Sibelius - Symphony No. 5 op. 82 - Finale

Conductor - Marguerite Bradford Richardson
Concertmaster - Edward Latimer
civicorchestrajax.org
Videography Vladimir Paje
Finale (Movement III, Allegro molto) from Symphony No. 5, op. 82 Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Program Notes by Lucinda Mosher, Th.D.
Imagine that, by age 49, you are considered a national treasure and that your 50th birthday will be a national holiday! Such was the case for Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The government of Finland commissioned him to write a symphony-his fifth-to be premiered on his birthday: December 8, 1915.
Today, exactly 104 years later, on the 154th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth, we offer its final movement-but as revised by the composer in 1919. In its later form, with which the composer was much happier, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5 is innovative in structure and in employment of the orchestra’s tonal colors yet stays within the harmonic sensibilities of the late Romantic era.
The Finale opens with soft scurrying in the strings. The horns,
playing in parallel thirds, intone an expansive “1-2-3” motif. It is
thought that Sibelius meant it to represent the call of male swans in
flight. This tune bears little resemblance to the sound swans actually
make, yet the association has stuck. As the movement develops,
we hear other melodies-sometimes superimposed upon the swan theme. The effect is contemplative, optimistic, and even triumphal-especially when, near the movement’s end, the horn section takes up the swan theme one last time. When we recall that it was
composed as World War I raged, this mood is rather remarkable.
The last moments of Symphony No. 5 are dramatic and distinct: Sibelius calls for the full orchestra to sound six sharp, insistent chords separated by silences of differing lengths. If “hope” is this movement’s intrinsic mood, then these six chords seem to say, “Dare we? Shall we? We must!”

[@franckmousset4022]

Beaucoup trop lent.

[@andreagiusepperossi6748]

priva di qualsiasi accento positivo ma ci sono stati notissimi direttori che sono riusciti a fare peggio

[@wk3004]

I thought it was pretty good for a free concert by a volunteer orchestra with musicians who probably have non-musical 9-5 jobs in a state that’s not particularly known for its music scene