EIGHT DAYS OF SIBELIUS – DAY 7

Sibelius hadn’t been in front of an orchestra for over a decade, when the music critic Olin Downes – Sibelius’ great champion at the New York Times – sent out a request for the composer to conduct one of his own works, as a kind of “greeting to the world,” in honor of the New York World Exhibition in 1939. Remarkably, Sibelius obliged, essentially coming out of retirement at the age of 73 to lead the performance on New Year’s Day.

The work, “Andante Festivo,” originally conceived for string quartet, was commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of a sawmill, of all things, in 1922. Sibelius transcended the, um, run-of-the-mill occasion by crafting a genuinely inspired, soulful composition that is none the worse for its touching simplicity. For the World’s Fair radio transmission, allowing for the technological limitations of the day, he rescored the piece for string orchestra and timpani. In retrospect, the full-throated, free-flowing hymn could be seen almost as a religious statement, with the world teetering on the brink of war.

This is the only recording that exists of Sibelius conducting. The tempo he chooses is slower and more solemn than usual, but hardly surprising, considering the circumstances. For years, another recording, set down on the same day, at an even slower tempo, was thought to be the one conducted by the composer, but the confusion has since been sorted out.

The work would later be played at Sibelius’ funeral. It’s so like Sibelius to find wistfulness in “festivity.”

Here’s a modern recording, at a more customary tempo, with Neeme Järvi conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra: