Sibelius Symphony no 6

 Day 44

Sibelius Symphony no 6 in d min op104

Lahti Symphony Orchestra

Osmo Vänskä

My first experience of Sibelius was playing the 2nd symphony in youth orchestra. Or at least parts of the 2nd symphony - we couldn't manage the 3rd movement so played movements 1, 2 and 4. which was a little bit of a problem as the 3rd and 4th movements are linked and so starting the 4th movement cold is quite a strange thing to do. Since then I have played several of the other symphonies but I realised that I had neither played or heard the 6th symphony before. 

I found it a rather curious piece. I loved the first movement which seem to flow inevitably from the quiet opening Although it is a comparatively short movement Sibelius seems to have all the time in the world to develop his material - it is hard to think of any other composer who could write like this. 

But I was rather perplexed by the middle movements. Both of them hardly seem to get going before they petered out unexpectedly - indeed following the score of the 2nd movement I was convinced that the double bar marked the end of one section and the start of another, not the end of the entire movement.

The last movement had tremendous energy in places and, again not knowing the piece, I was convinced that we were heading for one of those epic codas such as those in the 2nd and 5th symphonies. Everything seemed to be leading that way - including some impressive cross rhythms in the lower strings - but then the tension subsided and the music died away to a quiet ending. That was beautiful in its own way but nothing like I was expecting and I must confess is did seem a bit of an anti-climax.

There was plenty here to enjoy of course, with lots of Sibelian fingerprints but for me it didn't quite come off as a symphony. Coming as it does between the 5th and 7th symphonies - both absolute masterpieces - it does seem to be rather in the shadows. Perhaps it is just me and that on repeated hearings it will reveal the treasures that so many commentators find in it.