Symphony No. 4
by Jean Sibelius
The composer (c. 1912)
KeyA minor
CatalogueOp. 63
Composed1909 (1909)–1911
PublisherBreitkopf & Härtel (1912)
DurationApprox. 39 mins.
Movements4
Premiere
Date3 April 1911 (1911-04-03)
LocationHelsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
ConductorJean Sibelius
PerformersHelsinki Philharmonic Society

The Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63, is a four-movement work for orchestra written from 1909 to 1911 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

The first, germinal ideas appear to have been piano sketches from September 1909 called 'The Mountain' and 'Thoughts of a Wayfarer', which may have ended up in the symphony's first and third movements, respectively. Moreover, in November 1910, Sibelius began working on a new orchestral song, for the Finnish soprano Aino Ackté, based on Poe's poem The Raven. By December, however, he had abandoned the project; nevertheless, some of the material from The Raven eventually made its way into the finale of the Fourth. In late 1911, Sibelius made a few minor changes in preparing the symphony for publication.[1][2]

History

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Composition

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Premiere

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Instrumentation

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Music

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Movement I

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Movement II

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Movement III

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Movement IV

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Context and analysis

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Modern reception

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Relation to Sibelius's other symphonies

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Discography

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The sortable table below lists commercially available recordings of the Symphony No. 4.

No. Conductor Ensemble Rec.[a] Time Recording venue Label Ref.
1 Leopold Stokowski Philadelphia Orchestra 1932 Victor
1 Georg Schnéevoigt Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 1934 HMV, EMI Classics, Warner Classics
1 Sir Thomas Beecham London Philharmonic Orchestra 1937 Abbey Road Studios HMV, EMI Classics, Warner Classics
1 Paavo Berglund Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 1968 35:24 Kulttuuritalo Finlandia
1 Andrew Manze BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 2011 39:56 City Halls, Glasgow BBC Music Magazine
1 [[]] [[]]
1 [[]] [[]]
1 [[]] [[]]

Notes, references, and sources

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Notes
  1. ^ Refers to the year in which the performers recorded the work; this may not be the same as the year in which the recording was first released to the general public.
  2. ^ [ L. Stokowski–Victor () yyyy]
  3. ^ [ G. Schnéevoigt–Zzzzzz () yyyy]
  4. ^ [ T. Beecham–Zzzzzz () yyyy]
  5. ^ P. Berglund–Finlandia (4509–95843–2) 1990
  6. ^ A. Manze–BBC Music Magazine (BBCMM380) 2015
  7. ^ [ X. Xxxxxx–Zzzzzz () yyyy]
  8. ^ [ X. Xxxxxx–Zzzzzz () yyyy]
  9. ^ [ X. Xxxxxx–Zzzzzz () yyyy]
References
  1. ^ Barnett 2007, pp. 200, 207–213.
  2. ^ Tawaststjerna 2008b, pp. 132, 136, 160–163, 174, 195–197.
Sources