Guide To The Published Solo Piano Music of Jean Sibelius (1865 - 19

University of Iowa
Iowa Research Online
Theses and Dissertations
Spring 2017
Guide to the published solo piano music of Jean Sibelius

(1865–1957)
Asami Hagiwara
University of Iowa
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Part of the Music Commons
Copyright © 2017 Asami Hagiwara
This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6123
Recommended Citation
Hagiwara, Asami. "Guide to the published solo piano music of Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)." DMA (Doctor
of Musical Arts) thesis, University of Iowa, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.ucaducmv
Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd

Part of the Music Commons
GUIDE TO THE PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO MUSIC OF JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957)
by
Asami Hagiwara
An essay submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts
degree in the
Graduate College of
The University of Iowa
May 2018
Essay Supervisor: Professor Alan Huckleberry

Copyright by
Asami Hagiwara
2018
All Rights Reserved

Graduate College
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
____________________________
DMA ESSAY
_________________
This is to certify that the DMA essay of
Asami Hagiwara
has been approved by the Examining Committee for

the essay requirement for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree
at the May 2018 graduation.
Essay Committee: ____________________________________________

Alan Huckleberry, Essay Supervisor
____________________________________________
Ksenia Nosikova
____________________________________________
Gregory Hand
____________________________________________
Réne Lecuona
____________________________________________
John Muriello
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere gratitude goes to Sibelius Academy and American-Scandinavian Foundation
for providing me the opportunity to research Jean Sibelius’s piano music in Helsinki. One year in
Finland greatly deepened my understanding of the composer and the country where he lived. I am
extremely grateful to Dr. Erik T. Tawaststjerna, who inspired and guided me to discover the
Nordic sound and a deeper connection with Sibelius’s music.
The time I spent at the University of Iowa was my most fruitful period as a pianist and
educator. I extend gratitude to my doctoral committee members who have dedicated their time to
complete this document. My deepest thanks go to my essay advisor, Dr. Alan Huckleberry and
my applied piano teacher, Dr. Ksenia Nosikova. Your endless guidance and support during my
doctorate will never be forgotten.
ii
PUBLIC ABSTRACT
The purpose of this essay is to provide a guide to the published solo piano works of Jean
Sibelius (1865–1957). Sibelius wrote more than 150 compositions for piano; yet, these are little
known and are rarely performed. Through this project, Sibelius’s solo piano literature, currently
unknown to many pianists and piano teachers, will become more accessible.
The first chapter will provide biographical information about Sibelius, the second chapter
will deal with the compositional style and historical background of his piano works, and the third
chapter will be the guide to his published works for solo piano. The guide of each piece will
include a brief stylistic overview, available publications, the length, the key, and leveling
suggestions based on Maurice Hinson’s grading system from Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire.1
This essay serves the purpose of encouraging the study, practice, and performance of the
solo piano works by Sibelius. Although his piano compositions follow the tradition of 19th-
century Romanticism especially that of Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, the influence of Finnish folk
traditions makes his music distinctive from other Romantic composers. This guide will provide
pianists and piano teachers access to important information regarding each of his pieces.
1Maurice Hinson and Wesley Roberts, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 2014).
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... V
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ............................................................................................... VI
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER I: JEAN SIBELIUS, THE COMPOSER ..................................................................... 3
SIBELIUS’S MUSIC AND FINLAND ................................................................................................. 3
SIBELIUS’S MUSIC TRAINING DURING HIS YOUTH YEARS ........................................................... 4
SIBELIUS BECOMES PRO-FINNISH................................................................................................. 5
SIBELIUS GOES ABROAD .............................................................................................................. 6
KARELIAN INFLUENCE IN SIBELIUS’S MUSIC ............................................................................... 7
SIBELIUS AS A N ATIONALIST IN FINLAND ..................................................................................... 9
SIBELIUS’S PERSONAL STRUGGLE .............................................................................................. 10
CHANGE IN SIBELIUS’S WRITING STYLE .................................................................................... 11
SIBELIUS’S VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES .................................................................................. 12
SIBELIUS’S LAST COMPOSITION PERIOD AND DEEP DEPRESSION ............................................... 13
SILENCE OF SIBEIUS’S LAST TWENTY YEARS............................................................................. 14
CHAPTER II: SIBELIUS’S PIANO WORKS ............................................................................. 16
SIBELIUS’S THREE COMPOSITIONAL PERIODS ............................................................................ 16
KARELIAN FOLK INFLUENCE ON SIBELIUS’S PIANO MUSIC ........................................................ 22
SIBELIUS AND FINLAND’S NATURE ............................................................................................ 28
SIBELIUS AND H IS PIANO WORKS .............................................................................................. 29
RECEPTION OF SIBELIUS’S PIANO WORKS .................................................................................. 31
CHAPTER III: GUIDE TO THE PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO MUSIC .................................... 34
LEVELING SUGGESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 34
AVAILABLE RECORDINGS OF COMPLETE PIANO WORKS BY SIBELIUS ....................................... 36
GUIDE ........................................................................................................................................ 37
Early Period (1890–1903): .................................................................................................... 37
Middle Period (1903–1919): ................................................................................................. 50
Late Period (1919–1929): ...................................................................................................... 79
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 95
APPENDIX A: LIST OF PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO WORKS WITH OPUS NUMBERS .... 97
APPENDIX B: LIST OF PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO WORKS WITHOUT OPUS
NUMBERS ................................................................................................................................... 98
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 99
iv
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1.1: MAP OF KARELIAN REGION. ......................................................................................... 8
FIGURE 2.1: THE K ANTELE. ............................................................................................................ 17
FIGURE 3.1: GRADING SYSTEM ON MAURICE HINSON’S GUIDE TO THE PIANIST’S REPERTOIRE...... 35
FIGURE 3.2: AVAILABLE RECORDINGS OF COMPLETE PIANO WORKS BY SIBELIUS ........................35
v
LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE 2. 1:“ROMANCE” IN D-FLAT, OP. 24, NO. 9, MM. 1–8. .................................................... 18
EXAMPLE 2.2: “ROMANCE” IN D-FLAT, OP. 24, NO. 9, MM. 53–54. ................................................ 18
EXAMPLE 2.3: SONATINA IN B-FLAT MINOR, OP. 67, NO. 3, MM. 1–8. .............................................. 20
EXAMPLE 2.4: “LA CATHEDRALE ENGLOUTIE,” FROM PRELUDES, BOOK 1, MM. 1–7. ................... 21
EXAMPLE 2.5: “THE VILLAGE CHURCH”, OP. 103, NO.1, MM. 1–7. ................................................ 22
EXAMPLE 2.6: EXAMPLES OF KALEVALA RECITATION FORMULAS. ............................................... 23
EXAMPLE 2.7: A MELODY SUNG BY PEDRI SHEMEIKKA TO SIBELIUS (SUMMER 1892). .................. 24
EXAMPLE 2.8: IMPROMPTU, OP. 5 NO. 2, MM. 9–16, AND MM. 47–54. ............................................ 26
EXAMPLE 2.9: TRANSCRIBED MELODIES BY A. O. VÄISÄNEN. ...................................................... 26
EXAMPLE 2.10: PIANO SONATA, OP. 12, SECOND MOVEMENT, MM. 51–62.................................... 27
vi
INTRODUCTION
Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) is Finland’s most celebrated composer. Many musicians know
Sibelius for his orchestral music; his seven symphonies, violin concerto, and tone poems, such as
Finlandia and Valse Triste, are widely performed. However, his 150 solo pieces for piano are
lesser known. In this essay, I provide a guide to the published solo piano works by Sibelius, in
order to build awareness of Sibelius’s underrepresented piano repertoire and to increase the
performance of his piano works.
Erik W. Tawaststjerna (1916–1993) is one of the first scholars and performers of
Sibelius’s compositions. To this day he is widely considered one of, if not the foremost scholars
on the subject. He knew Sibelius and his family personally and later had unrestricted access to
the composer’s papers, diaries, and letters in 1957. His three-volume study on Sibelius, Sibelius,
is regarded as the definitive source. 2 His son, Erik T. Tawaststjerna (1951–) has inherited the
vast knowledge of his father and continued to further research on the composer himself
especially on his piano music. I feel very honored to have studied with him at the Sibelius
Academy during 2016–2017. With his guidance, I was able to develop a deeper and more
personal interpretation of Sibelius’s music.
I believe a guide that approaches the piano works by Sibelius from a pedagogical
viewpoint will make his compositions more accessible. An overview of the ways folk idioms are
used in his piano music is especially necessary for non-Finnish pianists. It is important to also
understand the mixed influences of the stylistic trends in Europe at the time of Sibelius’s music.
Separating the composer, his influences, and experience from his music is extremely
difficult in most instances. In the case of Sibelius, it is virtually impossible. He was actively
2
Erik Tawaststjerna, Sibelius, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
1
involved in the political developments in Finland and this had a direct impact on some of his
compositions. Others can be traced to his personal struggles with alcoholism or reaction to
people he met during the course of his life. In Chapter One, I will provide a brief biography,
which will highlight these influences and put his symphonies and other orchestral works in that
context. Chapter Two will then focus directly on his piano works and how they came in and out
of his life at a variety of important moments.
The main body of this study includes a guide to the published piano works by Sibelius.
Included in the guide to each piece are a brief stylistic overview, available publications, the
length, the key, and leveling suggestions based on Maurice Hinson’s grading system from Guide
to the Pianist’s Repertoire.3 The information provided in the guide is given under the assumption
that this chapter could be a stand-alone publication. This does mean that same pieces of
information will duplicate some given in prior chapters.
Although Sibelius wrote over 150 works for piano, this research will focus on the 115
piano compositions published with opus numbers. There are 46 piano works without opus
numbers, which were recently published by Breitkopf & Härtel. 4 These works were mostly
written as exercises or sketches while Sibelius was a student at the Helsinki Music Institute
(1885–1889), and others were composed as gifts or souvenirs for his friends. As these pieces
served a different purpose than those published during his lifetime, only the 115 piano
compositions with opus numbers will be examined here.
3Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire.

4Anna Pulkkis, “Introduction,” in Complete Works, Series V (Works for Piano) Vol. 4: Works
Without Opus Number by Jean Sibelius (Wiesbaden: Edition Breitkopf, 2014), IX–XIII.
2
CHAPTER I: JEAN SIBELIUS, THE COMPOSER
Sibelius’s Music and Finland
Understanding Finland’s political and cultural background are important factors in
interpreting Sibelius’s music. Sibelius endured many hardships, from experiencing both of the
World Wars and his own country’s Civil War, alongside with personal struggles with
uncontrolled lavish spending habits and alcoholism. These political instabilities and his personal
issues seem to have affected his music.
Historically, due to a long period of Swedish occupation since the late 12th century,
Finland was divided into two groups: Swedish-speaking citizens and Finnish-speaking citizens.
Swedish-speaking Finns were the minority elites who controlled the government. Their culture
was more cosmopolitan and similar to that in the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway,
and Sweden). Fine arts, including music, were primarily enjoyed by these small populations. In
contrast, Finnish-speaking Finns had limited social power. Their culture was independent of
neighboring countries (Sweden, Norway, and Russia) and strongly rooted in peasant and folk
traditions.
A gradual shift in the country’s state began as Russia gained control of Finland in 1809.
From this point on, the Finnish language5 and culture gained more recognition. Printed literature
in Finnish appeared in the mid-19th century for the first time. One of the first published works in
Finnish was Kalevala, a collection of folklore compiled by Elias Lönnrot in 1835. This gradual
development led to the major milestone: in 1863, Finnish was accepted as an official government
language.
5Finnish language is a member of the Uralic language, which also includes Hungarian and
Estonian. Since Swedish is a North Germanic language (or a Scandinavian language), Finnish
and Swedish are very different languages.
3
Sibelius’s Music Training During His Youth Years
During the country’s political and cultural period of transformation in the 19th century,
Finland’s music culture was still very limited. The Helsinki Concert Society Orchestra, the
city’s first permanent symphony orchestra, was only founded in 1882. Sibelius having been
born in 1865, did not grow up going to live orchestra or opera performances. Nor were there
any internationally reputed Finnish composers who preceded him. Hence, most of his musical
development came from playing music at home and in his community.
Sibelius’s first musical instrument was the piano, taking lessons from his aunt, Julia
Sibelius, in 1872. He was not a diligent student, but he learned to read music and enjoyed
improvising. Sibelius later started studying the violin with Gustaf Levander, a local military
bandmaster at the age of 15. Despite the relatively advanced age for beginning the instrument,
he always considered violin to be his primary instrument and even hoped to pursue a career as
a concert violinist at one point.
Playing chamber music was an important source of family entertainment in Sibelius’s
home. They often performed piano trios with Jean on the violin, his brother, Christian, on the
cello, and his sister, Linda, on the piano. Many of the very early works by Sibelius were
written for them to play. In these works, one can clearly hear the influence of the Viennese
Classical style (Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven) and early Romantic style (Schubert,
Mendelssohn, and Schumann), because this was the repertoire which his family played and
performed. Examples from this time period are two of Sibelius’s earliest surviving pieces: a
three-movement Piano Trio in G major and a Menuetto in F for Two Violins and Piano from
1882.
In the autumn of 1885, Sibelius enrolled as a law student at Helsinki University while
4
studying violin at the Helsinki Music Institute (later to be named Sibelius Academy). He soon
discontinued the study of law after a year and focused on music. After realizing he did not
have enough facility to become a concert violinist, he concentrated on composition under the
tutelage of Martin Wegelius.6 Sibelius’s works began to show the modern influence of
Tchaikovsky and Grieg as he studied these Russian and Scandinavian nationalist composers.
His representative works from the college years include a String Quartet in A minor and a
Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello in A major.
During his last year at the Music Institute (1888–1889), Sibelius met Ferruccio Busoni7
who was a newly appointed professor of piano. Erik T. Tawaststjerna explains that it was
through Busoni that Sibelius gained “a clear picture of the heights to which piano playing can
aspire.”8 Busoni recognized Sibelius’s compositional talent and became his life-long friend
and supporter. Busoni performed Sibelius’s compositions in concerts and introduced him to
influential figures in the international music scene.
Sibelius Becomes Pro-Finnish
In 1888 Sibelius met Armas Järnefelt,9 who soon became his close friend at the Music
Institute. Järnefelt had a strong belief in supporting pro-Finnish ideology, which in turn
influenced Sibelius. This was the beginning of Sibelius realizing the importance of cultivating
Finnish culture. The relationship with Järnefelt was also important from a personal standpoint.
He introduced him to his sister Aino, who later became Sibelius’s wife. Also in 1888, Sibelius
6 Finnish composer and educator; the founder of the Helsinki Music Institute.
7 Italian virtuoso pianist and composer (1866–1924).
8 Erik T. Tawaststjerna, “The Piano Music of Sibelius,” Finnish Music Quarterly 3–4 (1990), 67.
9 Composer and conductor who came from a strong pro-Finnish family (1869–1958).
5
met Eero Erko10 and a circle of activists at Päivälehti.11 The members were pro-Finnish and
advocated especially for the Finnish language and greater Finnish freedoms. Their enthusiasm
changed Sibelius’s view on the nation. Until that point he was Swedish-speaking. He recalled
later, “I was almost a 'Svecoman' (supporter of Swedish language and culture) until the
Päivälehti circle awakened a new spirit in me.”12 The starting point in Sibelius’s exploration of
Finnish sound began around this time.
Sibelius Goes Abroad
After graduating from the Helsinki Music Institute in 1889, Sibelius received a state
stipend of 2,000 Finnish marks to study composition in Berlin. He enjoyed attending many
performances there, but felt the atmosphere was too conservative. He studied privately with
Albert Becker13 from September 1889 to June 1890. This turned out to be a discouraging
experience, because Sibelius had to focus on technical exercises.
His excessive drinking, as well as financial and medical issues, which became a
recurring problem throughout his life, appeared for the first time during the year. Although he
mostly focused on improving the fundamentals of his compositional technique, he did write a
Piano Quintet in G minor, which foreshadowed his desire to write larger scale works.
After a summer in Finland, Sibelius lived in Vienna, from October 1890 to June 1891,
sponsored by Finnish state funds. He learned composition and orchestration with Karl
10 Pro-Finnish journalist, who founded Päivälehti, the forerunner of Finland's biggest newspaper
Helsingin Sanomat in 1899.
11 Päivälehti was a newspaper, which was the organ of the Young Finnish Party.
12 Vesa Sirén et al, “Jean Sibelius as a Composer,” Sibelius,
http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/js_saveltajana.html, accessed 7 March 2015.

13 German Composer (1846–1906).
6
Goldmark14 and Robert Fuchs15 at the Vienna Conservatory. Sibelius completed two orchestral
works while studying under these teachers, an Overture in E major and Scène de Ballet. This
year was a significant turning point for Sibelius. He became more open to progressive ideas
and less interested in classical traditions.
Karelian Influence in Sibelius’s Music
Around the same time as when Sibelius lived in Vienna, Finnish Nationalism was
reaching its peak in both politics and the arts. The region of Karelia, located in the Eastern
region or Finland, became the center for traditional Finnish folk music and poetry. Along with
Karelian popularity, Kalevala, a collection of legends and folklore mostly from the region,
became a source of inspiration for many artists. Sibelius read the Kalevala while living in
Vienna and developed the idea of combining Finnish nationalism and folk music in his
compositions. (More details are found in Chapter 2 under the Karelian Folk Influence on
Sibelius’s Piano Music, and Sibelius and Finland’s Nature.)
14 Austro-Hungarian composer (1830–1915).

15 Austrian composer (1847–1927).
7
Figure 1.1: Map of Karelian Region.
A significant change in attitude towards the Viennese style occurred in the spring of
1891, when Sibelius shared his composition in progress, Kullervo, a symphonic poem based
on one of the Kalevala epics, with his teachers. Goldmark saw his work as poorly
orchestrated, and worse, Fuchs described it as “barbaric and raw.” 16 Especially Fuchs’
feedback caused “his [Sibelius’s] Finnish blood to boil” and resulted in his abandonment of
the Viennese Classicism ideal as Sibelius expressed, “so, let’s be barbarians!” 17
In the spring of 1892, Sibelius completed Kullervo, integrating Finnish language
rhythms and folk idioms in the music for the first time. He continued to combine the Finnish
folk idioms into his compositions in succeeding works such as En Saga (1892), Karelia Suite
(1893), and Lemminkäinen Suite (1896). However, Sibelius struggled to establish himself as a
16 Sirén et al, “Jean Sibelius as a Composer,” Sibelius.

17 Ibid.
8
composer for the next few years. Sibelius’s compositions were not published, critics’ reviews
were negative, and he did not receive any attention abroad.
Sibelius as a Nationalist in Finland
Sibelius’s career developed rather slowly in the beginning. However, after returning to
Finland, the thirty-two year old Sibelius was selected as a national artist in 1897. This granted
him an annual pension of 3,000 marks for the next ten years, which in fact was later expanded
to a lifelong pension. The amount was about half of a professor’s salary, but it allowed him to
take on fewer teaching jobs in order to support his family.
On February 24th, 1898, Adolf Paul’s 18 play, King Christian II, for which Sibelius
composed the music, was premiered. The catchy melodies were extremely popular. Four
pieces from the stage play, the Elegy, Musette, Minuet, and The Song of the Cross-Spider,
were published by K. F. Wasenius in Finland. Later, Breitkopf & Härtel purchased the rights
to the stage music for distribution in Germany. Sibelius now had contact with an international
publisher and started to gain attention as a composer both in and outside of Finland.
At the same time, Russia, which still controlled Finland, began to threaten Finnish
political autonomy and enforced a ‘Russification’ campaign in order to annex it. Although
Sibelius previously wrote nationalist works without any political resistance in mind, he took a
stance against Russia and wrote a number of patriotic pieces. One of the most successful
nationalistic works was Atenarnes sång (‘Song of the Athenians’) composed in 1899. This
song, which expressed resistance against Russian oppression, was enthusiastically received by
the public.
18 Swedish writer of novels and plays (1863–1943).

9
With this celebrated nationalist music, Sibelius became one of the leading figures
resisting Russian occupation over the country. This was also a prolific compositional period
for Sibelius despite the fact he lost one of his three daughters in 1900 due to typhoid fever.
Some of his representative works from this period include the First Symphony (1899),
Finlandia (1900), the Second Symphony (1902), the first version of Violin Concerto in D
minor (1904), and Valse Triste (1904).
Sibelius’s Personal Struggle
In 1904, Sibelius and his family moved permanently from Helsinki in an attempt to
end Sibelius’s increasingly heavy drinking and excessive spending. The new home in
Järvenpää, which they called Ainola, provided convenient access to Helsinki but was further
removed from the temptations of the city.
The move to Ainola did not solve the problem of Sibelius’s alcoholism and heavy
spending. For example, he ordered champagne, brandy, and lobsters for a single dinner,
spending the equivalent of 600 USD in today’s money. 19 These irresponsible decisions led him
to illness and debts. In 1908, he was diagnosed with a throat tumor and required several
operations in Helsinki and Berlin to recover. Under his doctor’s orders, Sibelius stopped
drinking and smoking, although this only lasted until 1915. This life-threatening experience
seems to have caused his music to become darker and more introspective. 20
19 Sirén et al, “The Men,” Sibelius.

20 Ibid.
10
Change in Sibelius’s Writing Style
In the early 20th century, Sibelius’s works were gradually gaining popularity especially
in England and later in the United States. At the same time, it was also becoming clearer that
his compositions would not be accepted in the Central European countries such as Austria,
Germany, and France. From their perspective, he was simply a second-tier nationalist
composer. This stereotype did not change even after Sibelius’s compositional style became
more cosmopolitan and modern.
Sibelius’s Third Symphony (1907) represents his post-national Romantic
compositional style and the beginning of his modern classicism period. The work reveals his
transition from rich nationalistic, late-Romantic writing to a leaner and less Kalevalic style. As
Sibelius searched for ways to write a symphony without artificial excess, his orchestral works
became more concentrated and compact. This condensed writing became one of his distinctive
styles during his middle and late compositional periods.
A conversation with Gustav Mahler suggests Sibelius’s different beliefs from Mahler’s
opinion regarding symphonic writing. When Sibelius met Mahler soon after the Third
Symphony was completed, he told Mahler, “. . . I admire its [symphonic writing] strictness
and style and deep logic, which requires that all its motifs must be linked to each other,"
whereas Mahler, who just wrote his Fifth Symphony said, “No, the symphony must be like the
world. It must encompass everything."21
Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony (1910–1911) was also written in a similar style to
Sibelius’s previous symphony but more dissonant and with abundant use of tritones. His desire
to separate himself from the popular styles of the time is expressed in a letter he wrote to Rosa

11
Newmarch, an English music critic, “[My symphony] stands as a protest against present-day
music. It has nothing, absolutely nothing of the circus about it.”22
Sibelius’s Visit to the United States
In 1914, Carl Stoeckel commissioned Sibelius to write a new work for the Norfolk
Music Festival in the United States. He traveled to the U.S. for the first time to conduct his
own orchestral pieces, including a newly composed work for the commission, Aallottaret (The
Oceannides), a symphonic poem with some impressionist influences. His music was highly
praised, and a concert tour following the event was successful.
In addition, Yale University granted him an honorary doctorate during the trip. The
attention to his works increased and he became one of the most popular living composers in
the U.S. However, due the start of World War I, he was unable to return to the U.S. for any
more concert tours. The political situation added to his professional and financial struggles. It
restricted his contact with his German publisher as Russia, which still controlled Finland, and
Germany belonged to the opposing alliances during the war.23
The isolation from the rest of Europe and his own country’s instability seem to have
had some impact on Sibelius’s personality. In 1915, he again resumed drinking and smoking
after seven years of abstinence. This relapse of drinking caused a huge strain in his marriage
with Aino.
22 James Hepokoski and Fabian Dahlström, “Sibelius, Jean,” Grove Music Online,
www.oxfordmusiconline.com, accessed 27 February 2015.
23 Germany was a part of the Central Power and the Russian Empire belong to the Allies.
12
Sibelius’s Last Composition Period and Deep Depression
Although Finland declared its independence from Russia on December 6, 1917, a
Finnish Civil War between the socialist "Reds" and non-socialist "Whites" followed soon
thereafter.24 To show his support to the "Whites", Sibelius composed Jääkärien marssi (Jäger
March) to lyrics written by Heikki Nurmio, a Finnish writer.
This work became the patriotic anthem for the "Whites" during the war and the public
identified Sibelius even more strongly as an important pro-nationalist artist. In February of
1918, the situation however worsened, when the Red Guards gained control of Helsinki and
the surrounding area. This impacted Sibelius’s safety as well. His house was searched twice on
February 11th and 13th, and he was put under house arrest. During this period of the war,
Sibelius became more depressed and became extremely critical of his ability as a composer.
His productivity began to diminish.
The late period of Sibelius’s compositions started in 1914 around the time when he
composed Aallottaret (The Oceannides). During this time, Sibelius achieved his goal of
writing a highly-concentrated work without any excess. Sibelius moved even further away
from the traditional symphonic structure. His last three symphonies, the Fifth (three versions,
1915, 1916, 1919), Sixth (1923) and Seventh (1924) Symphonies, all exemplify extremely
condensed writing. The last symphony Sibelius wrote only has one movement, and is often
described as his climax of symphonic concentration.
Conductor Sir Simon Rattle described his style of writing as such, "Sibelius is so
concentrated and exact [in the last symphony] . . . With Sibelius you feel that if one drop
24A civil war in Finland fought between the Reds (supported by Soviet Russia) and the Whites
(supported by the German Empire) began January 27 th, 1918 and lasted until May 15, 1918.
13
touched your skin it would burn right through the bone.” 25 Tapiola (1926), which was written
after the last Symphony, is considered one of the highest quality works Sibelius wrote for
orchestra. Walter Damrosch, a conductor, who premiered Tapiola in New York in 1927,
praised Sibelius,
I consider Tapiola to be one of the most original and fascinating works from your pen.
The variety of expression that you give to the one theme in the various episodes, the
closely-knit musical structure, the highly original orchestration, and above all, the
poetic imagery of the entire work, are truly marvelous. 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.26
Records show that he started working on an Eighth Symphony as early as in 1928 and
restarted it in 1930 and 1931. However, the score was never completed or published. Aino
reported to Erik Tawaststjerna that she saw Sibelius burning a laundry basket full of his
manuscripts including the Eighth Symphony, in the fire of their kitchen stove at Ainola in the
mid 1940s.27 Sibelius’s deep depression and self-criticism hindered him from producing any
more music after Tapiola.
Silence of Sibelius’s Last Twenty Years
In World War II, Finland was placed in an extremely uneasy political condition in the
effort to protect its country from the Soviet Union’s invasion on November 30, 1937. This was
the begin of the "Winter War" between the two countries, which lasted until March 13, 1940.
Later, Finland allied with Nazi Germany to receive military aid, which led Germans to station
a military base in Finland during the Continuation War.28 With the Moscow Armistice29
25 Sirén et al, “Jean Sibelius as a Composer,” Sibelius.

26 Guy Rickards, Jean Sibelius (London: Phaidon Press, 1997), 171.
27 Hepokoski, “Sibelius, Jean,” Grove Music Online.
28 The Continuation War was between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944. It is
considered to be the "continuation" of the Winter War.

14
signed on September 19, 1944, Finland then fought against Nazi Germany to expel German
troops.
During the turmoil of his country, Sibelius did not compose any new significant works.
He did, however, write some small compositions such as Veljesvirsi and Ylistyshymni, which
were composed in 1946 for men’s chorus. He made some revisions to non-published works
from an earlier period as well. Sibelius was treated as a retired national hero in Finland and
received numerous awards. In the 1930s the popularity of his music was at its peak in England
and in the United States. Significant recordings of his orchestral works began to appear at the
same time as well. When the New York Philharmonic conducted a survey in 1935, Sibelius
was selected as the most popular composer, ahead of even Beethoven and Ravel. 30
On September 20, 1957, after two decades of silence as a composer, Sibelius died of a
cerebral hemorrhage and was buried at Ainola. The obituary notice stated, “Music is made from
sorrow,” as Sibelius requested. This statement captured his life-long struggle as a composer.
29 The Moscow Armistice ended the Continuation War and was signed between Finland on one
side and the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom on the other side.
15
CHAPTER II: SIBELIUS’S PIANO WORKS
Sibelius’s Three Compositional Periods
Sibelius wrote over 150 works for solo piano, 115 of which are published with opus
numbers. The rest, mostly written before 1890, remained unpublished until recently. In addition,
there are about 110 songs with piano accompaniment and over 50 chamber works with piano, as
well as several solo piano arrangements of Sibelius’s orchestral compositions. Most of his
original pieces for solo piano are collections of shorter character pieces. Although these works
are published as sets, many are not intended to be performed together. As briefly mentioned in
the previous chapter, the changes in Sibelius’s compositional style of his orchestral works are
generally divided into three periods: National Romantic (1890–1903), Neoclassical (1903–1919),
and Synthesis (1919–1929). These stylistic changes are reflected in his piano works as well.
During Sibelius’s early period, “National Romantic,” he focused on combining Finnish
folk idioms with the Romantic style. The influence of Kalevala poems appears in his piano
works, just as in his orchestral compositions. For example, Sibelius imitated the sound of
kantele, a Karelian plucking instrument similar to a dulcimer or zither, performed as a solo
instrument or to accompany runic singers 31 in his piano music.32
31 Rune-Singing is a traditional singing style, in which Karelian folk-poetry was recited.

32 Sirén et al, “Piano Compositions,” Sibelius.
16
Figure 2.1: the Kantele.
Kari Kiplelainen33 describes the main characteristics of Sibelius’s early compositions as
being, “luscious [and] romantic. . . including conventional cadences, large-scale proportions as
compared to later works, and heavy textures laden with wide-spanned, multi-part chords and
technical difficulties.”34 One of his most popular piano works, Romance in D-flat, op. 24, no. 9,
exemplifies his earlier piano writing (see Examples 2.1, 2.2). The style follows the tradition of
the 19th century romanticism. As Kiplelainen mentions, these two examples include long, singing
melodies; thick orchestral textures; and also virtuosic cadenza-like sections. Despite the
originality and beauty found in piano works from this period, they are often ignored and
forgotten, and rarely performed outside of the Nordic countries.35
33 Finnish Sibelius scholar, an editor of Sibelius’s works for Breitkopf & Härtel
34 Kari Kilpeläinen, “Introduction,” in Ten Pieces, Op. 24 for Piano by Jean Sibelius (Leipzig:
Edition Breitkopf, 2002), 5.
35 Ibid.
17
Example 2. 1:“Romance” in D-flat, op. 24, no. 9, mm. 1–8.
Example 2.2: “Romance” in D-flat, op. 24, no. 9, mm. 53–54.
This middle period or the “Neoclassical” period is from 1903–1919. During this period,
Sibelius simplified the Romantic style as displayed in his Third Symphony (1907). His writing is
less chordal and leaner in his piano works as well. For example, Sibelius frequently used
18
classical forms such as sonatinas, resulting in shorter phrasings compared to long sweeping lines
in his earlier works, as well as contrapuntal textures.
The Three Sonatinas, op. 67, include many new ideas away from the traditional late-
Romantic writing, in which Sibelius explores the use of dissonant harmony, unexpected forms,
and recurring-motivic ideas. In 1948, Sibelius told Erik W. Tawaststjerna that the Sonatinas were
among his best compositions, on a level with his String Quartet, “Voces Intimae.” 36 Eric Blom37
says, “the Sonatinas are undoubtedly the peak of Sibelius’s achievement as a pianoforte
composer.”38 With leaner and simpler writing, the music became condensed without excessive
flourishes.
The Third Sonatina in B-flat minor perhaps is the most creative out of the three (see
Example 2.3). Cedric Davie39 states, “it appears to be rather more sophisticated than its
companions, but nonetheless retains that engaging naivety of effect, which is one of their
outstanding characteristics.” 40 Davie also adds that the Third Sonatina has similar compositional
traits to Sibelius’s Third and Fifth Symphonies, which he sees as evidence that his compositional
transformation in orchestral writing is reflected in his piano music as well.
36Juhani Alesaro, “Sibelius and his ‘Free Moments’ at the Piano,” Sibelius Forum II:
Proceedings from the Third International Jean Sibelius Conference, Helsinki, December 7–10,
2000, edited by Matti Huttunen (Helsinki: Sibelius Academy, Department of Composition and
Music Theory, 2003), 293.
37 English critic and scholar (1888–1959).
38 Eric Blom, “The Piano Music,” in The Music of Sibelius, ed. Gerald Abraham (New York:
Norton & Company, 1947), 98.

39 Scottish composer (1913–1983).
40 Cedric Thrope Davie, “Sibelius’s Piano Sonatinas,” Tempo, No. 10 (1945), 10.
19
Example 2.3: Sonatina in B-flat minor, op. 67, no. 3, mm. 1–8.
Sibelius’s last active compositional period is the “Synthesis Style” which is dated from
1919–1929, in which the works are a diverse synthesis of his past musical styles. Erik T.
Tawaststjerna notes, “all in all his piano music [from Sibelius’s last period] displays the same
stylistic crystallization and concentration on essentials as his orchestral music.” 41 Overall, the
music is not as lean as the middle period. The influence of impressionism and expressionism are
more evident with modern harmonies and the thicker textures in his piano works. These reflect
his symphonic composition style, especially that of his Sixth and Seventh Symphonies. While
revealing the similarity to Sibelius’s late orchestral writing, the piano works from this period also
summarize the stylistic changes he had gone through in his compositional career.
Five Characteristic Impressions, op. 103 (1923), is a representative collection of piano
writing from this period. Scholars like Sirén often mention the similarity of this set to his Seventh
Symphony. The work is described as “[offering] Sibelius's most powerful and orchestral pianism
41 Erik T. Tawaststjerna, “The Piano Music of Sibelius,” 70.

20
. . . . It has something of the breadth of the seventh symphony.” 42 His use of harmony is
impressionistic as well. Martin Anderson43 compares the first piece in op. 103, “The Village
Church” to “La Cathédrale Engloutie,” from Preludes, Book 1, by Debussy (see Example 2.4
and 2.5). He writes,
[‘The Village Church’] is Sibelius’s equivalent of ‘La Cathédrale Engloutie,’ with a

principal theme taken from the then unpublished Andante festivo for strings: spacious
chords move in parallel motion to evoke the quiet calm of the church—and perhaps the
organ inside it—until the bells ring out to bring the piece to its close. It would be a
remarkable work from any composer, let alone one whose piano music is supposed to be
clumsy and ineffective. 44
The beautiful orchestral piano writing in “The Village Church” parallels some of the innovative
works Sibelius composed for orchestra during this period like his last symphonies.
Example 2.4: “La Cathédrale Engloutie,” from Preludes, Book 1, mm. 1–7.

43 Scottish musicologist and publisher.
44 Martin Anderson, “Sibelius and the Piano,” Piano Journal 27 (2007), 17.
21
Example 2.5: “The Village Church”, op. 103, no.1, mm. 1–7.
Karelian Folk Influence on Sibelius’s Piano Music
During Sibelius’s National Romantic compositional period, Sibelius studied Finnish folk
music to become more familiar with the tradition. Sibelius analyzed the Kalevala recitation
formulas as a way to discover the qualities which comprise the Finnish musical sound.
Hepokoski45 explains the formula as following in Grove Music Online.
These formulas constitute a family of brief, constricted melodies, each a pattern for the
delivery of complementary pairs of poetic lines, spun out in an endless line-by-line
alternation and sometimes performed back-and-forth between two male reciters. Each
variant is typically bounded by a minor pentachord and unfolds in an implied 5/4 metre
with two longer stresses on the final two beats . . . . Such circular, often-reiterative
theme-whirlpools—typically preoccupied with ‘fatalistically’ fixed intervallic patterns
within the minor pentachord (with occasional decorative extensions above and
below)—became characteristic features of the composer's ‘Finnish’ style in the 1890s
and beyond. (Example 2.6)46
45 American musicologist (b. 1946–).

22
Example 2.6: Examples of Kalevala Recitation Formulas.
In December 1890, Sibelius discovered the cyclic or repetitive poems’ structure as a
musical form and described, "Kalevala is quite modern. In my view, it is all music: theme and
variations."47 Sibelius later travelled to Porvoo in 1891 to hear runic singing or recitation of
the Kalevala poems in a ritual context. He heard famous Karelian runic singer, Larin Paraske
(1833–1904), perform some of the Kalevala poems. This gave him a richer idea of Finnish
folk tradition. Although static repetition is not always praised in art music, Sibelius began to
search for ways to incorporate the Finnish style and wrote to his wife, “I certainly do believe
in Finnish music, regardless of the smirks of the self-appointed authorities. That sonorous,
remarkably melancholy monotony in all Finnish melodies, although it is a defect, properly
speaking, is nevertheless characteristic.” 48
47 Sirén et al, “Stylistic Development: Main Tendencies,” Sibelius.

23
In the summer of 1892, after Sibelius completed Kullervo,49 he collected folksongs in
Eastern Finland during his honeymoon. Sibelius met Pedri Shemeikka (1825–1915), a legendary
runic singer, during his research in Korpiselkä. He later recalled his experience of hearing
Shemeikka’s memorable performance: “[I] found in Shemeikka an ancient spirit so manly and
noble that my visit and stay with him was more valuable than any of my best study trips.” 50
As the research was partially funded by the University of Helsinki, Sibelius submitted a
short, written report after the journey. He included four transcribed short melodies sung by
Shemeika in the document. Sibelius believed one of the four was the oldest and thus the source
for the other runic melodies he heard (See Example 2.7).51
Example 2.7: A melody sung by Pedri Shemeikka to Sibelius (Summer 1892).
However, the experience for Sibelius was more significant than simply collecting
folksongs. Veijo Murtomäki52 describes,
His encounter with the singing of Pedri Shemeikka . . . caused a veritable burst of
compositions based either on folk melodies, or often on melodies of his own making
composed in the spirit of the music he had heard sung or played by the Karelian singers
and kantele players. After these experiences folk music was of crucial importance to the
development of Sibelius’s own idiomatic musical language, modified in a deepening
49 Sibelius’s first symphonic poem based on one of the Kalevala epics completed in 1892
50 Veijo Murtomäki, “The Influence of Karelian runo Singing and kantele Playing on Sibelius’s
Music,” Sibelius in the Old and New World: aspects of his music, its interpretation, and
reception, edited by Timothy L. Jackson et al (Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 2010), 202.
51 Ibid.
52 Finnish Sibelius scholar (b. 1954–).
24
awareness of the special possibilities of modality as manifested in Finnish-Karelian folk
music—and differing in many basic ways from the modal features, principles and
conventions of the church modes as understood by Western theoreticians and constructed
for regulating the Roman Catholic plain song repertoire. 53
Through the exploration of Karelian folk music, Sibelius found his own voice in creating
repetitive melodies with slight variations based on a pentachord, which ascend further only
during expressive climax points. He also discovered a way to harmonize melodies in a
nontraditional manner, drawing on modal scales rather than following the functions of tonic and
dominant.
Murtomäki finds the influence of the runic songs and kantele tunes in Sibelius’s Six
Piano Impromptus, op. 5 (1893) and Sonata in F Major, op. 12 (1893). He explains, “it is easy to
notice the many associations, with, perhaps even literal borrowing from the playing of the old
masters of the kantele in Sibelius’s early piano music.” 54 In the Impromptu No. 2, op. 5 (Example
2.8), the short melodic theme of an eighth-note grouped with two sixteenth-notes is repeated with
drone chords underneath the melody. This rhythmic pattern closely resembles a melody
transcribed by Armas Otto Väisänen55(Example 2.9a).56
53 Veijo Murtomäki, “Modal-Tonal Techniques in Sibelius’s opus 114,” Musurgia, 15.1 (2008):
72.
54 Murtomäki, “The Influence of Karelian runo Singing and kantele Playing on Sibelius’s
Music,” 207.
55 Finnish leading ethnomusicologist who documented Finnish folk music in the early 20 th-
century (1890–1969).
Music,” 207.
25
Example 2.8: Impromptu, op. 5 No. 2, mm. 9–16, and mm. 47–54.
Example 2.9: Transcribed Melodies by A. O. Väisänen.57
The repetitive nature in Karelian folk music, which Sibelius described as ‘theme and
variations,’58 is included in the second movement of Piano Sonata, op. 12 (Example 2.10).59 As
labeled b, b1, b2, and b3, the short thematic idea changes slightly in each repetition and in the
fourth repetition, the phrase expands wider than a pentachord.
57 I requested this copy through Interlibrary Loan. The scanned copy I received was curved as
shown here.
59 Murtomäki, “Modal-Tonal Techniques in Sibelius’s opus 114,” 72.
26
Example 2.10: Piano Sonata, op. 12, Second Movement, mm. 51–62.
Sibelius began incorporating these Karelian-influenced musical idioms in his early period
and continued to use and refine them throughout his career. Murtomäki summarizes Sibelius’s
writing style as following,
In his use of repetitive folk or folk-like melodies with small ambitus, Sibelius was not too
distant from his 19th-century Russian-composer colleagues. However, irrespective of
some parallel features between Sibelius and his Russian contemporaries, in most cases
Sibelius’s music sounds different from theirs. In employing runo and kantele melodies,
using existing modes and forming new ones as a source of inspiration, Sibelius developed
harmonization techniques—the ninth chord, and non-functional parallel—moving chords
along the degrees of the modes – which were obviously based on folk music, but
cultivated and refined in a way unique to Sibelius, according to his genius. 60
Murtomäki goes on to explain that these compositional techniques are found everywhere in
Sibelius’s works and are included in his piano works all the way through his last collection, Five
Esquisses, op. 114 (1929).61
Music,” 217.
61 Murtomäki, “Modal-Tonal Techniques in Sibelius’s opus 114,” 72.
27
Sibelius and Finland’s Nature
The geographical features of his homeland had a strong impact on Sibelius’s
compositional style. As Frederick Smith, the author of Nordic Art Music, describes,
“Geographically, the Nordic lands had long presented another worldly character. The vast tracts
of thick forests, dark waters, narrow fjords, and jagged mountains . . . were unlike anything
found on the Continent.”62 Smith connects Finland’s geographical influence with Sibelius’s
music as following, “his sound is often cool and brooding, not to the point of austerity, but
reflective of the Nordic environment in which he lived and worked.” 63
Norwegian violinist, Vilde Frang, who often performs Sibelius’s violin works, describes
Sibelius’s music reflection of the Nordic culture as following:
I think the loneliness, melancholy and sense of something abandoned, that characterizes
Sibelius's music, represents all daunting feelings and moods, from which one would like
to escape . . . . Of course one could claim that these emotions are familiar for anyone. But
for me personally, the music is strongly related to the desolated, unexplored beauty of the
barren northern landscapes where we—Sibelius and me—grew up.64
This is certainly true in his piano music as well. The music often starts with a simple
accompanying pattern alone, which creates the feeling of stillness. In the dramatic points of
music, Sibelius frequently uses extreme ranges of the piano to achieve grand spaciousness.65
Alec Rowley66 describes Sibelius’s compositional approach as, “[erecting a] mighty building of
sound upon simple foundations, and out of materials that is [sic] almost insignificant . . . . His
62Frederick Key Smith, Nordic Art Music: From the Middle Ages to the Third Millennium.
(Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002), 32.
63 Ibid, 61.
64 Tobias Fischer, “Interview with Vilde Frang,” Tokafi,
http://www.tokafi.com/15questions/interview-vilde-frang, accessed 8 March 2015.

65 For Examples of these, refer back to Examples 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3
66 English pianist and music author (1892–1958).
28
workmanship is superb . . . behind everything one feels the big mind and wide outlook.” 67
Furthermore, Harold Lewin68 highlights the most attractive aspect of his piano music as, “. . . the
way he captures the Northern ethos, intimate yet austere.” 69 Much of the emotional effect
audiences and musicians receive from Sibelius’s music is connected to the geographical
environment in which he lived.
Sibelius and His Piano Works
Sibelius stated on a few occasions that he did not care for his piano works. In one of the
most well-known quotes regarding Sibelius’s thoughts in piano music, he told his student, Bengt
von Törne (1937): "I write piano pieces in my spare moments . . . as a matter of fact the piano
does not interest me because it cannot sing."70
Sibelius was often forced to compose piano works in order to support his family. He
continued to struggle financially during his career; at times due to his lavish spending habits and
alcoholism, and at other times because of political instability in Finland. In order to provide for
his family, Sibelius needed to earn an income by composing music that sold well, which was
domestic music or salon music particularly for solo piano. In fact, Sibelius’s publishers
encouraged him to write for piano, because it sold better than any of his other music. For
example, Sibelius completed the Three Sonatinas, op. 67 in approximately one month and
received 3,000 Reichsmarks, whereas his Fourth Symphony, which was written over a year and a
half, earned him only 4,000 Reichsmarks.71 Especially during wartime, Sibelius followed public
67 Alec Rowley, “The Pianoforte Works of Jean Sibelius,” The Musical Mirror 9 (1929), 121.
68 American pianist and a former president of the Sibelius Society.
69 Harold Lewin, “Sibelius’s Neglected Piano Music,” Clavier 33 (1994), 35.
71 Alesaro, “Sibelius and his ‘Free Moments’ at the Piano,” 293.
29
demand and wrote piano music. His children even explained that Sibelius composed for piano so
they had “bread and butter.”72
However, most of Sibelius’s piano works were written with a serious artistic mission. His
interest in his piano compositions is expressed in a conversation—later in his life, Sibelius told
his secretary, Santeri Levas, “I know that my piano works are going to have a definite future,
despite the fact that at the moment, they have been quite forgotten.” 73 He even added that his
piano works would, one day, become as popular as Schumann’s works.
Despite his comments about the instrument, piano was an important instrument for
Sibelius in composing—he regularly improvised to gain new ideas and composed at the piano.
He needed the instrument as a resource of musical inspiration. Sibelius never performed piano on
stage, but he had a secure technical and musical competence at the instrument to make the piano
sing. Carl Stoeckel, who commissioned The Oceanides, in describing Sibelius’s playing
remarked that, “he was not a pianist and only played as a composer played. It was mighty good
playing though, full of feeling, strength and nuances.”74
Moreover, Sibelius wrote for piano on many occasions completely separate from the
financial motivation. For example, he composed a large-scale Piano Sonata, op. 12 and also later
created complex works such as Kyllikki, op. 41 and Sonatinas, op. 67, when he did not have any
contracts from publishers. 75 Erik T. Tawaststjerna also points out,
It is . . . very unwise to view financial motives as the criteria for the quality (or the
absence thereof) of a work. Most of the great composers of the world have also created
out of financial necessity—it might even be claimed that only amateurs are motivated by
72 Ibid.
74 Alesaro, “Sibelius and his ‘Free Moments’ at the Piano,” 294.
75 Kilpeläinen, “Introduction,” 4.
30
pure ‘artistic inspiration’. This is oversimplifying the issue; for there is no correlation as
such between the quality of a job and the sum paid for it. 76
Moreover, if Sibelius did not like the instrument as he claimed, he most likely would not have
written over 300 works for solo piano and chamber music with piano.
Reception of Sibelius’s Piano Works
The reception of Sibelius’s piano compositions has not always been positive. In 1931,
Cecil Gray, a Scottish music critic who published early scholarly writings on Sibelius,
commented, “not only are [his piano works] for the most part completely undistinguished in
conception and musical substance, but they are also singularly ineffective from the point of view
of the instrument.”77 Many scholars who study Sibelius’s music and life continued to see his
piano music as not achieving the same innovative level as his orchestral works. Guy Rickards,
the author of the biography, Jean Sibelius, also proclaims that the fact that “his heart was not
truly in [the piano music] can be heard from the finished products: charming as they are, the
instrumental pieces, unlike the song sets, are uneven in quality and generally lacking in
substance.”78
In contrast to the opinions of some musicologists, many musicians affirm the fine quality
of Sibelius’s piano music. Martin Anderson points out the issue with the scholarly opinion of
Sibelius is that they erroneously consider him, “a single-medium composer, writing for the
orchestra as exclusively as Chopin for the piano and Wagner for the operatic stage.” 79 A
scholarly website maintained by Sibelius specialists in Finland also argues,

77 Ibid.
78 Rickards, Jean Sibelius, 125.
79 Martin Anderson, “Sibelius and the Piano,” 15.
31
[t]hose who have found fault with Sibelius’s piano music have usually been music writers
or critics. On the other hand, pianists who have taken the trouble to study the music itself
have without exception praised Sibelius’s piano style for its originality and its suitability
for the instrument.80
One of the most famous pianists who promoted Sibelius’s works was Glenn Gould. He recorded
Sibelius’s Three Sonatinas, op. 67 and Kylikki, op. 41 in 1977. Gould described Sibelius’s
innovative output in his piano music as,
no small achievement—Sibelius never wrote against the grain of the keyboard. At its
best, his style partook of the spare, bleak, motivically stingy counterpoint that nobody
south of the Baltic ever seems to write. And at—not its worst—its most conventional,
perhaps, his keyboard manner is still a far cry from the generalized, octave-doubling-
prone textures espoused by most of his contemporaries.81
Gould further explains, “in Sibelius’s piano music, everything works, everything sounds—but on
its own terms, not in lieu of other, presumably more sumptuous, musical experiences.” 82
Anderson also encourages pianists to explore Sibelius’s piano music, because
It may not demonstrate the power and concentration of the symphonies, but then it was
never intended to, and it is time that the musicologists stopped attacking Sibelius for not
writing the pieces they would prefer him to have composed. So it is time, too, that
pianists ignored the flotsam of received opinion that has beached itself on these little-
explored shores and began to investigate the music for themselves. 83
Sibelius’s piano works can certainly be seen as uneven in quality. He wrote differently
for the piano as Anderson stated; his piano works are not large scale such as his symphonic
works. They are mostly collections of shorter works, although there are exceptions such as his
Sonata in F Major, Op. 12. On the other hand, many of his neglected piano works reveal an
unexpected side of Sibelius. It is my firm belief that these works need to receive more attention

82 Glenn Gould, “The Piano Music of Sibelius,” The Glenn Gould Reader, edited by Tim Page,
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984), 104.

32
and must be shared with a wider audience. In particular non-Finnish pianists, musicians, and
audiences need to be exposed to his piano compositions.
33
CHAPTER III: GUIDE TO THE PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO MUSIC
This chapter examines published solo piano works of Jean Sibelius and provides a brief
guide to each piece. Each description includes available publications, the duration (in minutes),
the key, basic technical difficulties, and grading level suggestions. The main purpose of this
chapter is to offer holistic overviews of each composition, in terms of style, interpretation, and
performance by compiling different scholars’ sources and providing my own personal thoughts
regarding each composition. 84
Leveling Suggestions
As a component of this annotated bibliography, I provide difficulty level suggestions for
each piece. Various pedagogical guides have been created to categorize difficulty levels; among
them are Maurice Hinson’s Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire, the Piano Repertoire Guide:
Intermediate and Advanced Literature by Cathy Albergo and Reid Alexander, and Jane
Magrath’s The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature. 85
For this research, I selected the leveling system in The Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire
by Hinson (see Figure 3.1), since his system fits more closely with my ideas on Sibelius’s works.
Agreeing with Hinson’s leveling for Sibelius, which are included in his book, reassured me that I
84 As I mentioned previously in the Introduction, there are 46 piano works without opus, which
were recently published by Breitkopf & Härtel. These works were mostly written as exercises or
sketches while Sibelius was a student at the Helsinki Music Institute (1885–1889), and others
were written as gifts or souvenirs for his friends. As these pieces served a different purpose than
publishing during his lifetime, only the 115 piano compositions with opus numbers will be
examined here.
85 Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, xi–xii; Cathy Albergo and Reid Alexander, Piano
Repertoire Guide: Intermediate and Advanced Literature (Champaign: Stipes Publishing, 2011);
Jane Magrath, The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature (Van
Nuys: Alfred Pub. Co, 1995).
34
am understanding his methodology of categorizing Sibelius’s compositions into different
technical levels.
Easy: Bach, dance movements from the Anna Magdalena Notebook

Leopold Mozart, Notebook for Wolfgang
Schumann, easier pieces from Album for the Young
Bartók, Mikrokosmos, Vols. I–II
Intermediate (Int.): Bach, Twelve Little Preludes and Fugues

Beethoven, Ecossaises
Mendelssohn, Children’s Pieces Op. 72
Bartók, Rumanian Folk Dances 1–5
Moderately Difficult (M-D): Bach, French Suites, English Suites

Mozart, Sonatas
Brahms, Rhapsody Op. 79/2
Debussy, La Soirée dans Grande
Difficult (D): Bach, Partitas

Beethoven, Sonata Op. 57
Chopin, Etudes
Barber, Sonata
Figure 3.1: Grading System on Maurice Hinson’s Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire. 86
Hinson grades most of them as Moderately Difficult (M-D), which is likely because of
the technical demands required due to his frequent use of large blocked chords and wide
arpeggiated patterns. Although Hinson provides a starting point for this research, more
comprehensive information regarding his compositional style and Finnish folk influences are still
necessary. Because Sibelius wrote works in a similar technical difficulty within an opus number,
I included the leveling suggestion only for the collection, and not for individual pieces or
movements.
86 Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, xi–xii.
35
Available Recordings of Complete Piano Works by Sibelius
The duration of each piano work is taken by the average performance time of the five
pianists known to have recorded Sibelius’s complete piano works (see Figure 3.2). Although
other pianists have recorded selections of the piano compositions by Sibelius, these are the five
pianists, who have invested to learn all of Sibelius’s piano music. Hence, their recordings are
selected for this study.
Pianist Year Recoded Company

87
Erik T. Tawaststjerna 1979–1984 BIS Records
88
Annette Servadei 1992–1994 Olympia
Eero Heinonen89 1995–1997 Finlandia
90 91 92 93 94
Håvard Gimse 1999–2004 Naxos Radio
95 96
Folke Gräsbeck 2008–2010 BIS Records
Figure 3.2: Available Recordings of Complete Piano Works by Sibelius.
Comparing these pianists reveals a wide range of possibilities in interpretations of his
music. Erik T. Tawastsjerna was the first to record Sibelius’s complete published piano
compositions with opus numbers in the 1980s followed by Annette Servadei97 in the early 1990s.
Her CDs are the first digitally recorded set, which resulted in better sound quality. In the late
87 Jean Sibelius, Jean Sibelius: The Complete Original Piano Music, Erik T. Tawaststjerna,
piano (BIS Records BIS 278, 1984).
88 Jean Sibelius, Complete Piano Music, Annette Servadei, piano (Olympia, 631–635, 1997).
89 Jean Sibelius, Published Original Works for Piano: Complete Edition, Eero Heinonen, piano
(Finlandia CD 8573-8776-2, 2000).

90 Jean Sibelius, Piano Music: Vol. 1, Håvard Gimse, piano (Naxos CD 8.553899, 1999).
95 Jean Sibelius, The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music I, Folke Gräsbeck, piano (BIS Records BIS
1909/11, 2008).
96 Jean Sibelius, The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music II, Folke Gräsbeck, piano (BIS Records BIS
1927/29, 2010).
97 British pianist.
36
1990s, Eero Heinonen98 and Håvard Gimse99 both recorded the complete works as well. The
newest available recording is by Folke Gräsbeck100, a former student of Erik T. Tawaststjerna.
Most importantly, his recordings also include many of the previously unpublished piano works
from Sibelius’s earlier compositional career. These unpublished works became available when
the Sibelius family donated his autograph manuscripts to the Helsinki University Library (now
the National Library of Finland) in 1982. 101
Guide
Early Period (1890–1903):

Sibelius’s early period is often referred to as the “National Romantic.” His music
frequently combined Finnish folk idioms with the Romantic style. The influence of the Kalevala,
a collection of epic folklore, and its performance tradition of runic singing appears in his piano
works, as they do in his orchestral compositions.
Six Impromptus, Op. 5
Year: 1893
Level: M-D
Available Publications: Breitkopf and Härtel
Fennica Gehrman
Masters Music Publications Inc.
Works Included: Impromptus I–VI
Sibelius’s Six Impromptus, op. 5 was his first published piano collection, appeared in
1893. His writing in this set follows the tradition of late-Romantic style, especially of Brahms,
98 Finnish pianist (b. 1950–).

99 Norwegian pianist (b. 1966–).
100 Finnish pianist (b. 1956–).
101 Andrew Barnett, notes for The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music I, Folke Gräsbeck, piano (BIS
Records BIS 1909/11, 2008), 20.

37
Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin. The title, Impromptus, also might indicate the influence of
these composers. The set is seen as a youthful work, not yet fully expressing his unique writing
for piano.102 However, Ruwim Ostrovsky, a Sibelius scholar, argues the significance of the set:
One of the most important stages in the formation of Sibelius’s piano style is in my view
the set of Impromptus, op. 5 in the early 1890s. . . . It is striking to see how he treats this
favorite genre of the romantic period, inculcating in it new impressive features. . . . The
idiom of these miniatures seems to be saturated with national folk and rune like
elements.103
Indeed, as Ostrovsky noted, the Six Impromptus, op. 5 show the sound of traditional Finnish folk
instruments such as Kantele, a Karelian plucking instrument from eastern Finland similar to a
dulcimer or zither.
These Six Impromptus could function as a unified collection, not simply six independent
pieces. Ostrovsky, who published an article regarding the cohesive relationship of the set,
describes it as, “a piano cycle consisting of six pieces differing in character but simultaneously
united in their community of imagery and delicate intonation.”104 Andrew Barnett, the chairman
of the United Kingdom Sibelius Society, sees Six Impromptus, “[forming] a highly effective
suite—perhaps by coincidence—the march theme from the third impromptu is a variant of the
main theme of the fifth piece.” 105
Impromptu I
Key: G minor
Tempo: Moderato
Duration: 1:50
102 Lewin, “Sibelius’s Neglected Piano Music,” 34.

103 Ruwim Ostrovsky, “Some Remarks on Sibelius’s Treatment of Genre and Cycle in His Piano
Impromptus Op. 5,” Sibelius Forum: Proceedings from the Second International Jean Sibelius
Conference, Helsinki, 25–29 November 1995, edited by Veijo Murtomäki et al (Helsinki:
Sibelius Academy, Department of Composition and Music Theory, 1998), 293.
104 Ibid.
105 Barnett, notes for The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music I, 23.
38
The first Impromptu begins with slowly moving chords in the bass with the dominant
pedal tone in the soprano, like in traditional melancholic, runic singing. Martin Anderson praises,
“the opening Moderato, in G minor, is a perfect Sibelian miniature.” 106 Although the piece
indicates Thema in measure 9, a strict variation structure does not follow, which hints at the
possibility of variations anticipated in proceeding Impromptus. Erik Tawaststjerna also described
this Impromptu as a short prelude.107
Impromptu II
Key: G minor
Tempo: Lento–Vivace
Duration: 1:50
The second Impromptu begins with a slow introduction also in G minor, and then
followed by a dynamic Karelian folk dance, ripatska.108109 The leg-flinging dance style is
depicted in the frequent right-hand melody leaps in octaves.
Impromptu III
Key: A minor
Tempo: Moderato/ Alla Marcia
Duration: 2:30
The third Impromptu is a march (ABA) in a new key, A minor. Its theme reappears in the
fifth Impromptu; the sudden character change in the middle section to delicate dolcissimo makes
the march unforgettable. According to Ernst Lampén, a Finnish writer who heard Sibelius play
the Impromptus recalled,
Sibelius had just composed his six Impromptus . . . . every once in a while he played the
middle part of the third Impromptu, with the molto 'dolcissimo'. Sibelius was very
pleased with this section; we found it extremely lovely and could not get enough of it. In

107 Erik Tawaststjerna, notes for Jean Sibelius: The Complete Original Piano Music, translated
by John Skinner, Erik T. Tawaststjerna, Piano (BIS Records BIS 278, 1984).
108 A variant of the Russian folk dance, the trepak, which includes leg-flinging steps.
109 Erik Tawaststjerna, notes for Jean Sibelius: The Complete Original Piano Music.
39
those days his music was new and strange, but we immediately understood these
Impromptus and enjoyed them enormously."110
Impromptu IV
Key: E minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:15
The melancholic fourth Impromptu contains runic singing influences with small
alterations and repetition of two motifs. Anderson describes the opening as, “an archetypically
Sibelian tune: plaintive, elusive—and very beautiful.”111
Impromptu V
Key: B minor
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 3:30
The fifth Impromptu is the most technically virtuosic of these Impromptus and more
freely constructed, with harp-like arpeggiated chords. It is compared to Liszt’s Les jeux d'eaux à
la Villa d'Este.112 Ostrowsky links Sibelius’s frequent use of arpeggiated chords with Kantele. 113
Impromptu VI
Key: E Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 2:45 (without repeats)
In contrast to other preceding Impromptus, the sixth Impromptu has a thinner texture. The
work begins with a lilting (in 6/4), happy atmosphere in E major, and later switches to the
parallel minor and ends quietly.

113 Ostrovsky, “Some Remarks on Sibelius’s Treatment of Genre and Cycle in His Piano
Impromptus Op. 5,” 295.

40
Sonata in F Major, Op. 12
Year: 1893
Level: M-D to D
Works Included: I. Allegro molto
II. Andantino
III. Vivacissimo
Sonata in F Major, op. 12, written in the summer of 1893, is the largest scale work
Sibelius wrote for piano. The composition follows the traditional Sonata structure, which
includes the Sonata-allegro form in the first movement, a slow second movement in a binary
form, and rondo in the last movement. Similar to Impromptus, op. 5, the Sonata is a youthful
work and combines Romantic style with the influence of the Finnish folk traditions. Harold
Lewin believes, compared to Impromptus, this Sonata is more successful. 114 Although this
Sonata is often neglected, the work includes some of Sibelius’s representative writing style from
his early period.
I. Allegro molto
Key: F Major
Tempo: Allegro molto
Duration: 6:30
The enthusiastic folk tune-like main theme opens the first movement compared often to
Beethoven and Bruckner’s orchestral writing along with some stylistic influence of Edvard
Grieg.115 Erik Tawaststjerna describes the movement as following:
The onward rushing main subject with its broken pedal point at the fifth, together with
the insistent repetition of the opening motif have something of van Beethoven’s
Hammerklavier Sonata, op. 106 . . . . The initial theme in the second section has a jagged

115 Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, 732.
41
contour and a halling-like rhythm reminiscent of Grieg, whilst the elegiac sequel breathes
a nature mysticism typical of the young Sibelius. 116
II. Andantino
Key: B-flat Minor
Tempo: Andantino-Presto
Duration: 7:47
The second movement contains two contrasting sections (Andantino–Presto), which
appears in ABABA form. The first section in Andantino includes the influence of melancholic
runic-singing style. Although the key signature is in b-flat minor, it begins with an f-minor chord
and the melody is written in F Dorian. Sibelius took the main theme from an unfinished choral
work on a Kalevala text, Heitä, koski, kuohuminen (Rapids, cease thy foaming torrent), JS 94.
The story is about the fickle Lemminkäinen, who invokes the daughter of the rapids; the music
imitates this with repeated whirling arpeggio accompaniments when the Andantino section
appears for the second time.117 The contrasting Presto section interrupts the dark, serious
Andantino section. The melody is written in C-sharp Phrygian, which gives a strikingly unusual
sound.
III. Vivacissimo
Key: F Major
Tempo: Vivacissimo
Duration: 4:30
The third movement sounds powerfully orchestral with Finnish trepak-like folk
influences. The acrobatic dance style is illustrated by frequent appearance of accented octave
chords. Hinson describes it as Brahmsian and ambitious. 118
117 Ibid.
42
Ten Pieces, Op. 24
Year: 1895–1903
Level: Int. to M-D
Works Included: 1. Impromptu, 2. Romans, 3. Caprice, 4. Romance, 5. Valse, 6.
Idyll, 7. Andantino, 8. Nocturno, 9. Romance, 10. Barcarola
The Ten Pieces, op. 24 contains some of Sibelius’s most well-known piano works such as
Caprice (no. 3) and Romance in D-flat Major (no. 9). As the compositions were originally
published from three different publishers in Helsinki in different years, there is little inter-
relationship between the pieces. It only became a ten-piece collection when Breitkopf and Härtel
bought all ten and published them together as op. 24.119 Two of the works, Idyll (no. 6) and
Andantino (no. 7), have two versions. When Helsingfors Nya Musikhandel originally published
Idyll (no. 6) in 1899, they failed to register the piece for international copyright protection.
Hence, some small changes were made purely to obtain the copyright in 1904. 120 K.F. Wasenius
published Andantino (no. 7) in 1899. The following year, Sibelius made some revisions and
included them in a separate publication. 121 Both versions of the two works are included in the
current Breitkopf and Härtel edition.
Although this op. 24 collection was written during his National Romantic period, it only
includes sparse Finnish folk influences and seems to convey stronger late-Romantic influences
such as Chopin and Liszt. 122 The Nocturne (no. 7) and the A major Romance (no. 2) are
reminiscent of Wagnerian sound.123 Works from this popular set serve as a nice introduction to
Sibelius’s early compositional style.
119 Kilpeläinen, “Introduction,” 5.

120 Ibid.
121 Ibid.
43
1. Impromptu
Key: G minor
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 3:30
The Impromptu starts out very dramatically. Erik Tawaststjerna compares the opening
section to Liszt’s transcription of Schubert’s Erkönig.124 A Spanish influence appears in some of
the rhythmic figures and melody as well.125
2. Romans
Key: A Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 7:20
This beautiful piece was a part of the repertoire of a famed pianist and a pupil of Liszt,
Alexander Siloti,126 and has been described as,
A dramatic (love) scene, which opens with a duet between the treble and the middle
range of the instrument. The expressive style of the movement is orchestral, even
Wagnerian, although the climax also brings to mind Brahms's orchestral style. This is the
most extensive movement of the opus. 127
This romance is written orchestrally with thick polyphonic writing.
3. Caprice
Key: E minor
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 3:00
This flashy virtuosic Caprice is a popular recital piece in Finland and Scandinavian
countries. A majority of the score is composed in one line, with alternating hands. This is
125 Rowley, “The Pianoforte Works of Jean Sibelius,” 121.
44
reminiscent of writing for string instruments. Erik Tawaststjerna agrees, “[Caprice] could be a
piano transcription of a violin piece that existed in Sibelius’s imagination.” 128
4. Romance
Key: D minor
Tempo: Tranquillo
Duration: 3:00
This Romance in d minor is written somewhat more technically easier than the other
pieces in the collection. Andrew Barnett among other scholars described the style of this piece as
“Tchaikovskian.”129 It is a great recital repertoire selection.
5. Valse
Key: E Major
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 2:30
The Valse is reminiscent of Chopin’s writing. An unexpected difficulty is that the waltz’s
accompaniment pattern seems to be in 2/4 instead of the traditional 3/4 pattern. 130
6. Idyll
Key: F Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 3:15
This peaceful Idyll is reminiscent of Chopin’s Second Ballade in F major, op. 38.131 The
gentle lilting phrases and chromatic short cadenza are suggestive of Chopin’s writing style.
Although there are two versions of this Idyll, the original version is performed most frequently.
130 Veijo Murtomäki, “Sibelius and the miniature,” The Cambridge Companion to Sibelius,
edited by Daniel M. Grimley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 144.

45
Small adjustments were made such as bringing some phrases down or up an octave, as a way to
appeal for copyright. 132
7. Andantino
Key: F Major
Tempo: Tranquillo
Duration: 2:45
A pleasant, flowing Andantino follows after the Idyll. There are two versions of this piece
as well. The original version (1899) contained a few bars in 6/4, which somewhat disturbed the
flow of the piece. Hence the following year (1900), Sibelius revised the piece to use a 9/4 meter
throughout the music. 133
8. Nocturno
Key: E minor
Tempo: Andante
Duration: 3:00
The Nocturno returns to Sibelius’s Finnish folk style, including the repeated notes and
dark modal harmony in the main theme.134 The rich polyphony in the middle section exemplifies
Sibelius’s unique piano writing as well.
9. Romance
Key: D-flat Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 4:00
This Romance in D-flat major is probably the most well-known and performed piano
work by Sibelius. The lyrical melody in the left hand is one of his most beautifully written
pieces. It was originally composed as a Christmas gift for a friend and patron, Axel Carpelan in
132 See Pg. 42

46
1901.135 The climax, an exciting highlight of the piece, clearly shows the influence of Liszt with
long ornate cadenza-like phrases.
10. Barcarola
Key: G minor
Tempo: Moderato assai
Duration: 4:20
The last piece in op. 24, Barcarola,136 is a fascinating piece with the Finnish touch of
dark brooding sound added to the barcarole rhythm. Erik Tawaststjerna sees similarity of this
piece to Tchaikovsky’s Barcarole from the Seasons and Rachmaninoff’s op. 10, no. 3.137 This is
a great teaching piece for the barcarole style.
Kyllikki, Three Lyric Pieces, Op. 41
Year: 1904
Level: M-D
Fennica Gehrman
Works Included: I. Largamente
II. Andantino
III. Commodo
Kyllikki, op. 41 is a three-movement suite. The name of the title comes from a character
in the Kalevala legends. The story is centered on Kyllikki, a young beautiful maiden, who was
forced to marry Lemminäinen. She later breaks a promise to her husband and visits a village to
dance with men.
136 Barcarolle (or Barcarola) is a traditional folk song sung by Venecian gondoliers, which is
often written in a compound meter.
47
Among the various piano works Sibelius wrote, Kyllikki is regarded as one of his most
significant piano compositions and technically one of the most demanding pieces as well. 138
Glenn Gould, who recorded the work said, “[the middle movement of Kyllikki] provides striking
testimony that, even within the more traditional constraints of his earlier, quasi-virtuoso style,
Sibelius was able to make a substantial contribution to the all-too-limited piano repertoire from
the post-romantic era.”139
While this work still belongs to Sibelius’s early composition style, the gradual shift from
his early period to his middle period, in which his writing is leaner and more compact, can begin
to be seen in this work. Lewin thinks Kyllikki is a transitional work between romantic and classic
phases like the Second Symphony including leaner textures and less flourishes.140 This work is
an appealing recital collection with its story-telling ability and deserves more attention.
I.
Key: B-flat Minor
Tempo: Largamente–Allegro
Duration: 3:15
The first movement begins with a dramatic introductory largamente theme, which recurs
throughout the piece. Erik Tawaststjerna explains that, “. . . [the largamente theme] makes way
for the secondary theme, it marks the return of the main theme and forms a powerful coda. In
addition, the polyphonic, frequently modulating development section is based on motifs from
this theme.”141
Although Sibelius did not confirm any programmatic connection with the Kalevala
legend, the dramatic introduction sounds as if it is starting to tell a story. According to Andrew
138 Murtomäki, “Sibelius and the miniature,” 145.

48
Barnett and other scholars, “Lemminäinen’s abduction of the maiden Kyllikki could well be
portrayed in the first movement.” 142
II.
Key: B-flat Minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 5:15
The mystical Andantino movement starts with a scenery which could be pictures as
Kylliki singing melancholic runic chants.143 In keeping with the runic singing influence, the
same melody is repeated with slight variations as well. Although scholars are not certain if it was
his intentional choice, Sibelius included the ‘adieux’ motif from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata, op.
81a in m. 31.144 The motif could be interpreted as Kylliki signaling impending death.
III.
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 3:15
In contrast to the first two movements, the third movement begins in a light and energetic
mood. Andrew Barnett suggests that, Kyllikki is perhaps swept away by the whirl of the
dance.145 The middle section marked Tranquillo is in Finnish polska rhythm 146147. This section is
darker in the mood as if it depicts the possibility of Kyllikki’s husband finding out about her
dancing.
142 Sirén et al, “Piano Compositions,” Sibelius; Barnett, notes for The Sibelius Edition: Piano
Music I, 26.
143 Ibid.
146 A variant dance style of the polonaise
49
Middle Period (1903–1919):
Sibelius’s middle period or the “Neoclassical” period begins around 1903. In the five
years after Sibelius completed Kyllikki, op. 41, his style transformed drastically. In this period,
his writing is simpler and leaner as seen in his Third Symphony (1907). Sibelius frequently used
classical forms, shorter phrasings, and counterpoint. Hence, why it is called his “Neoclassical”
period. The piano works from this time are considered very innovative by most Sibelius scholars.
In this period, he wrote: opp. 58, 67, 68, 34, 40, 74, 75, 76, and 85, which totals 62 pieces.
Ten Pieces, Op. 58
Year: 1909
Level: Int. to M-D
Works Included: 1. Rêverie, 2. Scherzino, 3. Air varié, 4. Der Hirt, 5. Des Abends,
6. Dialogue, 7. Tempo di menuetto, 8. Fischerlied, 9. Sändchen,
10. Sommerlied
The clear change in Sibelius’s style can be observed in Ten Pieces, op. 58, which is
considered to be the first piano collection from his middle period. Andrew Barnett describes the
shift in Sibelius’s style as follows,
The Finnish folk style and Kalevala influences are rarely to be found in these pieces:
instead, elements of ‘young classicism’ that reflect the style of the recently composed
Third Symphony are combined with impressionistic features that anticipate Sibelius’s
music in the years that followed. 148
This change can be observed from simply looking at its score; his writing is sparse and linear. 149
Murtomäki notes,
The Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 58 are arguably Sibelius’s most individual and satisfying
set of piano miniatures. . . . in the Ten Pieces we are in the midst of his modernist phase.
148 Andrew Barnett, notes for The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music II, Folke Gräsbeck, Piano (BIS
Records BIS 1927/29, 2010), 22.
50
Although traditional features appear now and then, the music strives towards a more
polyphonic and linear mode of writing, characterized by sparse textures, concise and
concentrated expression, and experimental harmony with dissonant clashes. 150
Moreover, Sibelius himself noticed the change in his piano writing and wrote in his diary, “it
seems to me that the technique in these pieces [op. 58] is better than in others of their kind.” 151
1. Rêverie
Key: D-flat Major
Tempo: Lente
Duration: 4:30
Rêverie sounds stunningly modern and impressionistic compared to the previous
compositions Sibelius wrote for piano. Harold Lewin praises as, “this composition is a high point
in Sibelius’s piano music.”152 The right hand accompaniment in the opening is deeply original
and beautiful.
2. Scherzino
Key: A Major
Tempo: Con moto
Duration: 1:50
This Scherzino has many definitive qualities of modern writing. For example, the shift of
meters between 6/4 to 5/4, the use of more complicated rhythms, and some slight hints of
bimodality appear and are more common in 20th century writing than in the late-romantic
style.153
3. Air varié
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Andante
Duration: 4:45

51
In this Baroque inspired Air varié with two-voice counterpoint, pianists can experience
Sibelius’s interpretation of the Baroque style. Similar to Bach’s Two-Part Inventions, Sibelius
did not indicate much phrasing, especially after Un poco meno Andante, but fortunately, Sibelius
notated dynamic markings. Scholars praise this piece as,
A remarkable achievement with its tonal adventures and Northern salutes to Bach: its
two-voiced inventiveness with its surprises in rhythm and pitch makes the movement an
almost neoclassical box of delights. 154
4. Der Hirt
Key: D-flat Major
Tempo: Vivacetto
Duration: 2:45
Der Hirt (The Shepherd) is an interesting piece with its dramatic shifts in moods.
Although it opens with a beautiful pastoral setting in D-flat major, later the music shifts to a
strange mood in C-sharp minor, its parallel minor. It transforms the music to an unexpected,
nervous atmosphere with a dark, mysterious melody accompanied by a repeated accompaniment
pattern in the left hand.
5. Des Abends
Key: F minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 4:30
Des Abends (At Night) sounds delicate and intimate from beginning to the end; it reflects
back to Sibelius’s earlier Romantic style. Sibelius described Des Abends as, “my best piece for
atmosphere.”155 Erik Tawaststjerna compares the work to Schumann’s Des Abends:
The former [Schumann] let ‘Fantasiestück’ Op. 12, No. 1, bathe in clear moonlight, while
Sibelius captures the mood of a Nordic late summer evening as dusk falls. . . . A melodic
arch woven in triplets nevertheless points up the affinity with Schumann. 156

52
6. Dialogue
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Allegro grazioso
Duration: 2:20
This playful and charming Dialogue creates a conversation between two voices—
sometimes peaceful and other times sounding like a dispute. 157 Harold Lewin thinks this piece
recalls the style of Schumann with its continuous shifts of different characters or moods. 158
7. Tempo di menuetto
Key: E-flat minor
Tempo: n/a
Duration: 3:10
The Tempo di menuetto returns to a Baroque-inspired style. Murtomäki feels, “the way in
which Sibelius juxtaposes the gloomy main section with the music-box-like textures of the
contrasting episodes is ingenious and lends the piece an estranged character, reflecting perhaps
the thoughts of the composer at a certain nostalgic moment.”159
8. Fischerlied
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 2:50
Fischerlied (The Song of the Fisherman) is a pleasant and light Venetian boat song. The
gentle lilting-feel is created with two-note slurs and contrasting short light staccatos.
9. Ständchen
Key: G minor
Tempo: Moderato
Duration: 3:30
156 Ibid.
157 Ibid.
53
In Ständchen (Serenade), Sibelius shares his interpretation of the Spanish influence. The
opening phrase with dramatic syncopated rhythm presents the familiarity often heard in Spanish
folk songs. Maurice Hinson describes the writing as “Granados 160 style.”161
10. Sommerlied
Key: E-flat Major
Tempo: Largo
Duration: 3:15
Sommerlied (Summer Song) is a suitable grandioso piece to end this beautiful collection.
The wide-open chords in major create the atmosphere of summer evening. Sibelius portrays the
beauty of nature and his world perspective, according to Erik Tawaststjerna.162 This piece also
illustrates the symphonic side of Sibelius with the use of extreme ranges.
Three Sonatinas, Op. 67
Sibelius’s Three Sonatinas, op. 67, written in 1912, are undoubtedly among his most
highly-praised piano compositions. His fascination with modern-classicism and desire to remove
any excess materials are revealed in these compositions. The title, Sonatina, which was a popular
form used by neo-classicist composers such as Ravel, Reger, and Busoni, is a first sign of neo-
classicism. Glenn Gould compared the Sonatinas’ style to Haydn and Baroque contrapuntal
writing.163
Sibelius’s shift to modern-classicism further manifested his originality in the piano music
is prevailing especially in these Sonatinas. Murtomäki describes the result of his explorations of
classicism as, “the first examples of Sibelius’s creative spring offering ‘pure water’ instead of the
160 Enrique Granados, Spanish composer (1867–1916).

163 Gould, “The Piano Music of Sibelius,” 104.
54
‘many-coloured cocktails of his contemporaries’.” 164 The musical styles of the Sonatinas also
parallels his representative orchestral works written during the period. Harold Lewin compares
the styles of the Three Sonatinas to the Fourth Symphony, which both reflect Sibelius’s
exploration in tonality and concentrated treatment of motivic ideas.165
Although these Sonatinas are not frequently performed in the United States or even in
Finland, they make a memorable recital repertoire. They contain unusual melodies and
unexpected use of harmonies; performing the Sonatinas requires extremely fine control of touch
to create the texture of chamber music.166
Sonatina No. 1, Op. 67
Year: 1912
Level: M-D
Fennica Gehrman
Works Included: I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro Moderato
I. Allegro
Key: F-sharp minor
Tempo: Allegro
Duration: 3:00
As early as the first few measures of Sonatina No. 1, the changes in Sibelius’s
compositional style are evident. The first movement is sparsely written, with use of
chromaticism. Its structure is characterized by the unclear boundaries between the exposition and

55
the development. Without a clear cadence in exposition, the development starts. This first
movement indicates that motivic development as the focal point of its compositional style.167
II. Largo
Key: F-sharp minor
Tempo: Largo
Duration: 3:00
The second movement has a dark, hymn-like atmosphere, perhaps described as a Nordic
or Finnish sound. The main theme of this movement is derived from the secondary theme of the
first movement, creating a thematic link between the two movements.168 Alec Rowley
comments, “it is quite enthralling to examine the slow movement and to see what may be done
with the slenderest material.” 169
III. Allegro Moderato

Key: F-sharp minor
Tempo: Allegro Moderato
Duration: 1:50
The third movement begins mysteriously with repeated broken octaves in the right hand
and the melody later enters in the left hand. All the thematic and accompaniment materials in the
third movement are derived from preceding movements’ materials. As Lewin writes, “nothing is
wasted, nothing is extraneous.” 170 These thematic connections among the three movements make
the Sonatina unified.
Year: 1912
Level: M-D
Fennica Gehrman

168 Ibid.
56
Works Included: I. Allegro
II. Andantino
III. Allegro
I. Allegro
Key: E Major
Tempo: Allegro
Duration: 2:20
The first movement starts more optimistically and less mysteriously than the previous
Sonatina. The two hands have a counterpoint relationship from the beginning.
II. Andantino
Key: E Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:30
The Andantino movement sounds more romantic than the other works in op. 67. It has
some similarity to Romance in D-flat major, op. 24; particularly, the accompaniment pattern with
staccato quarter-notes in the right hand and the lyrical melody in the left hand (mm. 1–2).
III. Allegro
Key: E Major
Tempo: Allegro
Duration: 1:40
The last movement in the second Sonatina sounds folk-like, similar to Grieg’s dance
music such as found in his Lyric Pieces. The similarity especially shared in the chordal
accompaniments in the right-hand on the off-beats in the beginning. The structure of the piece is,
“not describable by any of the conventional formal titles, welds two or three ideas into a coherent
and logical whole.”171
171
Davie, “Sibelius’s Piano Sonatinas,” 10.
57
Year: 1912
Level: M-D
Fennica Gehrman
Works Included: I. Andante – Allegro moderato
II. Andante – Allegretto
As discussed in Chapter 2, this Sonatina is perhaps the most refined and complex out of
the three. Deviating from traditional three-movement structure, this piece, instead, combines the
last two movements into one. Within the multi-movement form, Sibelius unified them using the
same thematic material from the first movement. 172 The five-note theme (D-flat, F, C, F, B-Flat)
appears in the beginning of the first movement, and the notes continue to return throughout the
Sonatina. Murtomäki notes, “the cyclical form [in the Sonatina No. 3] points towards Sibelius’s
preoccupation with fusing the separate movements of a multi-movement form into a single
entity. . . . As in the Seventh Symphony, the three hypothetical movements are thematically
unified.”173
I. Andante – Allegro moderato

Key: B-flat minor
Tempo: Andante – Allegro moderato
Duration: 3:30
The first movement begins in a solemn, dark mood in andante. The unifying five-note
theme is introduced for the first time here with abundant use of tri-tone harmony underneath. The
score is sparse of notes, but the use of the silence and dissonances creates the suspense and
drama in the music. The mysterious atmosphere is even heightened when the allegro moderato
sections begins with abrupt changes between a serious mood and some folk dance like moments.

58
II. Andante – Allegretto
Key: B-flat minor
Tempo: Andante – Allegretto
Duration: 3:30
This movement includes two contrasting sections: Andante and Allegretto. The first part
of the second movement begins with two voices in unison. It is very dark and solemn as if it is a
funeral march. The theme is based on the five-note motif from the earlier movement.
The second half of this movement sounds much more romantic than neo-classical
because of its thicker texture and continuous moving 16th notes in the accompaniment,
resembling Chopin’s writing. The movement is more forward driven. The frequent appearance of
two-note slurs creates a breathless feeling. Once again, the main theme is based on the 5-note
motif from the first movement.
Zwei Rondinos, Op. 68
Year: 1912
Level: M-D
Available Publications: Masters Music Publications Inc.
Universal Edition
Works Included: Rondino I and II
Zwei Rondinos, op. 68 closely parallel the compositional style of the Three Sonatinas, op.
67. The first Rondino is slow and retrospective and the second Rondino is driven and finale-like.
It was even initially speculated that they were movements for incomplete Sonatinas.174 Harold
Lewin describes, “[The Two Rondinos] are of equal quality to the Sonatinas. Both have an
improvisational quality that is similar to the introspective works of Chopin.” 175
Rondino I
174 Barnett, notes for The Sibelius Edition: Piano Music II, 21.
59
Key: G-sharp Minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 3:30
The first Rondino is reflective, lyrical and sounds like an unknown Valse oubliée by
Liszt.176 Interval tension generated with leap to the 9th and release with minor seconds in the
melody is very beautiful and creates a heart-breaking atmosphere.
Rondino II
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 1:50
In contrast to the sorrowful first Rondino, the second Rondino is a cheerful polka with
strong dissonant harmonies. The frequent crashes of minor seconds resemble the music by
Poulenc or Prokofiev. 177
Bagatelles, Op. 34 & Pensées lyriques, Op. 40
Sibelius wrote Bagatelles, op. 34 and Pensées lyriques, op. 40 during the same time
period as he did the tone poem, “The Oceanides” op. 70, and the first version of Fifth
Symphony, op. 82. Hence, even though they have earlier opus numbers, these two piano
collections were written later than Kyllikki, op. 41, Ten Pieces, op. 58, Three Sonatinas, op. 67,
the Two Rondinos, op. 68, and Four Lyric Pieces, op. 74. Erik Tawaststjerna explained that this
incoherent opus numbering is because, “Sibelius deleted a number of pieces from the catalogue
of his works and filled gaps with later compositions.”178
These two collections are frequently overlooked, because they were written for local
Helsinki publishers during the time of the First World War, when Sibelius was isolated from his

177 Ibid.
60
German publishers and was struggling financially.179 According to Andrew Barnett, “the
traditional view of these miniatures is that they are trivial, insubstantial pieces composed with
the exclusive purpose of earning money . . . . in recent years, as the music has become better
known, it has come to be regarded in a more positive light.” 180
More importantly, the two collections already serve as important pedagogical works for
intermediate students in Finland. 181 Guy Sacre, the compiler of the French piano music
encyclopedia, also provides a positive view, “[Opp. 34 and 40 are] among the best of Sibelius;
they form together a kind of Jugend-Album.”182 These twenty works in the two collections offer
a variety of selections for students interested in learning Sibelius’s piano works.
Bagatelles, Op. 34
Year: 1912–1916
Level: Int.
Fennica Gehrman
Boosey & Hawkes
Works Included: 1. Valse, 2. Air de danse, 3. Mazurka, 4. Couplet, 5. Boutade, 6.
Rêverie, 7. Danse pastorale, 8. Joueur de harpe, 9.
Reconnaissance, 10. Souvenir
1. Valse
Key: D-flat Major
Tempo: Con Moto
Duration: 2:00
The first piece of op. 34 is a flowing and beautiful Chopinesque waltz. It is quite light-
hearted and simple, which could be regarded as a salon-style music.
180 Ibid.
182 Murtomä ki, “Sibelius and the miniature,” 148.
61
2. Air de danse
Key: E Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:00
Erik Tawaststjerna describes Air de danse as, “a gavotte with classical overtones, which
by means of unexpected modulations acquires a romantic coloring.” 183 Sibelius introduces a
simple theme which he later develops with rich harmonies and ornaments. This charming piece
indicates his interest in looking back to classical and baroque styles.
3. Mazurka
Key: A Major
Tempo: Dance
Duration: 1:30
This energetic Mazurka is another piece with the influence of Chopin. Most third beats
have accents to indicate the stylistic flow of Mazurka.
4. Couplet
Key: D Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:30
This flowing Couplet184 is beautifully poetic. After an introduction, a lyrical, flowing
melody is presented in the left hand with a counter-melody in the right hand. The conversation
between the hands are very sophisticated. Soon after, the right hand takes over the melody with
effective use of silence.
5. Boutade
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Con Moto
Duration: 1:40
184 Two lines of verse that form a unit.
62
Boutade (Caprice) is a waltz; Erik T. Tawaststjerna describes it as being, “close in style to
Tchaikovsky’s salon waltzes for piano, even if certain passages in parallel thirds remind one of
Johann Strauss.”185 The passages such as marked with poco a poco più stretto (al Presto) are
reminiscent of Strauss’ Waltzes with the clear Viennese waltz accompaniment pattern.
6. Rêverie
Key: E Minor
Tempo: Lento
Duration: 2:30
The Rêverie is perhaps the most characteristically Sibelian work in this collection. Erik
Tawaststjerna depicts, “the tragic, brooding quality and the modal features . . . belong to
Sibelius’s ‘dark,’ expressionist period of which the fourth symphony . . . are leading
exponents.”186 His use of silence and the wide range and layering of textures makes this gloomy,
beautiful piece representative of Sibelius’s writing.
7. Danse pastorale
Key: A Major
Tempo: Allegretto grazioso
Duration: 1:00
Danse pastorale is a short, playful piece. Similar to the first Valse in this collection, it is
simple, which could be regarded as a salon-style music.
8. Joueur de harpe
Key: B-flat Minor
Tempo: Stretto–Lento e dolce–Lento
Duration: 1:40
186 Ibid.
63
Joueur de harpe (Harp Player) first appeared in a Christmas journal in 1916. 187 This
impressionistic music imitates the harp effectively with beautiful resonant arpeggios played with
pedal.
9. Reconnaissance
Key: D Major
Tempo: Vivo
Duration: 1:00
Reconnaissance188 contains nice contrasts between the dramatic, descending scalar
passage and folk-song like motifs. The piece is very theatrical.
10. Souvenir
Key: A Minor
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 2:15
Op. 34 collection began with Valse and ends with Souvenir, another waltz. Unlike the
first waltz which was full of energy, this waltz is melancholic with some dramatic moments.
Pensées lyriques, Op. 40
Year: 1912–1916
Level: Int.
Fennica Gehrman
Edition Fazer
Works Included: 1. Valsette, 2. Chant sans paroles, 3. Humoresque, 4. Menuetto.

5. Berceuse, 6. Pensée mélodique, 7. Rondoletto, 8. Scherzando,
9. Petite Sérénade, 10. Polonaise
187 Keith Anderson, notes for Piano Music: Vol. 2, Håvard Gimse, piano (Naxos CD 8.553899,
1999), 2.
188 Recognizing in French.
64
1. Valsette
Key: E Minor
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:00
The Valsette first appeared in the Christmas magazine, Lucifer in 1912.189 It is written
simply and without much excess, which reflects Sibelius’s writing from the middle period.
2. Chant sans paroles

Key: E Minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 1:40
Sibelius once wrote about Tchaikovsky, “in that man there is much of what I have
too.”190 This Chant sans paroles (Song without Words) has a strong connection to Tchikovsky’s
music with its beautiful melancholy character.
3. Humoresque
Key: C Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:15
The Humoresque might be mistaken for a work by Robert Schumann. The main theme
sounds similar to Arabeske in C, op. 18. Erik Tawaststjerna writes, “Humoresque is one of many
indications of Sibelius’s enthusiasm for Schumann’s piano works.” 191 Humoresque is shorter and
less difficult than Schumann’s Arabeske.
4. Menuetto
Key: C Major
Tempo: Grazioso
Duration: 2:30
189 Keith Anderson, notes for Piano Music: Vol. 2, 3.

191 Ibid.
65
This graceful Minuetto features Sibelius’s neoclassical style of writing. The silence in his
music played an important part in creating drama during this time period. One can find
wonderful examples of it in this piece.
5. Berceuse
Key: D Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 1:30
This Berceuse192 has been described as, “simplicity that is disarmingly beautiful.” 193 This
pastoral piece includes a lyrically written melody line with simple accompaniment. Yet, the use
of subtle harmonic dissonances and an organic accompaniment makes this piece memorable.
6. Pensée mélodique
Key: C Major
Tempo: Con Moto
Duration: 1:30
Pensée mélodique (Melodic Thoughts) captures listeners’ attention with its harmonic
ambiguity. Veijo Murtomäki explains, “[Pensée mélodique] is tonally vagrant, and only finds the
tonic (C Major) at the end of the piece.” 194 This work includes a stronger Finnish folk sound than
other pieces in this collection with repetition of a runic singing-like melody.
7. Rondoletto
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:15
Rondoletto is a Viennese polka in moderate tempo. 195 The piece begins sweetly and light-
heartedly, but an unexpected sudden change in the mood begins when abrupt change to the minor
192 lullaby in 6/8 or triple meter.

66
occurs. Similar to other polkas written for piano, the left hand accompaniment contain many of
jumps.
8. Scherzando
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:00
As the title indicates, Scherzando is filled with a joking, playful character. The quality is
illustrated with notes jumping around the keyboard.
9. Petite Sérénade
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 2:30
Petite Sérénade is a beautiful and heart-warming piece. It sounds like a composition from
Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words196 collection with a lyrical melody in the right hand while
the left hand maintains continuously moving broken chords.
10. Polonaise
Key: C Major
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:30
This is a popular recital piece for students in Finland,197 with “contrast between
chivalrous, fanfare like the main theme and the insistently tragic secondary subject.” 198
196 A collection of short lyrical pieces for piano written between 1829 to 1845.
67
Lyrische Stücke, Op. 74
Year: 1914
Level: Int.
Available Publications: **currently only available in the Critical edition Jean Sibelius
Works (JSW) from Breitkopf Edition (Series V Vol.2)
Works Included: 1. Ekloge 2. Sanfter Westwind 3. Auf dem Tanzvergnügen 4. Im
alten Heim
Sibelius’s productivity in writing piano music suddenly intensified between 1911–1922.
However, this output seemed to have caused only negative backlash among scholars. Veijo
Murtomäki states,
Sibelius almost wrote ‘too many’ sets of miniatures during the 1910s, in the sense that
opp. 74, 75, 76, 85, 94, 97, and 99 (all composed between 1911 and 1922) have often
been bundled together with little awareness of their individual strengths and
characteristics. The Lyric Pieces for piano op.74 (1914), for example, are perhaps one of
his best sets.199
Guy Sacre also described the op.74 set as, “moving and poetic, a collection worth preserving as
a whole.”200
Sibelius began working on The Four Lyric Pieces, op.74, when Carl Stoeckel requested a
commissioned work for the Norfolk Music Festival in the United States, for which Sibelius
wrote a tone poem, Oceanides. The two compositions display a clear influence of impressionism.
Erik Tawaststjerna believes the inspiration came, “during his stay in Berlin in January and
February 1914 . . . after the ‘dark’ period of the fourth symphony. Hearing Busoni’s pupil Rudolf
Ganz play Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse201 and other pieces may have contributed to this interest.” 202
This op. 74 set is certainly one of Sibelius’s more overlooked piano works.

201 The Joyful Island written 1904 for solo piano.
68
1. Ekloge
Key: A minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 4:00
The first piece, Ekloge (Ecologue)203, is written in a simple polyphonic texture; the
influence of classicism is obvious.204 Andrew Barnett points out, “some aspects of the tone
poem’s style are clearly reflected in the first piece, Ekloge, with its gentle wave-like motifs.”205
2. Sanfter Westwind
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Con Moto
Duration: 2:15
The delicate and flowing arpeggios of Sanfter Westwind (Gentle West Wind) evokes the works of
impressionistic composers. The arpeggios and syncopations creates the feel of winds blowing
through the forest.
3. Auf dem Tanzvergnügen

Key: C Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:50
This third piece, Auf dem Tanzvergnügen (the Pleasures of the Dance), is in a quite
different mood. It is an energetic and bright polka. It contains many double octave shifts in the
right hand while the left hand has a busy moving part as well. This is the most technically
challenging in the set.
4. Im alten Heim
Key: G minor
Tempo: Lento
Duration: 2:30
203 A short poem, especially a pastoral dialogue.

69
Im alten Heim (in the Old Home) sounds like a slow, and melancholic waltz. Wilhelm
Kempff wrote “[Ainola, Sibelius’s home] reminds me of the piano piece, Im alten Heim,”206
when he visited shortly before Sibelius’s death. Pieces like this illustrate the genius of Sibelius’s
subtle writing, where he creates memorable music from the simple melodic motifs.
Cinq morceaux pour piano, Op. 75
Year: 1914
Level: M-D
Available Publications: Edition Wilhelm Hansen
Fennica Gehrman
Works Included: 1. När rönnen blommar, 2. Den ensamma furan, 3. Aspen, 4.
Björken, 5. Granen
One of the most popular piano compositions by Sibelius as a cycle is opus 75, often
referred as ‘The Tree Cycle.’ In Finland, the five pieces are frequently performed as a set. The
collection is praised as, “one of the finest examples of the composer's sensitive, pantheistic way
of feeling: ‘the trees speak’ to him. The popularity of the opus speaks for itself.” 207
The style of the music continues to be modern in its neoclassicist use of lean texture and
surprising harmonies including the use of modes. This cycle represents Sibelius’s late-orchestral
style in piano, in which he frequently incorporated polyphonic writing without incorporating
much thick, romantic texture.
1. När rönnen blommar (When Rowan is in Bloom)

Key: G minor
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:50
70
När rönnen blommar (When Rowan is in Bloom), is a delicate piece just like the Rowan
tree itself with beautiful small white flowers. “The piece begins as an improvisation on a melodic
principal idea and gropes its way by means of a Chopinisque turn until the theme is fixed in a
firm melodic line.”208 Shifts in the time signatures and light syncopations add beautiful nuances
in this piece.
2. Den ensamma furan (The Lonely Pine)

Key: A minor
Tempo: Grave
Duration: 2:40
Den ensamma furan certainly follows Barnett’s view of orchestral sonority in its
incorporation of extreme ranges of the keyboard. He compares the sound to Debussy’s At the
Castle Gate from the incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande.209 The sound is also reminiscent
of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition with dramatic repetition of open chords.
3. Aspen (The Aspen)

Key: G-sharp minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:30
The Aspen is another gentle piece that might call to mind leaves rustling with winds. Erik
Tawaststjerna praises, “a late impressionistic vision . . . . If anyone was to portray the
‘sensitivity’ of the Finnish forests it was Sibelius.” 210 The fine subtlety in this short piece
expresses Nordic sound where “the responses from the baritone register of the left hand and the
bare accompanying chords on the right hand are Nordic in their taciturnity.” 211
71
4. Björken (The Birch)
Key: n/a
Tempo: Allegro
Duration: 1:30
Björken (The Birch) is the most harmonically modern in this set. It steps away from
traditional chordal progressions. The piece provides some of the more forward thinking side of
Sibelius’s writing. A brief analysis explains:
The first two strophes of the piece are in B flat Mixolydian mode. Their left-hand ostinato
produces the effect of a field, by minimalist means. The Misterioso closing of the work,
the third strophe, remains strangely open: the scale points in the direction of A flat
Mixolydian, but it can also be interpreted as striving in the direction of a D flat centre.
The riddle is not solved, since a low D flat note appears under the concluding open chord
(A flat -– E flat).212
5. Granen (The Spruce)

Key: D Major
Tempo: Lento
Duration: 3:20
Granen (The Spruce) is perhaps the most approachable and popular piece in this set for
both the audience and the performer. 213 A slow dreamy waltz interrupted with long beautiful
flourishing runs make this a perfect piece for concerts. Veijo Murtomäki comments,
“unquestionably the most popular, powerfully convey Sibelius’s pantheism.” 214 This is a
wonderful introductory work to the piano compositions of Sibelius.
212 Ibid.
72
Treize morceaux pour piano, Op. 76
Year: 1911–1919
Level: M-D
Available Publications: Fennica Gehrman
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
Works Included: 1. Esquisse 2. Etude 3. Carillon 4. Humoresque 5. Consolation 6.
Romanzetta 7. Affettuoso 8. Pièce enfantine 9. Arabesque 10.
Elegiaco 11. Linnaea 12. Capriccietto 13. Harlequinade
This collection contains thirteen short pieces each lasting about one to two minutes,
which were written in the span of eight years from 1911 to 1919. The music was gathered only
for publications later on. 215 Although they were not composed as a cycle, the style is often
compared to Schumann’s Kinderszenen.216 As each piece in this opus number focuses on a
technical challenge, it can, at the same time, be seen as a collection of etudes similar to the style
of Burgmüller Op. 100.
1. Esquisse
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:00
Esquisse (Sketch) sounds like a dark polka in a minor key. The repetitive broken octave
accompaniment drives the music.
2. Etude
Key: A minor
Tempo: Leggiero
Duration: 1:20
This Etude, which focuses on broken, staccato, arpeggiated patterns, is a popular piece
for pianists in Nordic countries. It has a nice stylistic mixture of Chopin and Prokofiev.
73
3. Carillon
Key: F Major
Tempo: Comodo
Duration: 1:30
The third piece, Carillon, presents a continuous ringing bell-like sound. This piece
includes repeated broken chords in different patterns while maintaining a long singing melody in
the top voice of the right hand.
4. Humoresque
Key: C-sharp Minor
Tempo: Vivo
Duration: 1:15
Humoresque, a charming piece, contains many different hand gestures; a sweeping line,
short repeated patterns, and chordal playing. The suspenseful silence and held notes are
effectively used here.
5. Consolation
Key: C-sharp Minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:15
In the Consolation, a short melody is placed in the upper right hand. The same melody is
repeated throughout the piece while the moving middle voice accompaniment in the right hand
and a slight counterpoint in the left hand changes their pattern.
6. Romanzetta
Key: B Major
Tempo: Allegretto con grazia
Duration: 1:40
This Romanzetta in 6/8 has a unique lilt in the rhythm. The piece is playful and flowing
with some surprises when the right hand melody changes from duple to triplet grouping of 6/8
meter.
74
7. Affettuoso
Key: E-flat Major
Tempo: Agitato
Duration: 1:45
As the title, Affettuoso, suggests, the music includes many romantic gestures, which are
reminiscent of Sibelius’s early Romantic period. The dramatic opening with repeated notes
evokes the image of a sopran starts singing an aria.
8. Pièce enfantine
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 1:00
This short, pleasant waltz, Pièce enfantine, is comparable to some of the easier Chopin or
Schubert Waltzes. Like the title suggests, the melody is playful like a child running around over
a simple waltz accompaniment pattern in the left hand.
9. Arabesque
Key: D-flat minor
Tempo: Vivacissimo
Duration: 1:00
In contrast to the preceding simple waltz, Arabesque contains quick running notes in the
right hand. The fast passages move in small intervals especially minor seconds, creating rapid
spinning-like effects.
10. Elegiaco
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Poco agitato
Duration: 2:50
Elegiaco is a beautifully written slow waltz. The accompaniment shared between the left
hand and the right hand creates a light flowing effect. It has a beautiful coda section after a
fermata, when the main theme comes back twice, once in meno agitato, then a tempo but softly
dying away.
75
11. Linnaea
Key: E minor
Tempo: Andantino con moto
Duration: 2:20
Linnaea (Twin Flower) was a favorite flower of Sibelius.217 The music depicts the
fragileness of the flower. It begins in ambiguous tonality with chromaticism. The writing is much
more modern than other preceding pieces in this set. The use of silence, frequently incorporated
in Sibelius’s music, is effective here. This is some of the finer writing in this collection.
12. Capriccietto
Key: G minor
Tempo: Vivace
Duration: 1:00
Capriccietto is another piece where Sibelius maintains the tonal ambiguity until the end.
It exemplifies the modernist side of his piano writing.
13. Harlequinade
Key: E-flat Major
Tempo: Comodo
Duration: 1:20
The influence of impressionism is clearer in Harlequinade, although the harmony is less
chromatic than Nos. 12 and 13. Veijo Murtomäki draws comparison with, “some of Debussy’s
shorter preludes such as ‘Minstrels.” 218 This light-hearted piece is a nice way to conclude this
collection of thirteen short works.
76
Cinq Morceaux, Op. 85
Year: 1916–1917
Level: M-D
Works Included: 1. Bellis, 2. Oeillet, 3. Iris, 4. Aquilegia, 5. Campanula
Each of the five pieces in Cinq Morceaux, op. 85, also known as The Flowers, has a title
named after a flower. It is often considered to be a companion set to the The Tree, Op. 75. Like,
The Tree collection, The Flowers are often performed as a complete set in Finland. Lewin
describes the set as, “The intimate quality of the piano writing is reminiscent of Schumann’s
Davidsbündlertänze, yet the set is characteristically Sibelian.” 219 Murtomäki also describes this
piece as, “refined and attractive in character.” 220 For this set, Erik Tawaststjerna wrote in depth
for each piece, excerpts which are included here. In his commentary, he often compares the
music to the sound of bells especially in Bellis, Aquilegia, and Campanula. Sibelius could have
had some inspiration of the bells in addition to the flowers he depicted.
1. Bellis
Key: C Major
Tempo: Presto
Duration: 1:20
Bellis (The Daisy) is a fast, light waltz as if Sibelius was reflecting the lightness of the
flower itself. Erik Tawaststjerna states the higher register in this waltz suggests, “. . . the musical
box imitations for piano of the turn of the century, for example Liadov’s Tabatière a musique
and Ravel’s Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes, which most resembles peals of bells.
Sibelius’s waltz combines the childish innocence of the musical box with striking virtuosity.” 221

77
2. Oeillet
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Con Moto
Duration: 2:00
Oeillet (The Carnation) is another waltz, but more grandiose and flowing than the first
piece. Erik Tawaststjerna believes this romantic waltz is, “. . . inspired by Schumann’s
Papillion’s. A lively waltz in A-flat major alternates with a dreamy interlude in the relative minor
key of a flat.”222
3. Iris
Key: B-flat minor
Tempo: Alegretto e deciso
Duration: 3:00
Iris is darker and more harmonically ambiguous, in contrast to the preceding two pieces.
Erik Tawaststjerna compares the mood of the piece to Sibelius’s personality: “sensitive and
vulnerable, capricious on the surface but firm on the inside–just like Sibelius himself. Dynamics
are limited, the tone almost melancholic. The trill must be executed with precision. The
lightning-like scales flash like a naked dagger.” 223
4. Aquilegia
Key: A-flat Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:50
Aquilegia (The Columbine) is a pleasant work reminiscent of the 19th-century’s salon music
style. Erik Tawaststjerna describes the similarity of the style to Schumann where, “the
Biedermeier character of melody and harmony and the piano texture with the tune embedded in
semi-quaver figures–all these aspects suggest the Blumenstück. In the bass-line the steeple bell
222 Ibid.
223 Ibid.
78
chimes farewell–just as in Papillions.”224 This perhaps might not be in the usual Sibelius’s style,
but it is fascinating to play if pianists treat this piece as an homage to Schumann.
5. Campanula
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:15
The last piece in this set, Campanula, is delicate; a bell-like sound is created throughout
with rolled chords and grace-notes. Erik Tawaststjerna points out, “[it] is above all a study of
timbre. First a single bell toll but soon the others join in the tune.”225
Late Period (1919–1929):

In Sibelius’s last active compositional period, the “Synthesis Style,” the works are a
diverse synthesis of his past musical styles. The music is not as lean as the middle period and
incorporates the influence of impressionism and expressionism. He composed six collections
(opp. 94, 97, 99, 101, 103, 114) during this time.
Six Pieces, Op. 94, Sechs Bagatellen, Op. 97, & Huit petits Morceaux, Op. 99
Sibelius wrote the first three sets in the late period during a time of great financial
struggles. He described the financial state of the time in his diary as ‘debts up to his ears.’ 226
These three works are sometimes referred to as ‘his three bread and butter suites’ and not without
reason.227 Lewin, understanding Sibelius’s crisis, sees the three works as, “. . . uncharacteristic of
224 Ibid.
225 Ibid.
226 Anna Pulkkis, “Preface,” in Complete Works, Series V (Works for Piano) Vol. 3: Opp. 85, 94,
96a, 96c, 97, 99, 101, 103, 114 by Jean Sibelius (Wiesbaden: Edition Breitkopf, 2011), IX.
79
the composer and seem to be written for amateur pianists.” 228 However, these pieces do include
some innovative characteristics. The influence of impressionism, which is a tendency found in
the late works by Sibelius, is already apparent and described in the following manner, “Sibelius
comes close to the practical aesthetics of French composition and in this sense shows a kinship
with Satie and Poulenc.” 229 The qualities in these collections are sometimes uneven, but they still
include many attractive pieces.
Six Pieces, Op. 94
Year: 1914–1919
Level: M-D
Edition Fazer
Works Included: 1. Danse 2. Nouvellette 3. Sonnet 4. Berger et bergerette
5. Mélodie 6. Gavotte
1. Danse
Key: C Major
Tempo: Con moto
Duration: 1:06
Danse is an energetic folk dance. The opening octave chords with grace notes in the bass
evokes a scenery of dancer jumping warming up for the dance to start.
2. Nouvellette
Key: F Major
Tempo: Allegro
Duration: 1:04

80
Nouvellette has a reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s piano writing with driven left hand
accompaniment. The music flows beautifully but with one unexpected surprise, in which the
music abruptly modulates after a silence to Db major.
3. Sonnet
Key: B-flat Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 2:30
Sonnet is perhaps the most memorable piece in this set, because of the beautiful lyricism.
This is another example, which exhibits similarity to Mendelssohn’s piano writing with moving
inner voice accompaniment.
4. Berger et bergerette (Shepherds)

Key: G minor
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 2:30
This pastoral, melancholy, Berger et bergerette (Shepherds)includes much of Sibelius’s
personality. The music starts simple with a lyrical melody and an accompaniment but the
accompaniment pattern later develops while keeping the same melody.
5. Mélodie
Key: B Major
Tempo: Largamente
Duration: 2:00
This chorale-like Mélodie reminds the listener of the compositions by Schumann and
Brahms.230 Sibelius was most likely thinking choir when composing this piece as exhibited in the
texture and lyricism.
81
6. Gavotte
Key: C Major
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:45
This Gavotte sounds as it could belong to Schumann’s Album für die Jugend, op. 68. The
music has child-like playful character with its story-telling melody line that flows like a
conversation.
Sechs Bagatellen, Op. 97
Year: 1920
Level: M-D
Fennica Gehrman
LudwigMasters Publications
Works Included: 1. Humoresque I 2. Lied 3. Kleiner Walzer 4. Humoristischer
Marsch 5. Impromptu 6. Humoreske II
1. Humoresque I
Key: E minor
Tempo: Con moto
Duration: 1:50
Humoresque I opens with a lyrical, unaccompanied melody which sounds like an aria.
Then, the left hand accompaniment in a syncopated rhythm similar to Spanish guitar strumming
style joins.231 Continuous off-beat rhythm in the left hand creates a nice driven sense in the
music.
2. Lied
Key: F Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:05
82
Lied is the highlight of this collection. Emil Giles, a Russian pianist, frequently
performed this delicate, intimate piece. When he performed Tchaikovsky’s B-flat minor concerto
in Helsinki, he played this piece as an encore, after telling the audience, “since I can’t play the
fourth symphony for you, I want to give a glimpse of the brighter Sibelius.” 232
3. Kleiner Walzer
Key: D Major
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:20
The Kleiner Walzer include some similarity to Chopin’s Minute Waltz (op. 64, no. 1).
This piece might evoke the feel of salon music.
4. Humoristischer Marsch
Key: A minor
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:15
This Humoristischer Marsch is rhythmic, sounding almost like Edvard Grieg’s folk dance
music. This includes many off-beat accents, crushing minor seconds, and grace note jumps of an
octave. These characteristics are shared also in Grieg’s Norwegian folk dances.
5. Impromptu
Key: B-flat minor
Tempo: Poco moderato
Duration: 1:40
This melancholy Impromptu is another piece similar to the No. 2 Lied. It contains very
sensitive melody with intricate accompaniment in the left hand.
6. Humoreske II
Key: C minor
Tempo: Poco lento – Vivace
Duration: 1:40
232 Ibid.
83
Humoreske II begins in C minor with somewhat dark melody supported with a
syncopated accompaniment in the left hand. Once the Vivace section starts, the music goes
through many different tonal centers but does not reestablish the C minor clearly. Harmonically,
this is very ambiguous piece.
Huit petits Morceaux, Op. 99
Year: 1922
Level: M-D
Works Included: 1. Pièce humoristique 2. Esquisse 3. Souvenir 4. Impromptu 5.
Couplet 6. Animoso 7. Moment de valse 8. Petit marche
1. Pièce humoristique
Key: E minor
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 1:15
In Pièce humoristique, the phrases alternate between 2/4 and 3/4 time-signature. Erik
Tawaststjerna explains that the exchange is based on the type of dance rhythms, “one in mazurka
time and the other with a trepek like rhythm.” 233 It is a fascinating piece with two dance pieces
combined in one single composition.
2. Esquisse
Key: C Major
Tempo: Vivo
Duration: :50
This short, lively Esquisse includes two main motifs. One is fast alternating 16th-notes
between two hands and other is staccato eighth-notes chordal passage. These two phrases are
84
repeated in different keys and the music sounds unfortunately like an etude, because the same
patterns are simply repeated without much development in the music.
3. Souvenir
Key: E minor
Tempo: Lento
Duration: 1:45
Souvenir is a beautiful, nostalgic piece. Occasional appearance of the counter-melody
adds a subtle drama to the music.
4. Impromptu
Key: C Major
Tempo: Quasi marcia
Duration: 1:10
Impromptu begins with a harp-like gesture of a two-octave arpeggiated chord in 32nd-
notes. The music is light-hearted and pleasant.
5. Couplet
Key: G Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 1:30
The poetic Couplet is an intricate piece with subtle rhythmic complexity such as
syncopations and dotted-rhythms.
6. Animoso
Key: G Major
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:40
Animoso is reminiscent of Robert Schumann’s Florestan, especially the repeated-
rhythmic pattern writing. It almost does not sound like Sibelius music, because he focused on
one motif and continues to replicate without any change like Schumann.
85
7. Moment de valse
Key: C Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 1:10
Moment de valse is a sweet, pleasant waltz. It has lyrical, flowing, pastoral atmosphere.
8. Petit marche
Key: E minor
Tempo: N/A
Duration: 1:30
Despite its title, Petit marche, the music sounds more like an elegant dance. The
sweeping, uplifting melody accompanied by syncopated accompaniment is beautiful.
Sibelius’s Last Three Piano Works (Opp. 101, 103, 114)
The last three works Sibelius wrote for piano were composed during the same time as his
Sixth and Seventh Symphonies, Tapiola, and The Tempest. Lewin compares,
[the period] is considerable to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and last string quartet. This
was a time of isolation for Sibelius. The absence of virtuosic orchestral writing in the
Sixth Symphony, for example contrasts sharply with the brilliant orchestral works of
Ravel and Strauss. The focus of Sibelius’s music was not in sympathy with such avant-
garde composers as Les Six, Schoenberg, and Stravinsky.234
The piano compositions parallel the dark tone and concentrations of his orchestral works.”235
These last three collections contain more innovative quality especially compared to the opp. 94,

235 Ibid.
86
97, 99. The seriousness and the grander scale in these last sets gives stronger impressions than
the previous few collections. 236
The writing style is also thicker and richer, reflecting back to his initial Romantic style.
Compared to Sibelius’s middle period, which focused on thin and linear texture, the last three
collections have, “a more massive, more full-toned handle of piano. . . , and the pieces are
conceived directly in terms of the resources of the piano.” 237 It is also important to note that
Sibelius attempts to unite the individual pieces in a collection. Hence, performing a collection in
its entirety is highly recommended for these three sets.
Five Romantic Compositions, Op. 101
Year: 1924
Level: D
Works Included: 1. Romance 2. Chant du soir 3. Scène lyrique 4. Humoresque 5.
Scène romantique
1. Romance
Key: C Major
Tempo: Poco con moto
Duration: 3:30
Some of the orchestral romantic writing from his early National Romantic period returns
in this Romance. Erik Tawastjerna compares its similarity to the famous Romance in D-flat,
op.24. He believes their main themes have resemblance, especially in “regard to mood and to the
87
melodic line.”238 However, he also adds, “but in contrast to the romance in D-flat major, the
harmony is rich in unexpected modulations.” 239
2. Chant du soir
Key: E minor
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:00
Chant du soir clearly contains the influence of French impressionism. It is “[created with
uses of] a relatively wide range of the keyboard and something of the palette of Debussy.” 240
Sibelius effectively use the resonance created by the keyboard and the pedal; it is a beautifully
written work.
3. Scène lyrique
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Andante – Vivace
Duration: 2:30
The introduction of Scène lyrique in Andante starts melancholic. It is followed by a
virtuosic Vivace section, which resembles, “the masterly violinistic dimension of the sixth
symphony in its polka-like and quick-moving Vivace sequence.”241 Especially, the Andante
section is very sensitive and memorable.
4. Humoresque
Key: D-flat Major
Tempo: Commodo
Duration: 2:20
239 Ibid.
88
This Humoresque is reminiscent of Sibelius’s early style. It has many romantic qualities
in addition to thicker texture with Lisztian flourish.242 One difference from his earlier period is
probably a more abundance use of the silence.
5. Scène romantique
Key: D Major
Tempo: Moderato assai
Duration: 3:30
The beauty of this Scène romantique is “Schumann-like and really romantic (an antidote
to our present machine-like age).”243 Pianist Eero Heinonen, who recorded Sibelius’s complete
piano works, touted this piece as, "one of the most perfect gems in Sibelius's piano output." 244
This piece highlights Sibelius’s sensitivity to the resonance of the instrument and his effective
use of silence to heighten the drama in the music.
Five Characteristic Impressions, Op. 103
Year: 1924
Level: M-D
Works Included: 1. The Village Church 2. The Fiddler 3. The Oarsman 4. The
Storm 5. In Mournful Mood
1. The Village Church

Key: C Major
Tempo: Largo
Duration: 3:30
As previously discussed in Chapter 2, the Village Church presents Sibelius’s
impressionistic orchestral writing and is often compared to Debussy’s “La Cathédrale

89
Engloutie.” It is a beautiful, solemn piece with occasional Debussy-like arpeggiated texture.
Lewin describes Sibelius’s piano writing as,
. . . fuller than in previous works. Gone is the lean style of the classical phase. The work
is massively conceived and does not sound like a piano transcription of orchestral music.
The full linear style suggests a kinship with the Seventh Symphony. 245
2. The Fiddler
Key: G Major
Tempo: Con moto
Duration: 2:15
The Fiddler is a dance music in a polka style with some fiddling influence. Specifically,
the piece is in polska, “. . . the West Finnish variant of the polonaise, particularly common in
Ostrobothnia.”246 The fiddle imitation of grace notes elongates the first beat and creates the
polska feel to this music.
3. The Oarsman
Key: C Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 2:15
This piece portrays an oarsman on the boat. The arpeggios create the sound of waves and
the eighth-note paired with 16th-note imitates the motion of rowing.
4. The Storm
Key: C-sharp minor
Tempo: Allegro molto
Duration: 1:45
Sibelius explores a different dimension of piano writing in this dramatic, virtuosic Storm.
Especially the fast moving sections of the piece sounds like an imitation of vigorous fiddle
playing.

90
5. In Mournful Mood
Key: C minor
Tempo: Moderato
Duration: 2:20
Sibelius expressed an astonishingly different mood and writing style in In Mournful
Mood. It includes Mahlerian funeral march “[featuring] a long arc-like melody over a basso
continuos.” 247248 It is very dark and depicts a deep sadness.
Fünf Skizzen, Op. 114
Year: 1929
Level: M-D
Works Included: 1. Landschaft 2. Winterbild 3. Der Teich 4. Lied im Walde 5. Im
Frühling
One of Sibelius’s most fascinating compositions for piano is Fünf Skizzen (Five
Esquisses), op. 114, the last collection he wrote for piano. These pieces are considered
harmonically some of the most complex and modern with modal-tonal ambiguity, resembling the
style of Scriabin and Bartók. 249 Erik T. Tawaststjerna also compares the atmosphere of this
collection, “. . . to the late bagatelles by Beethoven: concentrated thought in which the moods are
created by a few chords and melodic motifs.” 250 Martin Anderson describes the suite’s
uniqueness as following:
The Five Esquisses are qualitatively different from the other late anthologies. Dating
from the end of Sibelius’s creative career, shortly after the bleakly powerful symphonic
poem Tapiola, and the incidental music to The Tempest, they share their metaphysical
identification with the stark northern landscape. . . .they inhibit a sparse, almost astringent
idiom in which any hint of easy sentiment has been stripped away. 251

251 Martin Anderson, “Sibelius and the Piano,” 17–18.
91
Despite the innovative quality of this masterwork, it is one of his least known works.
Murtomäki believes one of the reasons for the neglect is because the collection was not
published until 1973, sixteen years after his death. She, however, argues, “the Esquisses are the
key to Sibelius’s late style and modal techniques.” 252 For any pianists exploring different
dimensions of Sibelius, including this suite is a definite choice.
1. Landschaft
Key: E-flat Major
Tempo: Andantino
Duration: 2:25
Landschaft (Landscape) begins with alternation between a four-voice hymn-like section
and a dramatic, stormy arpeggio passage. The length of phrases are irregular and music develops
unexpectedly. The piece is mysterious in the mood and does not follow a traditional formal
structure.
2. Winterbild
Key: A Major
Tempo: Allegretto
Duration: 2:30
Winterbild (Winter Scene) portrays a Finnish winter. The music portrays a scenery of
stillness and the harshness of the temperature, which is created with occasional forte sections.
The delicate melody is repeated with different accompaniment pattern which creates subtle
scenery changes.
3. Der Teich
Key: N/A (D Dorian)
Tempo: Con moto
Duration: 1:30

92
Der Teich (Forest Lake) depicts a lake’s calm wave. According to one analysis, the
effective use of the unique tonality is:
Here Sibelius's pitch organization represents the state of the art of its time. This is
Sibelian musical thinking at its most ingenious. On the basis of the technique chosen the
composition could go on forever. 253
This piece exemplifies some of Sibelius’s late modal writing; he uses modern harmonic language
in such a beautiful way without sounding too harsh.
4. Lied im Walde
Key: N/A (B Locrian)
Tempo: Animato
Duration: 2:15
Lied im Walde (Song in the Forest) creates a mysterious, haunting atmosphere. The piece
has many tri-tones and an unclear tonal center. The effect of the tonal ambiguity is created
because the piece, “is written in the seldom-used Locrian mode, the only mode that does not
contain a stabilizing dominant degree and lacks tonal stability.” 254 Specifically, the mode choice
creates:
an endless song telling of the eternity of the forest. It is based on the Sibelian field
technique, with the propagation of a central chord. This time the central chord B-D#-F-A-
C/C# contains two tritones (B-F, D#-A) and two alternative ninths (C/C#). The result is a
modern and fascinating tonal vision. 255
Sibelius’s modernist language in this piece is striking.
5. Im Frühling
Key: E Major
Tempo: Tranquillo
Duration: 1:45

93
AIm Frühling (Spring Vision) is in much more hopeful mood, after four consecutive
pieces depicting darker sides of nature. The sunlight and creatures are finally coming back after a
long Finnish winter. This is especially expressed in the ascending melody line in eighth-notes
and sometimes appearing in 32 nd-notes.
94
CONCLUSION
Jean Sibelius’s compositions have become standard repertoire for many Nordic pianists. I
believe Sibelius’s piano music deserves much more significant recognition from the musicians
and audiences outside of the Nordic region. Sibelius embraced both late-Romantic and early 20th
century compositional writing, while incorporating the uniqueness of the Finnish sound and
style. Contrary to arguments of some scholars, his piano works are effectively written and are
certainly pianistic.
In this essay, I illustrated the impact Finland’s transitioning political and cultural state
had on Sibelius’s music. Although it was not his intention to become a nationalist composer, his
environment thrust him into that role. The influence of Finnish historical runic singing and the
sound of kantele exist in many of his compositions. Sibelius frequently utilized the idea of
‘theme and variations’ to expand melodic ideas, which he developed after examining the Finnish
folk tradition.
The change in aesthetic goals in his orchestral writing is reflected in his piano music as
well—including his gradual shift to a condensed and thin compositional textures, exploration in
harmony and structure, and the influence of the contemporary styles of his time. However, the
incorporation of Finnish folk style and reminiscences of the Finnish geographical environment
remained throughout his three style periods.
Despite the dismissive historical remarks on Sibelius’s piano music by some scholars and
even by the composer himself, his music has a value for pianists to learn and perform, and
should be regarded as important standard piano repertoire. When I play his piano works, they
remind me the importance of intricate phrasing, color changes, and tone control. Some of my
favorite works are Sonata in F Major, Op. 12; Ten Pieces, Op. 24; Kyllikki; Three Lyric Pieces,
95
Op. 41; Three Sonatinas, Op. 67; Cinq morceaux pour piano,‘The Tree Cycle’, Op. 75; and Fünf
Skizzen, Op. 114. He has written many works for pianists and I hope that my guide to his 115
piano works provides a starting point to pianists who want to understand and learn the
fascinating works by Jean Sibelius.
After the completion of this essay, I would like to perform concerts and make a recording
of Sibelius’s piano works I learned while in Helsinki. I hope to include some of Sibelius’s
neglected piano chamber music as well. As new research, I am investigating the stylistic
connections and distinctions of Sibelius’s piano music to another representative Nordic
composer, Edvard Grieg (1843–1907).
Although pianists learning his works should refer to Breitkopf Editions of Sibelius works
as they are the critical editions, I would like to publish a pedagogical collection dedicated to
selected works of Jean Sibelius’s piano music as a long-term goal. Alfred Music Publishing and
other major music publishing companies in the United States offer standard introductory
collections of composers’ representative repertoire by such composers as J.S. Bach or Frédéric
Chopin. A pedagogical collection of Sibelius’s piano works would make his music more
approachable to pianists and teachers. I am looking forward to continuing to research and
promote the piano music of Jean Sibelius.
96
APPENDIX A: LIST OF PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO WORKS WITH OPUS NUMBERS
1890–1903: “National Romantic” (Finnish folk music with romanticism)

Opus Number Title
5 Six Impromptus, 1893
12 Piano Sonata in F major, 1893
24 Ten Pieces, 1895–1903
41 Kyllikki, 1904
1903–1919: “Neoclassical” (use of classical idioms with romanticism)

58 Ten Pieces, 1909
67 Three Sonatinas, 1912
68 Zwei Rondinos, 1912
34 Bagatelles, 1912–1916
40 Pensées lyriques, 1912–1916
74 Four Lyric Pieces, 1914
75 Cinq morceaux pour piano, 1914–1919
76 Treize morceaux pour piano, 1911–1919
85 Cinq Morceaux, 1916–1917
1919–1929: “Synthesis Style” (a wide range of traditional idioms + radical modernism)

94 Six Pieces, 1914–1919
97 Sechs Bagatellen, 1920
99 Huit petits Morceaux, 1922
101 Five Romantic Compositions, 1924
103 Five Characteristic Impressions, 1924
114 Fünf Skizzen, 1929
97
APPENDIX B: LIST OF PUBLISHED SOLO PIANO WORKS WITHOUT OPUS
NUMBERS256
Works from 1885–1887
JS Number Title
52 Con moto, sempre una corda
74 Piece in Eb major
5 Piece in A minor
2 Piece in A major
47 Au crépuschule

44 Andantino
18 Allegretto
11 Adagio
117 Largo
221 Vivace
41 Andantino
24 Allegretto
133 Moderato – Presto
150 Più lento – Tempo di valse
75 Piece in Eb major
82 Florestan
1 Valse

164 Scherzo
23 Allegretto
225 Allegretto 18 19 / XII 97
119 Lento
124 March triste
109 Kavaljeren

13 Adagio
181 Spagnuolo
202 Til trånaden
123 Mandolinato
53 Con passione
201 Andantino
256
Jean Sibelius, Complete Works, Series V (Works for Piano) Vol. 4: Works Without Opus
Number, edited by Anna Pulkkis. Wiesbaden: Edition Breitkopf, 2014.
98
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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102

Guide To The Published Solo Piano Music of Jean Sibelius (1865 - 19

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University of Iowa

Iowa Research Online

Theses and Dissertations

Guide to the published solo piano music of Jean Sibelius

Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd

Part of the Music Commons

Copyright © 2017 Asami Hagiwara

This dissertation is available at Iowa Research Online: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6123

Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd

An essay submitted in partial fulfillment

Essay Supervisor: Professor Alan Huckleberry

All Rights Reserved

This is to certify that the DMA essay of

has been approved by the Examining Committee for

Essay Committee: ____________________________________________

My sincere gratitude goes to Sibelius Academy and American-Scandinavian Foundation

Nordic sound and a deeper connection with Sibelius’s music.

doctorate will never be forgotten.

FIGURE 1.1: MAP OF KARELIAN REGION. ......................................................................................... 8

FIGURE 2.1: THE K ANTELE. ............................................................................................................ 17

FIGURE 3.2: AVAILABLE RECORDINGS OF COMPLETE PIANO WORKS BY SIBELIUS ........................35

EXAMPLE 2. 1:“ROMANCE” IN D-FLAT, OP. 24, NO. 9, MM. 1–8. .................................................... 18

EXAMPLE 2.6: EXAMPLES OF KALEVALA RECITATION FORMULAS. ............................................... 23

EXAMPLE 2.9: TRANSCRIBED MELODIES BY A. O. VÄISÄNEN. ...................................................... 26

performance of his piano works.

Erik W. Tawaststjerna (1916–1993) is one of the first scholars and performers of

personal interpretation of Sibelius’s music.

of his life at a variety of important moments.

information will duplicate some given in prior chapters.

compositions with opus numbers will be examined here.

3Hinson, Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire.

Sibelius’s Music and Finland

Understanding Finland’s political and cultural background are important factors in

issues seem to have affected his music.

development came from playing music at home and in his community.

a concert violinist at one point.

Playing chamber music was an important source of family entertainment in Sibelius’s

Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello in A major.

influential figures in the international music scene.

Sibelius Becomes Pro-Finnish

Finnish sound began around this time.

Sibelius Goes Abroad

experience, because Sibelius had to focus on technical exercises.

http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/js_saveltajana.html, accessed 7 March 2015.

and less interested in classical traditions.

Karelian Influence in Sibelius’s Music

Sibelius’s Piano Music, and Sibelius and Finland’s Nature.)

14 Austro-Hungarian composer (1830–1915).

the Viennese Classicism ideal as Sibelius expressed, “so, let’s be barbarians!” 17

In the spring of 1892, Sibelius completed Kullervo, integrating Finnish language

16 Sirén et al, “Jean Sibelius as a Composer,” Sibelius.

were negative, and he did not receive any attention abroad.

Sibelius as a Nationalist in Finland

take on fewer teaching jobs in order to support his family.

18 Swedish writer of novels and plays (1863–1943).

minor (1904), and Valse Triste (1904).

Sibelius’s Personal Struggle

removed from the temptations of the city.

19 Sirén et al, “The Men,” Sibelius.

more cosmopolitan and modern.

Sibelius’s Third Symphony (1907) represents his post-national Romantic

styles during his middle and late compositional periods.

world. It must encompass everything."21