Repertoire: The BEST Sibelius Sixth Symphony

This elusive masterpiece, still comparatively little known, offers as wide a range of interpretive options as any of Sibelius' works. Great versions are few and far between, but here are seven very different approaches that find the right combination of freshness, directness, and organic unity.
Musical Examples courtesy of Naxos, Ondine, and BIS Records.

[@HassoBenSoba]

Dave--You REALLY nailed this one; your emotional involvement with this one-of-a-kind work is very inspiring and moving. Being an "underdog" guy, I naturally gravitated to the 6th long ago, and it has remained my hands-down favorite of Sibelius' symphonies. I've conducted it three times, and the players always respond to...as you so eloquently described it...the "innocent beauty that can't last" and its "heartbreaking beauty" (especially the final string chorale-like passage). And that innocent, fresh, sweet quality (so prominent in the two excerpts you played) is largely due to Sibelius' prominent use of those ultra-intense Major 7th chords..one of the main reasons that I find this work so incredibly moving. And YES...the endings of the 1st two movements are exactly right..they unexpectedly sink back into a sort of calm, mystical sense of resignation which, as you mention, points ahead to the inevitability of the work's closing moments. God, I'm getting all teary-eyed just thinking about it. A final thought that occurred to me some years ago: the mythical Finnish deities of Nature and Forests are Goddesses (ie: Feminine, if I'm still allowed to use the term). Could this have some bearing, maybe subconscious, on the creative sound-world of this symphony....those qualities you cited, along with the sadness, resignation, but also the calm, benign sense of security that "enfolds" us as the ending approaches? Anyway, my picks: Segerstam, Vanska/Lahti, Berglund/ECO and Karajan (the good one....too romantically excessive in ways, but who can blame him? Thanks for a superb episode. LR

[@jat1292]

😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮❤

[@JB-dm5cp]

Thank you for the education. What you say about the organic nature of the symphony, how tempi change (or stay the same), and how and why the different movements are shaped the way they are (the quiet endings of different movements) opened my ears further for the beauty of the music. I love this symphony, and Segerstam on Ondine is my favorite. (I love slow.) The atmosphere that the Sixth creates feels very "fresh" and "gentle" to my ears. Any appearances of more intense, "darker" music make the whole feel complete, like nature, which is not soft and gentle all the time, but also a bit threatening or dangerous if you are not careful or prepared. Also, a very personal association, since I live in the mountains and forests of Norway (not quite like Ainola though ;-), I often feel a strong and direct sympathy with this music (and Sibelius' music in general) when I watch out of my window or walk in the quiet of nature. The coda does feel like a sweet (but also a bit melancholy) end to a beautiful day in the forest, the light of the sun fading away. Sorry for the ramble.

[@HassoBenSoba]

Very nicely said, especially from someone who "lives" the same sort of Sibelian experience in his daily life. My wife and I flew to Iceland to be married in Reykjavik, and it's that same sort of pure, gentle and exhilarating freshness that I sense in Sibelius 6 that contributed so strongly to our unique experience in Iceland (it was in early November '86; the weather was unusually cold and wintry we were told, but it was a major factor in the magical atmosphere of the event). LR

[@ukdavepianoman]

I love Sibelius' symphonies - especially 5-6-7. Which I love most or which is the "greatest" (whatever that means) - I don't worry about this. Wonderful to hear such emotion and passion in your video, Dave, about Sibelius and this extraordinary symphony. Which is the "best" recording - well again great works can be played brilliantly in different ways - that's what makes them great works - so I don't worry about the best...I just concern myself with "great" recordings. I find it interesting that when i was at university in the 80s, Sibelius was "poo-pooed" - SO unfashionable. But great music will win through! And it is clear that Sibelius is an remarkable composer.

[@stephenjennings3844]

Thank-you for covering Sibelius #6, David. Of all the composer's works it's the one I know the least and you have encouraged me to get to know it better. I began my cd journey by collecting the Neeme Jarvi Sibelius discs when they were first released on BIS and as a young man at the time, I was intrigued by the warning in red letters regarding playback. Out of sheer bedevilment, I used to play them at an uncomfortable volume so I could see the red light overload warning on my speakers whenever there was a crescendo. Such a child! My neighbors' must have really hated me. In fact, my next door neighbor gently chided me when she had her granddaughter staying with her one weekend and allegedly enquired if I had a version of Carmen. Oops. I still enjoy listening to Jarvi's first Sibelius cycle with his somewhat more rapid tempos in relation to other interpretations and miss him whenever I hear a more relaxed approach. BTW this is my first comment on your absolutely wonderful, edifying series. Thank-you for your commitment, humor and real labor of love.

[@jordanmcintyre5148]

Been waiting for this one!!! My absolute favourite symphony hands down. Lots of listening to do :)

[@leslieackerman4189]

I have ended up LOVING this symphony, its appeal always renewed each time, its elusiveness its marvel. But you have to listen deeply. Great lecture.

[@AdiMaco]

This is the best cultural channel on KZbin and the internet!

[@hillcresthiker]

Without a doubt

[@RepertoireSharer]

I’ll echo the sentiment that No. 6 is Sibelius’s best work. It’s my favorite symphony of all the symphonies I’ve heard. (I agree wholeheartedly about the moving passage in the finale that you describe.) And I’m glad you included the Sakari recording on Naxos among your preferred ones. It’s an amazing performance.

[@tahabirben8649]

Amazing analysis, thank you once again Dave for your nuanced insights, this time on my favorite symphony. For the first passage you talked about, to me, feels like the Revival of happiness, however this time, in a completely different form, not like the innocent happiness of childhood, but rather a more fulfilling happiness, that of a post-war scenery, after seeing the utter antithesis of that rediscovered fulfillment. Also, your interpretation of the second passage is super interesting and well-said. To me, it feels like life is breezing by me in the form of a tornado yet I'm unscathed by it because of the past tornadoes that I've seen, yet I am still affected, affected in that this time I am contemplating it, rather than being coerced by it. I'm still fairly new to classical music and composing, thank you for helping me understand and appreciate this beautiful new world.

[@russellb5573]

Thanks for your recommends. Sibelius crammed so much stirring emotion into such a short amount of time in this beautiful symphony. The ending is sublime and can bring me to tears. Wow! The Järvi seems brisk... but I'll give it a listen

[@timbakerbartholomew]

That Neeme Järvi sample sent a shiver up through my left cheek and straight to my temple. Given how (at 66) I have NEVER heard this symphony I am so grateful to you for introducing it to me.

[@kennethharrington7094]

Has to be one of my ultra favorite symphonies! 😍

[@noriemeha]

Back in the 1960s when I first became obsessed with Sibelius' music, I read the Pelican paperback The Symphony. I had bought an old vinyl mono recording of Antony Collins conducting the 6th and I was quickly under the spell of this music. I thought of all Sibelius symphonies this was the most extraordinary with its cool, yet persuasive voice. So I was astonished to find in the chapter on Sibelius, Robert Layton, after some detailed discussion of 1-5, skipping briefly over the 6th as some kind of laboratory of mulch out of which sprang the 7th. Yet 50 years later, this is the one symphony that still sears my heart with its beauty just like it did when I was 17. And it's getting more concert performances. In the last 10 years I've heard it 5 times. It's message is sanity. It is detox music for me. I feel healed, shriven even, after a listen.

[@hillcresthiker]

Detox symphony- what a great description!

[@fitterstoke45]

A typically erudite summation, Dave - thank you. You're not alone in finding Neeme Jarvi's earlier Gothenburg recording the finest: I recall it being the first choice on BBC Radio 3's Building A Library some years ago. And it is indeed a belter, up there with the DG Karajan and the old LPO Beecham as my favourite readings. My own outrider is Adrian Leaper's Naxos recording with Slovak PO who, surprisingly, play Sibelius to the manner born. But what a symphony!

[@bertberenschot78]

Nice review. Thanks. If one ever get the chance, there is a BBC documentary of 1989 in which Michael Tilson Thomas discusses Sibelius' Symphony no. 6. The title of the documentary is "Journey into Silence". I remember he compared the Dorian writing with an popular music example of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. And some fast divided string writing in the 6th Tilson Thomas came up with an example of Steve Reich's Desert Music in which some comparable occurs. But most important it was very advocating the 6th symphony. Sibelius symphonies 4, 5, 6 & 7: personally they are to me the pinnacle of all symphonies ever written.

[@saltyfellow]

Hi Dave! I just wanted to say that I felt many times in the wrong time and wrong place! As an example. I wished I had a beautiful baritone voice and lived in the 50's and was called Sinatra. But my voice is horrible!!!! But listening to your talks and the fact that you can hear most of your suggestions in streaming makes me feel I am in the right time in the right place. I lurn so much every day with your passionate advices. And listening directly to this fantastic works that, if I was born in 1920 I would have to wait years or decades to listen!! IT'S MARVELLOUS!!! THANKS!!!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

You're very welcome.

[@powerliftingcentaur]

As always, this is a fascinating lecture. Thank you for the education.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@DownBerkshireBorders]

I really love the Maazel Wiener Phil recording of the 6th. Although it feels like it’s played too fast at times, I get such a Sibelius feel to it. And this recording allows the harp to be heard distinctly and with its limpid but important role in the work in a way that few recordings do. I really love all your recommendations and am making my way through them. Thanks for these marvellous programmes

[@davidaiken1061]

I am of the opinion that Sibelius 6 is Sibelius's greatest work. It was, improbably, my first real introduction to the composer (after Finlandia, of course), and it has haunted me ever since. That first encounter was via the old Beecham recording. The first thing I noticed about the work, which really caught my attention, is the ambiguous tonality: is it d Minor or Dorian mode? That ambiguity gives the slow intro to the first movement its unique radiance--a cool radiance, to be sure. These days I usually turn either to Davis/Boston or to Karajan/EMI (digital) in this work. The Davis is cogently argued and gorgeously played. But there's something about the late Karajan version, brisk though that finale may be, that moves me more than the more famous DG version. It's that "cool radiance" bit. Karjan really gets it in his last recording, and it really gets under my skin. Thanks, Dave, as always for your incisive commentary.

[@alger3041]

I respectfully suggest that you are tabbing this work as Sibelius's greatest, simply because it was the first work of his that you heard outside or Finlandia. You are entitled to your opinion, but to me, unless I'm misunderstanding the nature or your comment, an insufficient reason for preferring a work. I went through virtually all of his work at the time he passed on in 1957, to be sure not in chronological order, and I have formed my preferences as I went along, with the tone poems as well as the symphonies. My first preference has always been the 5th Symphony, which I feel is the broadest in what it has to offer (it is my desert island Sibelius work, as a matter of fact). I find the 7th extremely fascinating in the way it evolves and how the very unique form is worked out (its original genesis might have something to do with it). I must emphasize that by saying this I am not implying that I dislike the other symphonies - far from it. I love best Nightride and Sunrise as well as The Oceanides most among his tone poems. I also particularly love Lemminkainen and the Maidens of his four Legends. I could say the same for his King Christian II incidental music. The only work of his I could say that I developed anything of a dislike for would be En Saga. I have to emphasize that my preferences were in no way influenced by the order in which I acquainted myself with his works.

[@paul-francislaw9774]

Passionate and poetical! I mean your presentation. Sibelius too, of course

[@andy_pandy88]

I really love the Gibson, there is such a natural sense of yearning in the finale. This symphony was one of the few works that I listened to once and just understood it whole. If not for the genius of the 7th, this would be by favourite Sibelius symphony

[@hbicht5051]

Great talk! This is the symphony that turned me into a Sibelius fan. It seems deceptively calm at first but as you pointed out, there's really a lot going on under the surface. The whole thing is brilliant but the highlight for me is really the finale, not only for that gorgeous passage you played but because also for the surprisingly violent brass and timpani eruptions that really stand out in such an otherwise very calm piece.

[@danielaguilera474]

It's grown on me so much. Especially the way it ends in minor with an enigmatic resolve that just makes sense. It leaves me on the edge of my seat now! Lol i was like no...... he did not just do that! I've read it's supposed to be like covering up your tracks in the snow.

[@mickeytheviewmoo]

I was reading Classics today reviews and your insight into Kamu's Sibelius cycle with BIS. A bit of a mixed bag but you did remake the Sixth is exceptional and oh boy it was. . I am going to investigate the rest as I am quite intrigued with your review.

[@davidrobinson7684]

This has always been my favourite of the Sibelius symphonies. If its very distinctive yet elusive world of feeling could be translated into a single line of poetry, for me it would be the first line of T.S. Eliot's Little Gidding - "Midwinter Spring is its own season". I'm very pleased to see it receiving the attention it deserves here.

[@neilford99]

Very educational review, in that you explain your criteria very clearly and can make objective choices. I have your 3 favourites lined up for listening. Finding these videos very compelling and hugely informative . Thanks!

[@neilford99]

Listened to the Jarvi yesterday. I get it. No I am going to have to start buying scores!

[@mickwoolley8267]

There is a huge variability of Sibelius cycles. I heard the Maazel recording of this and I fell in love with it. I have to say that when it came to buying a full set I bought something else, then I found it so very irritating I searched out the Maazel set and bought that .... relief. The sixth definitely makes you cry, such quiet serenity at the end. Maazel is at the slow end of slow though!

[@Poetbureaucrat]

Järvi is outstanding. No other version I've heard really comes close.

[@sjc1204]

I think it took your explanation and Sakari's interpretation for me to get this piece. I love how the Iceland Symphony Orchestra plays.

[@furdiebant]

Highly recommend Michael Tilson Thomas’s documentary on this symphony, available on KZbin

[@scagooch]

Great work. Got to pull out my recordings. The sad part about the music is there isnt more.

[@WMAlbers1]

Two years ago Segerstam played this Symphony here in Tampere with the Tampere Phil. Quite a memorable event!

[@jesusalvarez-cedron6581]

What a marvellous symphonist Sibelius was. Of all the performances that i have heard of the 6th i like Kurt Sanderling account with the Berlin Radio Orquestra and Paavo Berglund's with the Helsinki Philarmonic. But to be sincere i haven't heard any bad recording of this symphony (Vanska with Lahti Orchestra). I really want to hear Colin Davis account with Boston Symphony. Greetings from Madrid!!

[@MichaelBurrow-j2n]

I love having subtitles; the Jarvi includes a great 'paleo smelly zone'.

[@Johnitnyre]

@@MichaelBurrow-j2n we’ll have to leave the interpretation up to ai

[@carlconnor5173]

David, your changing your mind about the ending of the first two movements, vis a vis the Finale is right on. With the obvious exception of the 7th, this is Sibelius’ most seamless Symphony. And I know exactly what you mean about that “almost heartbreaking” section of the Finale. And I’ve always been struck by the innocence of it you refer to. And that first movement evokes a certain innocence for me, like children at play. It takes me back to when I was a child. Well, I compared the Jarvi/GSO with Maazel/ VSO, my longstanding “imprint” go-to recording. I have to say Jarvi gives Maazel a run for his money, so to speak. There are some things I like better in each . But gun pointed at my head to choose (so to speak!) I choose Maazel. But the Jarvi IS beautifully done.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I hear you. I always thought the Vienna Phil a tad too cushy for that music, but it's a fine performance too, for sure.

[@carlconnor5173]

@@DavesClassicalGuide I think I know what you mean. But would you elaborate a bit on “a tad too cushy”?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@carlconnor5173 Heavy, plush, dark...

[@carlconnor5173]

@@DavesClassicalGuide I was thinking you meant plush, and that it is. But heavy? Well, I hear more of the basses. But I don’t find it dark.

[@robertbubeck9194]

@@carlconnor5173 I (re)listened to the newly remastered DECCA version of the Maazel/VPO last night. Plush, yes. Dark, no. The double basses are well-recorded. May I suggest that this version is less 'angular' than Dave's favorites?

[@ferguszade5594]

Karajan's 1968 recording with the BPO on DG is also mighty fine.

[@Vikingvideos50]

Your videos should be required viewing in orchestral conducting classes

[@moviedave2001]

What's funny is that I happen to agree with your written review of the Segerstam. I find it too soft, as beautiful as the playing is. I can't argue with your top two. They compliment each other perfectly. Sakeri would be the 6th in my ideal cycle (since you used Jarvi, you made my choice easy)!

[@Mackeson3]

Christopher Nupen's documentary about Sibelius is probably one of the finest documentaries about a composer ever made with plenty of musical examples of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th , 5th and 7th symphonies + Tapiola, Karelia Suite etc. yet The 6th is hardly given a mention and none of the music is played. I could never understand that.

[@pawdaw]

Sibelius 6 is a personal favourite. Berglund's third recording (with the Chamber Orch of Europe) is very different to the early Bournemouth one; tempi are swifter across the board, and for me it would be a contender except that the harp is inaudible, and in the third movement, that just doesn't work. Vänskä is the only one who takes the Allegro assai tempo in the last movement into the coda without slowing down; it's shocking, but again, there's nothing in the score that calls for a modification of tempo. For me, the recording that gets just about everything right is Blomstedt; it's the one I return to most often.

[@anwla]

Looking forward to a run-down of Sibelius’ tone poems

[@fulltongrace7899]

He already did.

[@anwla]

@@fulltongrace7899 Yes. A little time after I suggested it 5 months ago 👍🏻

[@johnmarchington3146]

I suspect you might have thoughts about asking me to unsubscribe from this list after what I'm about to say, because you've already mentioned that you hate his performances (or is that perhaps too strong a term?) but I love the Anthony Collins/LSO version of this work. It's my second favourite Sibelius symphony, after the fourth. I do have both the DGG Karajan and the BIS Jarvi you played (as well as the Rattle from his EMI set, which I think you feel is so-so) but there is something about the Collins that grips me from beginning to end. Perhaps it's because it was my introduction to the work - as it was for the others, not surprisingly. You probably know that Collins was worried about the ambiguous metronome markings throughout the scores and so his old friend Victor Olaf sent a lengthy telegram to the composer requesting clarification about the tempi. it seems that he received the following reply (I quote from the Beulah booklet notes for Symphonies 4 and 5) "Pleased to hear about recording - stop - Metronome marks difficult to follow - stop - Conductor must have liberty to get performance living - greetings - Jean Sibelius". I originally had all the performances on Decca LPs but bought the Beulah CDs when they appeared.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Why would I want to challenge this? You are entitled to like what you like. I don't care whether you agree with me or not--only that you explain your position so others have the benefit of your insights, and this you have done admirably. Thank you.

[@johnmarchington3146]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Having made such an assertion, I felt obliged to listen to the performance as I hadn't done so more some years - and I was, for the most part, disappointed. I had forgotten how slow the first movement was and some of the playing is scrappy to say the least. It certainly wasn't how I remembered it and I have to say I'm rather embarrassed about it all now. If I had really thought it through, I should have listened to the recording before putting my tuppence worth here!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@johnmarchington3146 That's what happens when we judge a performance not by what it sound like, but by the memory of the feelings that it may have evoked in us initially, and you are far from alone. It happens to all of us, and as you say, this is why there is no substitute for careful, comparative listening in real time.

[@johnmarchington3146]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks, David. You're absolutely right. I've made that mistake more than once and I should have learnt by now. I must also listen to the Karajan and Jarvi again as I really love this work.

[@bobmcgowan7460]

Dave, more Sibelius work for you. What about reviewing other new or newer Sibelius cycles(Paavo Jarvi,Sakari Oramo,Petri Inkinen) and tell us why these aren't as good as the ones you suggested...or would that be redundant ?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Please see my reviews on ClassicsToday.com. I've covered these pretty thoroughly.

[@john1951w]

Another excellent video but I have a quick question . There were a couple of comments on here about digital recordings and compression. This was triggered by the warning that BIS put on their CDs. These comments seem to have been removed and I wonder why. Are we not allowed to talk about the recorded sound? Does your agreement with BIS to use their discs mean that we can't be seen to be critical? Just asking.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

They were not removed. They vanished. KZbin had a nervous breakdown. I have no idea what happened.

[@john1951w]

@@DavesClassicalGuide How strange Dave. They must be spying on us!

[@moviedave2001]

the recorded sound is wonderful on the Jarvi performance

[@nickhamshaw1234]

Bernstein’s version of this glorious work was the recording that, for me, made it clear that Bernstein is a rather more sensitive and faithful conductor than he has often been given credit for. The myth that he re-wrote everything on the podium is obviously nonsense when you hear this. I felt similarly about his Nielsen 5, where the recording was nothing but pure Nielsen.

[@carlosshosta9040]

Järvi with no doubt.

[@johnwright7557]

The Sixth was the last of Sibelius’s symphonies I came to know and love. There is one passage midway in the last movement when the music surges and sounds like something from La Mer that is thrilling. My choices are Blomstedt (4th mvt at 10:23) and Vanska/Lahti (4th mvt at 8:19), a nice contrast between slower and faster versions. Hard to choose one over the other.

[@yomibraester5063]

Great talk! I was introduced to Sibelius through Symphony No. 6, in a relatively slow performance (it was around 1980, so probably Karajan, which is -- with the exception of the 4th movement -- about as slow as Blomstedt and Segerstam). It became my measure for all Sibelius recordings: did they sound "sixish" enough, especially in the relentless barrage of rhythmic sound, overflowing across phrases? I realize that's a biased imprint, but it has served me well for "getting" Sibelius. BTW, "a glass of cool water" wasn't something Sibelius cherished much, was it? More like a full bottle of vodka.

[@edenelieff1]

I think of the Sixth as Sibelius’ Pastoral Symphony. Hmmm…but aside from its preceding namesake, it really has a pastoral feeling and vibe. My favorite of his symphonies.