The announcement of the upcoming Bard Music Festival, “Sibelius and his World,” begins with a note of controversy. Not everyone, especially from the 1930’s on, agreed that he wrote good music. This may surprise some people, since the debate had died down by the 1950’s, when the composer was still alive but hadn’t written anything beyond small pieces in over thirty years. A matters were decided very much to Sibelius’ disadvantage. Sir Thomas Beecham, Leonard Bernstein, and Herbert von Karajan continued to conduct his tone poems and symphonies, each for reasons of his own, but for the most part only the Second Symphony and the Violin Concerto remained at all familiar to concert-goers, and the rest was forgotten along with the controversy. While these two remain Sibelius’ most popular works today — even somewhat over-programmed, although they are fine and characteristic examples of his earlier and mature styles — Sibelius has come back to a certain degree, although not everywhere. He is certainly no longer the solitary giant who represented Finland as its greatest artist and most famous figure internationally. Today Finland is very much with us — and “with it”: Finnish architecture, design, fashion, food — and above all music is everywhere, through several outstanding composers, conductors, and instrumentalists, who are either still young or in mid-career. And these are cosmopolitan musicians. Esa-Pekka Salonen, who was Music Director of the LA Symphony for some years, recently made a splash in New York (where he is well-known in any case) with a transformative performance of a great modern Czech opera at the Met: Janacek’s From the House of the Dead. Old Sibelius is by no means at the center of the current florescence of Finnish culture.

Not many of the people who know of the controversy around Sibelius directly are still with us. It is today a phase in history, one entirely caught up in the artistic and political passions of its times, and perhaps more enlightening for a student of early twentieth century history than for the average person who enters the concert hall to hear, say, Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony for the first time. For my part, I walked in on Sibelius at a happy moment. Colin Davis was a frequent guest at the Boston Symphony when I was a student, and Sibelius was for him a passionate crusade. I didn’t hear all the symphonies, but those performances were the basis for Davis’ ground-breaking set of recordings of Sibelius’ orchestral works. Either on disc or in Symphony Hall, there could not have been a more compelling way to discover Sibelius. Davis thinned out the textures and chastened the romantic surges and grandiose gestures, which made Sibelius seem old-fashioned, even a throwback to Tchaikovsky. Davis conducted the symphonies with a firm pulse and an overriding sense of their shape. He concentrated on Sibelius’ instrumentation and color, as well as his idiosyncratic harmonies, which shock us with unexpected dissonances, just when we begin to get a little too comfortable in what we think is a late romantic neighborhood not far from Rachmoninoff’s. Then, keenly interested in the music and feeling warm gratitude to Colin Davis, I sought out some of the early, “official” recordings of the symphonies under Robert Kajanus (whom we’ll meet as a composer in his own right at Bard) and learned that Sir Colin’s readings — now developed further in his recent work with the LSO — are in fact similar in spirit to those early recordings, which also benefitted from clarity, firm tempo, and a lack of romantic indulgence.

It is interesting that Sir Colin emerged as a champion of Sibelius in the UK, a country where the Finnish composer remained relatively popular, while his reputation plummeted in countries like Germany, Austria, and France. Conservative tastes remained rather strong in the UK, and certain British composers, like Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton, showed an affinity for Sibelius in their work. Even there Sibelius needed a champion. Basically Sibelius has been a victim of a war between the avant-garde and conservative cliques in the music world that reached its peak in the 1930’s. Both Virgil Thomson and Theodor W. Adorno excoriated Sibelius as a crowd-pleasing, vulgar incompentent. In 1955 the great modernist René Leibowitz put the final nail in Sibelius’ coffin, by calling him “Le plus mauvais compositeur du monde.” The modernists won the war, at least among critics, academics, and conductors, and Sibelius disppeared from concert programs. It might have gone better for him if, Like Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams, he had continued to write and develop during the last thirty years of his life, but that was not granted him. Since the 1970’s and 1980’s when Sir Colin’s efforts made their first impact, other conductors have emerged to make a strong case for Sibelius, and critical fashions became more audience-friendly, finding once again a kindred spirit in Sibelius.

It must also be said that there was a political side to the debate as well, since Finland arrived at an understanding with Nazi Germany, and Sibelius, without being personally sympathetic to National Socialism, made a public speech attempting to justify his country’s position. He had always been an opponent of Socialism, which had attracted many avant-gardists to its fold. Above all, Sibelius had the misfortune to be close to the last of the nationalist composers. After the Second World War this was identified with the “Blut und Boden” doctrine promoted by the Nazis — a liability of any nationalistic composer.

It was Sibelius’ misfortune to have been the last of them.

The numerous offerings that make up the comprehensive 22nd annual Bard Music Festival, “Sibelius and His World,” take place during SummerScape’s two final weekends: August 12- 14 and August 19-21.  Through the prism of Sibelius’s life and career, this year’s festival will explore the music of Scandinavia and examine the challenges faced by those who continued working within a tonal framework after the revolutions of musical modernism.  Sibelius’s orchestral mastery was exceptional; his compositional output includes one of the most revered and beloved symphonic cycles since Beethoven’s and the most frequently recorded violin concerto of the 20th century, besides such favorites as Finlandia, Valse triste, and Tapiola. The twelve musical programs, built thematically and spaced over the two weekends, range from “Jean Sibelius: National Symbol, International Iconoclast” to “Silence and Influence.”  As well as music by his contemporaries, a broad sampling of Sibelius’s own compositions will be presented, from canonical works like the Fifth and Seventh Symphonies to such comparative rarities as his choral symphony, Kullervo. Two panel discussions and a symposium will be supplemented by informative pre-concert talks before each performance that illuminate the concert’s themes and are free to ticket holders.

Weekend One, August 12-14  Imagining Finland

It is not surprising that Sibelius is so closely identified with his homeland, since its breathtaking scenery, literature, and mythology — most notably the Kalevala, its national epic — proved his most profound inspiration.  His music helped unify a Finland struggling for independence from Tsarist Russia, and established him not only as its leading composer but also as one of its greatest national figures.  Nevertheless, Sibelius was neither Finland’s first composer of note nor the first to draw on Finnish legend; Bard introduces the less familiar figure of Robert Kajanus, once the nation’s most prominent composer, and now remembered more as an interpreter of Sibelius’s music, in addition to the work of other Scandinavian and Russian composers of Sibelius’s time.

Weekend Two, August 19-21  Sibelius: Conservative or Modernist?

In his long lifetime, Sibelius witnessed almost a century of musical change, including the radical innovations of Stravinsky and the Second Viennese School.  His own sonorities remained stubbornly consonant, his works gaining, rather than losing, by remaining within the confines of late-Romantic tonality.  This inevitably drew criticism, and it was in the aftershock of such succès de scandale as Pierrot lunaireand The Rite of Spring that Sibelius received his first negative reviews.  Yet his own musical outlook was far from hidebound; he admired Schoenberg and named Bartók the 20th century’s greatest composer.  And the debate continues: while Sibelius’s detractors dismiss his work as overly accessible and populist, there are still members of the avant-garde who revere him as an innovator.

Since the founding of the Bard Music Festival, each season Princeton University Press has published a companion volume of new scholarship and interpretation, with essays, translations, and correspondence relating to the featured composer and his world. Daniel Grimley, professor of music at Oxford University, is editor of the 2011 volume, Jean Sibelius and His World.

WEEKEND ONE: Imagining Finland

Friday, August 12

2011 Bard Music Festival opening-night dinner: 5 pm

Tickets include a pre-performance dinner in the Spiegeltent and a premium seat for the evening’s concert. To purchase opening-night dinner tickets, please contact Andrea Guido at 845-758-7414 or guido@bard.edu.

Please note: the Spiegeltent will be closed for regular dining that evening.

PROGRAM ONE: Jean Sibelius: National Symbol, International Iconoclast*

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm Pre-concert talk

8 pm Performance: American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957):
Finlandia, Op. 26 (1900) from Humoresques, Opp. 87 and 89 (1917)
Luonnotar, Op. 70 (1913)
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 (1907)
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82 (1915, rev. 1916 and 1919)

Tickets: $30/50/60/75

* Round-trip shuttle between the MetroNorth station in Poughkeepsie, the Amtrak station in Rhinecliff, and Bard is available for this performance. Reservations are required.

Saturday, August 13

PANEL ONE: Why Did He Fall Silent?: The Public and Private Sibelius

Olin Hall

10 am – noon

Free and open to the public

PROGRAM TWO: Berlin and Vienna: The Artist as a Young Man

Olin Hall

1 pm Pre-concert talk

1:30 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Fugue for Martin Wegelius, JS 85 (1889); Piano Quintet in G minor (1890)
Karl Goldmark (1830–1915): Cello Sonata in F major, Op. 39 (1892)
Albert Becker (1834–1899): Adagio religioso no. 7, Op. 94 (1898)
Robert Fuchs (1847–1927): Piano Trio in F-sharp minor, Op. 115 (1926)
Ferruccio Busoni (1866–1924): From Ten Choral Preludes, BV B 27 (1898)

Tickets: $35

PROGRAM THREE: Kalevala: Myth and the Birth of a Nation*

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm Pre-concert talk

8 pm Performance: Bard Festival Chorale, James Bagwell, choral director; American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, Op. 22 (1895; rev. 1897, 1939); Kullervo, choral symphony, Op. 7 (1891–92)
Robert Kajanus (1856–1933): Aino, symphonic poem (1885)

Tickets: $30/50/60/75

*Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for this performance. Fare is $25. Reservations are required.

Sunday, August 14

PROGRAM FOUR: White Nights – Dark Mornings: Creativity, Depression, and Addiction

Olin Hall

10 am: Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Svartsjukans Nätter (Nights of Jealousy) (1888); Valse triste, Op. 44/1 (1904)
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907): From Lyric Pieces, Op. 54 (1889–91)
Songs by Wilhelm Peterson Berger (1867–1942) and Frederick Delius (1862–1934)

Tickets: $30

PROGRAM FIVE: Aurora Borealis: Nature and Music in Finland and Scandinavia

Olin Hall

1 pm Pre-concert talk

1:30 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Six Part Songs, Op. 18 (1895–1901); Skogsraet (The Wood Nymph), Op. 15 (1895)
Johan Svendsen (1840–1911): Romance, for violin and piano
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907): Haugtussa, Op. 67 (1895)
Christian Sinding (1856–1941): Rustle of Spring (1896)
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871–1927): Quartet No. 4 in A minor, Op. 25 (1904–9)
Toivo Kuula (1883–1918): From Part Songs, Op. 11 (1906–10)

Tickets: $35

PROGRAM SIX: To the Finland Station: Sibelius and Russia

Sosnoff Theater

5 pm Pre-concert talk

5:30 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Kyllikki, Op. 41 (1904); Canzonetta, Op. 62a (arr. Stravinsky, 1963)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840–93): From Duets, Op. 46 (1880)
Aleksandr Glazunov (1865–1936): String Quintet, A, Op. 39 (1891–92)
Sergey Rachmaninov (1873–1943): Fantaisie-tableaux, Suite no.1 for piano duet, Op. 5 (1893)
Songs by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) and Jean Sibelius

Tickets: $25/35/45/55

WEEKEND TWO: Sibelius: Conservative or Modernist?

Friday, August 19

 

SYMPOSIUM: Architecture, Design, and Finnish Identity

 

Multipurpose Room, Bertelsmann Campus Center

10 am – noon

1:30 pm – 3:30 pm

Free and open to the public

PROGRAM SEVEN: Nordic Purity, Aryan Fantasies, and Music

 

Sosnoff Theater

7:30 pm Pre-concert talk

8 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Seven Songs (Runeberg), Op. 13 (1891–92); works for brass
Anton Bruckner (1824–96)/Gustav Mahler: From Symphony No. 3 in D minor, arr. for piano duet (1872–73; arr. 1880)
Amy Beach (1867–1944): Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 67 (1907)
Selim Palmgren (1878–1951): Spring, Op. 27
Kurt Atterberg (1887–1974): From Piano Quintet, Op. 31bis
Howard Hanson (1896–1981): Pastoral, Op. 38 (1949)
Songs by Yrjö Kilpinen (1892–1959)

Tickets: $25/35/45/55

Saturday, August 20

PROGRAM EIGHT: From the Nordic Folk

Olin Hall

10 am Performance

With commentary by Daniel Grimley

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Six Finnish Folksongs (1902–3)
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907): From Slåtter (Nordic Dances), Op. 72 (1902–3)
Percy Grainger: La Scandinavie (Scandinavian Suite) (1902)
Belá Bartók (1881–1945): Improvisation on Hungarian Folk Tunes, Op. 20 (1920)
Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937): From Mazurkas
Toivo Kuula (1883–1918): Folksong arrangements for violin and piano, Op. 3

Tickets: $30

PROGRAM NINE: Finnish Modern

Olin Hall

1 pm Pre-concert talk

1:30 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): String Quartet “Voces intimae,” in D minor, Op. 56 (1909); songs
Erkki Melartin (1875–1937): String Trio, Op. 133 (1926–27)
Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947): Syksy (Autumn), Op. 68 (1930)
Aarre Merikanto (1893–1958): “Schott” Concerto (1925)

Tickets: $35

PROGRAM TEN: The Heritage of Symbolism*

Sosnoff Theater

7 pm Pre-concert talk

8 pm Performance: American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): The Oceanides, Op. 73 (1914)
Lemminkäinen’s Return (1895, rev. 1897, 1900)
Symphony No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 63 (1911)
Carl Nielsen (1865–1931): Symphony No. 3, Op. 27 (Sinfonia espansiva) (1910–11)
Vainö Raitio (1891–1945): Joutsenet (The Swans), Op. 15 (1919)

Tickets: $30/50/60/75

*Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for this performance. Fare is $25. Reservations are required.

Sunday, August 21

PANEL TWO: Sibelius and the 20th Century

Olin Auditorium

10 am – noon

Free and open to the public

PROGRAM ELEVEN: Nostalgia and the Challenge of Modernity

Olin Hall

1 pm Pre-concert talk

1:30 pm Performance

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Piano Sonatina in F-sharp minor, Op. 67/1 (1912)
Five Esquisses, Op. 114 (1929)
The Lonely Ski Trail (1925)
Richard Strauss (1864–1949): Sonatina No. 1 “Aus der Werkstatt eines Invaliden” (1943)
Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936): Il Tramonto (The Sunset) (1914)

Tickets: $30

PROGRAM TWELVE: Silence and Influence

Sosnoff Theater

3:30 pm Pre-concert talk

4:30 pm Performance: American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957): Tapiola, Op. 112 (1926)
Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105 (1924)
Samuel Barber (1910–81): Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 (1936)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958): Symphony No. 5 in D major (1938–43, rev. 1951)

Tickets: $30/50/60/75

Ticket information and latest program updates at www.fishercenter.bard.edu

For information about Bard SummerScape, click here.