The Press Celebration Days

The Press Celebration Days were organised in November 1899 in all Finnish cities. The aim of the events was to contribute to the pension fund of journalists who had lost their jobs due to restrictions of free speech during the Russification period. Many Finnish artists participated in planning and creating the programme of the events.

Sibelius composed the music for the main event, which took place in the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki on 4 November. The music accompanied the performance Tableaus from the Ancient History of Finland, directed by Kaarlo Bergbom. Eino Leino and Jalmari Finne wrote the poems for the performance. There were six tableaus:

I The Song of Väinämöinen
II The Finns are baptised
III Duke John in the Turku Castle
IV The Finns in the Thirty Year War
V The Great Wrath
VI Finland awakes

In addition to the incidental music, Sibelius composed an overture for the performance as well as background music for the speech parts. The music was performed by the orchestra of Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by Sibelius himself.

The poems of the tableaus were not published at the time, and remained undiscovered until 1984. Sibelius’ music, however, survived: The music written for the tableau Finland awakes is nowadays known as Finlandia, and the other, most successful parts of the tableau music he edited into his work Scénes historiques I.

”When I stand before an orchestra after having consumed half a bottle of champagne, I conduct like a young god. Otherwise I stand there nervous and insecure, and the results are about as good as one might expect from that.” (Jean Sibelius in a letter to Christian Sibelius)

While Jean Sibelius is primarily known for his work as a composer, he did also conduct, mainly the first public performances of his own pieces. There exists relatively little material about Sibelius’ skills and style as a conductor, for he was considered a composer first and foremost. When a concert led by a professional conductor is reviewed, it is only natural that the conductor’s performance be evaluated as well. With Sibelius, however, reviews focus solely on his compositions, not on his conducting.

Sibelius suffered from stage fright. He was, however, described as confident when conducting during rehearsals – after all, he was thoroughly familiar with his work, as is to be expected. Musicians that he conducted have even given glowing praise of his skills at conducting. At concerts, however, Sibelius was oftentimes so nervous that his hands trembled and he felt insecure.

Sibelius conducted his last public concert in Finland on 22 February 1923, at the reprise performance of his Sixth Symphony’s first public performance. He did still conduct a few more times abroad after this, in Stockholm, Italy and Copenhagen.

Sibelius’ Symphony No. 6 was first recorded on 3 June 1934, in London, at EMI Recording Studio No. 1 at Abbey Road, where the “Finnish National Orchestra” – consisting mainly of musicians from Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, reinforced by London-based musicians – was conducted by Georg Schnéevoigt.

The First, Second, Third, and Fifth symphonies of Sibelius had previously been recorded in London in the years 1930–1932 under the conductorship of veteran Sibelius interpreter Robert Kajanus, and EMI record producer Walter Legge had made plans for Kajanus to record a complete Sibelius symphony cycle with recordings of the remaining symphonies. The 76-year-old Kajanus' worsening health, however, prevented him from fulfilling the task, and at Sibelius’ express wish, the recordings were to be conducted by Georg Schnéevoigt. The resulting recordings, however, seem not to have been well received by Sibelius; the recording of the Fourth was shelved, and although the Sixth did receive Sibelius' approval, it seems to have been a rather cool one.

In November 1947, a new version of the Sixth symphony was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Thomas Beecham — a version that Sibelius himself thought of as not only the best recording of the Sixth, but the best recording of any of his symphonies. Beecham’s version also came to be one of the last recordings of the Sixth to be issued on 78 rpm shellac discs as Columbia Records introduced the vinyl LP in 1948.

The Schnéevoigt and Beecham recordings of the Sixth are also included in Sibelius' record collection at Ainola.