Jean Sibelius
Quiz Yourself About the Life and Music of
Jean Sibelius
9.
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Besides symphonies, which two forms of music did Sibelius devote much of his composing energy to?
Incidental music and tone poems. Incidental music is music that would be performed at a play or theater event. It supports the play and could be found between acts of a play or as a prelude to the play, etc. Sibelius was very interested in this type of music. Sibelius also composed numerous poems, including such famous works as Finlandia, The Swan of Tuonela, Tapiola, and Pohjola’s Daughter. A tone poem is an orchestral work usually in a single movement that has a programmatic basis, whether depicting a painting, a poem, a story, etc.
Above: Sir Simon Rattle conducts the London Symphony in a performance of Sibelius’s final tone poem, Tapiola, composed in 1926.
10.
How many tone poems did Sibelius compose?