A $400 finale for Sibelius

Synopsis

On this day in 1926, Walter Damrosch conducted the New York Symphony in the first performance of the last major orchestral work of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius — his symphonic tone poem Tapiola. The title refers to an ancient Finnish forest god, Tapio, and the music suggests an ancient mystery culminating in a burst of terrifying savagery.

After receiving the score, Damrosch wrote this note of appreciation to the composer: “No one but a Norseman could have written this work. We were all enthralled by the dark pine forests and the shadowy gods and wood nymphs who dwell therein. The coda with its icy winds sweeping through the forest made us shiver.” Today the commission fee Damrosch paid Sibelius for this orchestral masterpiece makes us shiver: Sibelius was paid only $400.

At this point in his career, Sibelius was afflicted by intense self-doubt. He wrote in his diary: “I have suffered because of Tapiola … was I really cut out for this sort of thing? Going downhill. Can’t be alone. Drinking whiskey. Physically not strong enough for all this…”

For the next 30 years and more, Sibelius lived in retirement, drinking heavily, and though rumors persisted that he was still writing music, no scores were discovered after his death.

Music Played in Today's Program

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Tapiola; Helsinki Philharmonic; Paavo Berglund, conductor; EMI 68646

On This Day

Births

• 1687 - German violinist and composer and violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, in Cadolzburg

• 1926 - American trumpeter and composer Earle Brown, in Lunenburg, Massachusetts

Premieres

• 1709 - Handel: opera Agrippina in Venice at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 40 (Darzu ist Erschienen der Sohn Gottes) and Magnificat, performed on the Second Day of Christmas as part of Bach’s first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24)

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 121 (Christum wir Colleen Loben Schon) performed on the 2nd Day of Christmas as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25)

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 57 (Selig ist der Mann) performed in Leipzig on the Second Day of Christmas as part of Bach’s third annual Sacred Cantata cycle(1725/27)

• 1734 - Bach: Part 2 (Und es Waren Hirten in Derselben Gegen) of the six-part Christmas Oratorio, in Leipzig

• 1767 - Gluck: opera, Alceste (first version) in Vienna at the Imperial Court Theater

• 1770 - Mozart: opera, Mitridate, Re di Ponto, (composed at 14) in Milan, at the Teatro Regio Ducale

• 1772 - Mozart: opera, Lucio Silla, (composed at 16) in Milan, at the Teatro Regio Ducale

• 1827 - Schubert: Piano Trio, at the Music Society Hall in Vienna, by Ignaz Schuppanzigh (violin), Josef Linke (cello), and Carl Maria von Bocklet (piano)

• 1830 - Donizetti: opera, Anna Bolena, at the Teatro Carcano, Milan

• 1831 - Bellini: opera, Norma, in Milan the Teatro alla Scala

• 1833 - Donizetti: opera Lucretia Borgia, in Milan

• 1867 - Bizet: La Jolie Fille de Perth, at the Théatre-Lyrique in Paris

• 1880 - Brahms: Tragic Overture, in Vienna

• 1897 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Jan. 7)

• 1926 - Sibelius: tone-poem Tapiola by the New York Symphony, Walter Damrosch conducting

• 1931 - Gershwin: musical Of Thee I Sing, at the Music Box Theater in New York City. This show includes the classic Gershwin songs “Love is Sweeping the Country,” “Of Thee I Sing,” and “Who Cares?” (see also Dec. 8 for Boston trial run premiere).

• 1941 - Robert Russell Bennett: Violin Concerto, on an NBC Symphony broadcast

Others

• 1936 - First concert of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in Tel Aviv, with Arturo Toscanini conducting