From 2nd Altos Like the Bottom Parts.This article explores the creative silence of Sibelius in his last 30 years.
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An Eighth Symphony was promised to Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in the early 1930s, and its British premiere was even announced for 1933. The piece never appeared, despite letters Sibelius wrote to his friends discussing its structure. In 1933, he told Georg Schneevoigt, the conductor who was supposed to lead the symphony's world premiere in Helsinki: "You have no idea how brilliant it is." Later that year, he explained to a journalist that the Eighth "will be the reckoning of my whole existence - 68 years. It will probably be my last. Eight symphonies and 100 songs. It has to be enough." But all that remains of it today is one sheet of paper, a first page with a key signature and a list of instruments - but not a single note.
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1 comment:
Reading how much trouble Sibelius had with alcohol, I would assume his drinking problem played a significant role in his inability to compose any major works for such a long period of time.
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