| Contents |
Parentage. Parentage ; Descent ; The death of his father ; His mother ; His female relatives ; Pehr Sibelius in Abo ; Jean Sibelius the master mariner -- A happy childhood. Tavastehus in the 1870s ; The Russian Element ; A country town devoted to music ; Janne's first steps in composition ; Schooldays ; Stories of a friend of his childhood ; A dreamer and lover of nature -- The power of music. Janne starts learning the violin seriously ; The three children ; Janne teaches himself theory ; Fresh musical influences ; Nature as the young composer's teacher ; Matriculation -- Helsingfors. Jean Sibelius, student of law ; Special student at the musical academy ; Legal studies abandoned ; Dreams of virtuosity ; An eccentric musical adept ; Contemporary light on young Sibelius -- Pupil at the musical academy. Martin Wegelius ; Master and pupil ; The double life of a budding composer ; First appearance as a composer ; End of the years of study in Finland -- Life in Helsingfors. Helsingfors in the '80s ; Albert Edelfelt ; Zachris Topelius ; Ferruccio Busoni ; Introduction to Jarnefelt's family ; The last summer in Lovisa before going abroad -- In the outer world. Off to Berlin ; The German capital in the '80s ; Nothing new produced in music ; Albert Becker, an orthodox master ; Hans von Bulow, Richard Strauss, Joseph Joachim ; The quintet in G minor -- Twenty-four. Norwegian friends ; Friends from Finland ; An inspired hour ; Christmas eve, 1898 ; Musician friends ; First meeting with Robert Kajanus ; The Kalevala as a musical subject ; Ida Aalberg acts with Joseph Kainz ; A visit to Finland ; Engaged ; Out into the world again -- The last winter of study. The struggle between Wagnerians and Brahmsians ; Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Hans Richter ; Sibelius and Karl Goldmark ; The overture in E major ; Sibelius's first Runeberg songs ; A Ballet scene for orchestra ; First drafts of the Kullervo symphony -- Artists' life in Vienna. Old Vienna ; The power of musical traditions ; Johann Strauss ; Life among musicians ; Member of an anti-Wagner orchestra ; A curious order ; Pauline Lucca's receptions ; Pauline Lucca and Adelina Patti -- Home again. Inspiring surroundings ; The Paivalehti circle ; Karl August Tavaststjerna ; Axel Gallen ; The advent of Kullervo ; The concert on April 28, 1892 ; Marriage ; A honeymoon in Karelia ; Poet friends in Kuopio ; Minna Canth ; Intensive work -- Productive years. Teacher at the musical academy and orchestral school ; A legend ; An oprea that never saw the light ; Karelian music ; Varsang (spring song) ; Off to Italy ; A visit to Bayreuth -- Composer and teacher. Sibelius's second Kalevala hero takes shape ; The Maid in the Tower, Sibelius's only opera ; The coronation cantata in 1896 ; Sibelius is able to restrict his teaching ; Pupil's opinion of Sibelius as a teacher -- The end of a century. The King Christian suite ; A journey to Berlin ; Sibelius finds his first foreign publishers ; Sibelius's first symphony ; Beginning of the Bobrikoff regime ; The Song of the Athenians ; "Press celebrations" ; Finlandia ; Off to the world exhibition in Paris -- The years of collecting. An important stay in Berlin ; In Italy ; Meeting with Anton Dvorak ; Musical festival in Heidelberg ; Sibelius as a conductor ; The second symphony ; The Origin of Fire ; Bax in Berlin ; Felix Weingartner -- The years of change. The summer of 1902 ; Valse Triste composed ; The violin concerto ; Wilhelm Stenhammar ; An internal crisis ; Sibelius decides to leave Helsingfors ; The feeling in the spring of 1904 ; The home in Jarvenpaa completed -- Conquests in Europe. The Busoni concert in Berlin ; Toscanini ; The death of Albert Edelfelt ; Sibelius's first visit to England ; Paris ; The death of Martin Wegelius -- Eventful years. The third symphony ; Gustav Mahler in Helsingfors ; Svanevit (Swanwhite) ; Second visit to London ; Miss Mary Wakefield ; Reception in Oxford ; Operation in Berlin ; Voces Intimae ; Back in London ; Journey to Koli ; Night-ride and Sunrise -- Towards clarity and perfection. The composing of the fourth symphony ; Storm clouds in the East ; The concert on April 3, 1911 ; In Berlin and Paris ; Offer of a professorship in Vienna ; Concert tour in England ; Invitation to America -- The new world. Awarded the degree of doctor at Alexander University in Helsingfors ; Sibelius goes aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm II ; The voyage across the Atlantic ; Arrival in New York ; Musical festival in Norfolk ; Litchfield choral union society ; Banquet in Boston ; By car to Niagara ; Award of degree at Yale University ; The return journey on the President Grant ; News of the Sarajevo murder ; A concert that did not come off -- The great war. Home once more ; Whims and plans ; The first months of the war ; Minor compositions ; The fifth symphony ; Sibelius on the nature of composition ; Outbreak of the revolution -- In the power of the reds. Civil war breaks out ; The doings of the reds in Jarvenpaa ; A house search ; Sibelius succeeds in moving to Helsingfors ; The approach of the Germans ; The relief of Helsingfors -- On the heights. Creative power ; Three symphonies planned ; Concert tours ; Last meeting with Busoni ; Sibelius's sixtieth birthday ; A world-wide celebrity ; The guiding lane in Sibelius's life ; Sibelius on contemporary music ; Conclusion. |
