Jean Sibelius

Finland, 1892–1957

Finnish composer (1865-1957) of seven symphonies and the tone poems Finlandia and Tapiola, built on the gradual growth of short motifs. He published almost nothing in his last thirty years.

MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Jean Sibelius and 0 artists Jean Sibelius influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Jean Sibelius?

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Tchaikovsky's symphonism audibly shaped Sibelius's First Symphony — a debt scholars document and Sibelius's contemporaries immediately recognised.
• Anton Bruckner — During his Vienna studies Sibelius heard Bruckner's Third and wrote home that Bruckner was 'the greatest living composer'.
• Richard Wagner — Sibelius made a pilgrimage to Bayreuth in 1894 and wrestled with Wagner's influence — absorbed in his tone poems even after he renounced opera.
• Ludwig van Beethoven — Beethoven remained Sibelius's lifelong symphonic ideal — the model of organic development he named above all others.