Through the end of the century, nearly all of Sibelius's key works were steeped in Finnish folklore – En Saga, the Karelia Overture and Karelia Suite, Seven Runeberg Songs, Rakastava, the Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends from the "Kalevala") and the Scènes Historiques. On the other hand, a massive monument to memorialize Sibelius was dedicated in 1967 in Helsinki.) (Critical barbs never seemed to bother Sibelius – he once famously quipped that a statue had never been erected to honor a critic. Although the work received caustic notices, even from Finnish critics, audiences sensed that a vital cultural force had erupted. Thus, after initial training in Helsinki and studies in Berlin and Vienna, Sibelius returned home where, stimulated by like-minded artists, he embarked on his first major composition in 1892 by setting the Kullervo myth to music – a raw, sprawling eruption of ego, written in part to defy disparagement from his traditionalist teachers. He aligned himself with the rising tide of nationalism to assert Finnish pride and much of his work assumed symbolic significance as artistic vehicles for resistance to the outside influence of Sweden and Russia. Which enjoyed a resurgence after an 1835 publication of the Kalevala collection of epic folk poetry. The other fundamental influence for Sibelius was Finnish legends, While Neville Cardus thought the world of Sibelius to be so imbued with nature as to be unpeopled, Sibelius himself asserted that his work was intimately connected with life, in contrast to much other music of his time. He poured into his work not only a vivid imagination but an intense love of nature which became reflected in his deeply personal style rooted in the geography of his homeland – his structures of organic growth from the smallest of motives emulate the processes of nature, their titanic struggles suggest the battle for existence in a harsh climate, his sustained tones reflect the striking terrain of deep-walled fjords, and his lucid sonorities breathe the health of the crisp, clean Northern air. Realizing that his training came too late to achieve his aspiration of a career as a concert violinist, he turned instead to composing. His passion for music arose only at age 15. Johan Julius Christian Sibelius (he later adopted the French form of his nickname Janne) was born into a stressful time for his country, long smothered under both Swedish culture, which dominated the educational system, and the Russian military, which maintained a garrison in his home town of Tavastehus. The path to this daring and extraordinary act was a half-century in the making. A press release proclaimed: "This is the first occasion that any government have interested itself in recording native music for world propaganda purposes." (Of course, this was before "propaganda" took on its current pejorative connotation of mass deceit.) The investment brought Sibelius world-wide fame and his nation's political plight international attention, and still stands as a testament not only to the exceptional importance of Sibelius in the history and emergent culture of Finland, but to the power of the phonograph to spread local culture and foster global understanding. The government of Finland paid the English Columbia Graphone Company 50,000 markka (about $15,000, a considerable fee at the time) to record the first two symphonies of native son Jean Sibelius (1865 – 1957). In May 1930 there arose a now-forgotten gesture that resonates with significance as an extraordinary signpost in the alliance and codependence of music and recordings.
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