Jean Sibelius

Composer

December 8, 1865 — September 20, 1957 (91 years)
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer and violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely recognized as his country's greatest composer and, through his music, is often credited with having helped Finland to develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia.

The core of his oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies, which, like his other major works, are regularly performed and recorded in his home country and internationally. His other best-known compositions are Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto, the choral symphony Kullervo, and The Swan of Tuonela (from the Lemminkäinen Suite). Other works include pieces inspired by nature, Nordic mythology, and the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, over a hundred songs for voice and piano, incidental music for numerous plays, the opera Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the Tower), chamber music, piano music, Masonic ritual music, and 21 publications of choral music.

Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s, but after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music for The Tempest (1926) and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he stopped producing major works in his last thirty years, a stunning and perplexing decline commonly referred to as "The Silence of Järvenpää", the location of his home. Although he is reputed to have stopped composing, he attempted to continue writing, including abortive efforts on an eighth symphony. In later life, he wrote Masonic music and re-edited some earlier works while retaining an active but not always favourable interest in new developments in music.

Filmography

2025
2024
Origins @ La Folle Journée de Nantes 2024 · as Original Music Composer
2019
2004
2003
Sibelius · as Composer
1990
Axel · as Composer
1984
Pessi and Illusia · as Composer
1980
1976
1975
1970
Red Sun · as Original Music Composer
1961
1957
The Sky at Night · as Composer
1952
Vastaus · as Composer
1951
Aila, Pohjolan tytär · as Composer
1950
Tukkijoella tapahtuu · as Composer
1949
Secreto entre mujeres · as Composer
1942
Catene invisibili · as Composer
1935
Fredløs · as Composer
1932
Svarta rosor · as Composer
1923
The Village Shoemakers · as Composer