity, and dark timbres. In The Swan of Tuonela he paints an image of a mystical bird swimming the rivers of the land of death, the hell of Finnish mythology, whilst in En Saga, the story is just that of the music itself – an expression of a state of mind, the themes undergoing complex transformations.

Rautavaara’s two Serenades are steeped in nostalgic reflection. The solo violin explores themes of love and life with yearning lines that swirl and soar over a gentle orchestral background.

Adès’ single-movement journey maintains an almost constant mood throughout, not dissimilar to many of Sibelius’ own tone poems. Constantly changing harmonic colours are further enhanced by a shifting orchestral palette, conjuring the feeling of air itself.

Sibelius’ last symphony shines with a unique radiance – a work of great confidence and affirmation. The culmination of a lifetime of work in the direction of concision, compression and organic unity within symphonic form, it is more a sort of giant rondo. Comprising one seamless tapestry of interrelated motifs, it builds from a few melodic scraps towards a final upward sweep and trombone hymn that seems to reach out to infinity.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès - Conductor
Johan Dalene - Violin

Works and composers:
Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
Rautavaara - Deux Serenades
Adès - Air – Homage to Sibelius
Sibelius - En Saga
Sibelius - Symphony No.7

This concert is part of an ongoing series on Wednesday evenings at Lighthouse, Poole. Multibuy discounts are on offer for all concerts booked through the BSO Box Office – so the more you visit, the more you save! They will also be streaming 18 Digital Concerts this season so check out their What’s On page on bsolive.com, to see which concerts you can watch from the comfort of your own home.