Scènes historiques I & II

The second suite of Scènes historiques was premiered before the first, on 29th March 1912, and both suites were finally heard together on 11th October 1912. The first suite was based on numbers from the Press Celebrations music and “historical topics”, whereas Sibelius gave the movements in the second suite headings designed to set the imagination flying: The Hunt, Love Song and At the Drawbridge. The success of these easily-digestible suites was guaranteed: unlike the peculiarities of the fourth symphony, people heard something of “maybe the most ingenious Sibelius has ever created in the way they are constructed”.

Text: Timo Virtanen
Photo: Kansalliskirjasto