I’ve been dropping birthdays all over the place recently, and having to pass over some of them really bothers me, especially those of favorites like Carl Nielsen (June 9) and Edvard Grieg (June 15); but there are only so many hours in the day, and how much is one man expected to give, anyway?!!

That said, one can’t draw breath on June 17 and not pay respect to the great Igor Stravinsky, who here pays it forward to Jean Sibelius, of all people. Such radically different composers! I happen to adore Sibelius, so all the more respect to Stravinsky – who I don’t think in reality was all that fond of the Finnish master’s music.

However, Stravinsky’s amanuensis Robert Craft did recall an appreciative remark made during a visit to Helsinki in 1961, in which Stravinsky praised Sibelius’ “Canzonetta” from the incidental music to “Kuolema” (“Death”). You know, the play written by Sibelius’ brother-in-law, Arvid Järnefelt, that also yielded the ubiquitous “Valse triste.”

Stravinsky commented, “I like that kind of northern Italianate melodism – Tchaikovsky had it too – which was a part, and an attractive part, of St. Petersburg culture.”

Sibelius’ original is scored for strings. Stravinsky’s version is for two clarinets, four horns, harp, and double bass.

Stravinsky won the Wihuir-Sibelius Prize in 1963. His arrangement of the “Canzonetta” was premiered on March 22, 1964, by the Finnish Broadcast Company.

Happy birthday, Igor Stravinsky, from Sibelius’ No. 1 fan.

Stravinsky, “Canzonetta” after Sibelius’ Op. 62a.

Sibelius, as originally written

“Valse triste”