Sibelius 3

November 22, 2015 6:41 AM

Sibelius: Symphony No. 3 [YouTube]. There is no imagery and no drama—except that of the musical events themselves—for you to lose yourself in. This is like Haydn. You can't do anything with it except listen to it.
posted by Wolfdog (7 comments total)

Jean certainly enjoyed his timpani...
posted by jim in austin at 7:10 AM on November 22, 2015

I can see this or or a movement use for a ballet. Or certainly for an art animation.
posted by sammyo at 7:27 AM on November 22, 2015

I know nothing about classical music and symphonies and all, and even so I love this. When Teju Cole was still on twitter he'd tweeted about Sibelius's third (and maybe it was about the second movement in particular, I can't remember) symphony so that's how I initially discovered it. And I still really love it, listening to the third movement as I write this. It's different than the recording I have at home, copied from a library CD. I have no idea why I even like this and the article has given me a lot to consider, especially about the six notes that the listener can turn "inside-out" / reverse, and how the three parts fit together, with specific historical context.

One of my favorite moments is when a wind instrument (horn?) at 28:22 does a flurry of a notes near the very end. It always makes me smile! Prolly cuz it sounds a teensy bit like an elephant.

Anyway. This reminds me I have to make time to check out all those music posts I've been faveing, particularly the classical ones. Thanks for the post!
posted by one teak forest at 7:40 AM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

One of my favorite moments is when a wind instrument (horn?) at 28:22 does a flurry of a notes near the very end. It always makes me smile! Prolly cuz it sounds a teensy bit like an elephant.

Yes, that's the sound you get when you write tr~~~~ in the French Horn part, and you should make certain that's the sound you want before you write tr~~~~ in the French Horn part.

It makes me smile too.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:46 AM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

Gosh, I have listened to so little Sibelius that when I hear the name, I automatically assume it's referring to the notation software. Thanks for posting this.
posted by teponaztli at 12:07 PM on November 22, 2015

What a wonderful piece of music to start your day!

Thank you!
posted by james33 at 2:33 AM on November 23, 2015

Nice to see the 3rd getting some love - it's so often overlooked in favour of the 2nd and 5th (both of which are fantastic, and if you like this you should look for them). The 6th is a lovely pastoral work. The 1st and 4th are also more than fine; the 4th is pretty dark, but amazing if you're in the right mood. But his very best was the magnificent 7th, which is the music I want played at my funeral. He never published an 8th because he apparently felt he couldn't top it.

He was as good a symphonist as there ever was.
posted by rory at 3:17 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]