Not many came to the dressing room to deliver their congratulations," Aino Sibelius recollected later. "Evasive glances, shakes of the head, embarrassed or secretly ironic smiles. Its tone was both modern and introspective, and it confused the audience so much that the applause was subdued. The symphony was performed for the first time on 3rd April 1911, in Helsinki. The Raven was never finished, but its atmosphere and sketches had an effect on the fourth symphony. In addition, in November 1910 he was preparing the symphony at the same time as he was working on music for Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, which he had promised to Aino Ackté. Yet one more natural phenomenon – a storm in the south-eastern archipelago – was needed to get the symphonic work started. Since the orchestra lacked the pedal of the piano, Sibelius wanted to compensate for this with even more skilful orchestration. On his return Sibelius wanted to develop his skills in counterpoint, since, as he put it, "the harmony is largely dependent on the purely musical patterning, its polyphony." His observations contained many ideas on the need for harmonic continuity. Newmarch later recollected how Sibelius eagerly strained his ears to hear the pedal points in the roar of Imatra's famous rapids and in other natural sounds. The following year Sibelius was again travelling in Karelia, in Vyborg and Imatra, now acting as a guide to his friend and sponsor Rosa Newmarch. La Montagne," he wrote in his diary on 27th September 1909. Indeed, the composer regarded his visit to Koli as one of the greatest experiences of his life. The landscape of Koli was for Järnefelt an endless source of inspiration, and Sibelius said that he was going to listen to the "sighing of the winds and the roar of the storms". These ideas were still in his mind when he joined the artist Eero Järnefelt for a trip to Koli, the emblematic "Finnish mountain" in Karelia, close to Joensuu. Sibelius had thoughts of a change of style while he was in Berlin in 1909. It has a density of expression, a chamber music-like transparency and a mastery of counterpoint that make it one of the most impressive manifestations of modernity from the period when it was written. The fourth symphony was once considered to be the strangest of Sibelius's symphonies, but today it is regarded as one of the peaks of his output. Completed in 1911 first performance in Helsinki on 3rd April 1911 (Orchestra of Helsinki Philharmonic Society under Jean Sibelius).
Elegant, lucid notes from Stephen Johnson seal the deal.1. As said, these are excellent performances, handsomely played and engineered. To my mind, this is one of the loveliest 20th century symphonies, Sibelius's “purest spring water” as enticing as any showy cocktail. Horns nail their Straussian upward swoop in style, and the closing string hymn is lovely. There's plenty of character in the middle movements, and the finale is marvellous. The serene opening is beautiful here, though Elder hints at the turbulence under the music's serene surface, the Hallé brass suggesting Debussy's La Mer at several points. Elder’s Sibelius 6 is far tauter than Barbirolli's autumnal plod this performance really sings. I'm fond of Barbirolli’s 1960s Sibelius cycle but the playing is alarmingly patchy in places. A really impressive performance, and what a superb orchestra the Hallé is at present. There's a hint of Mahler 6 in Sibelius's finale, Elder suggesting that things might just end happily. And in the slow movement too, Elder subtly turning the screw until the big tune erupts, a fleeting burst of Mediterranean sunshine. You hear it minutes into the first movement, the upper strings really soaring just before the four-minute mark. There's always a chink of light, a sense that normal service will eventually be resumed.
One strength of Sir Mark Elder’s Hallé reading is its positivity. 5, and there are frequent glances back to Sibelius's more overtly romantic early symphonies. The first movement’s scurrying development is just like a similar passage in No.
What surprises me now is how much in this symphony is reassuringly familiar and readily accessible. Yet few works are so rewarding on repeated listening I can still recall the shock of discovering the work with a score as a teenager. One American critic described Sibelius's Fourth Symphony as “dissonant and doleful” after an early performance, and the work is still an audience frightener.
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