Okay, this will probably be my last Sibelius post for the present. But I wrote most of it yesterday, and I don’t want it to go to waste!

Even now, 64 years after his death, no composer has held as profound an influence over the cultures of the North. Given that Sibelius composed no major works for the last 30 years of his life, we’re talking about close to a century. That’s quite a long shadow.

Here’s an interesting work by Norwegian composer Ragnar Søderlind (born 1945). His Symphony No. 8, “Jean Sibelius in memoriam,” was written in 2004-05. The symphony alludes to some of Sibelius’ own music, including the organ work “Surusoitto.” “Surusoitto” is thought to contain material from Sibelius’ own unreleased Eighth Symphony.

Sibelius never completed his Symphony No. 8, or so he’d have us believe. Perhaps he just didn’t complete it to his satisfaction. After the Symphony No. 7 and the tone poem “Tapiola,” written in the mid-1920s, he’s said to have completed no further major works. But it certainly wasn’t for want of trying.

At the very least, he grappled with the Eighth, the manuscript of which he is supposed to have destroyed. I heard as much from the mouth of his own grandson, who claimed to have been present at its burning. Did Sibelius finish it?

Only within the past ten years, a few tantalizing sketches have surfaced, seemingly out of nowhere. Is it possible more could have survived? Perhaps somewhere, among the composer’s papers, a draft might even exist. I’m not in favor of “reconstruction” from mere fragments, but if there is a somewhat complete version of the symphony, even in embryonic form, it would be a thrill to be able to hear it.

It makes my heart ache to listen to these sketches and contemplate that there actually could have been another Sibelius symphony. Had the composer only been able to defy his demons and hold it together one more time!

Could it have topped his crowning achievement, the Seventh Symphony? Sibelius didn’t think so, which is why, likely, he consigned it to flames of woe.

“Surusoitto” (“Funeral Music”) – does it contain material intended for the Symphony No. 8?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFX8giq21S4

The Symphony No. 7