Sibelius : The Swan of Tuonela - Karajan*

[@ruthlewis673]

I often find myself returning to this piece when l need to access hope.

[@vasnibran8732]

When the world says: “Give up...", HOPE whispers: “Try it one more time!".

[@LaurinaHawks]

One of the most beautyful pieces of music of all times.

[@thebasisti2482]

Magical

[@englishrose47]

Haunting and mystical

[@phaasch]

I used to listen to this as a child. My mother used to play it occasionally. I never knew its name, nor even who the composer was, but I used to picture walking through the gardens of a large country house at night, with the stocks, and night-scents of the flowers filling the air, and the gables of the great house set black against the night sky. That's the beauty of a tone poem- you can see whatever your mind takes you to.

[@mattjohnson9962]

The Swan of Tuonela by Jean Sibelius

[@phaasch]

@@mattjohnson9962 Yes, I did notice the title above. Still, thank you anyway.

[@eirarodriguez6035]

@@phaasch It is så sad, but beautifull, I am a finish citicent and I love our Sibelius, and we are very melancolius, thats why we love our Jean. But especially in these days man should hear something else music, only that we dont think sad things, like war and så on, have a good time!

[@백채원-r6g]

cool

[@zlatkokapetanovic2080]

@@eirarodriguez6035 in Finnish mythology Tuonela is the empire of the dead and according to this, Sibelius composed it in melancholias way

[@Olga-g5h]

до.слёз... ..грусть...одиночество В ожидании😢.. Музыка..тоже.грустная и красивая.. Замечательно🎉

[@andreanagy4801]

Same for me!😢

[@BboyFever]

"The Afterlife of Billy Fingers" Brought me here. Thank you.

[@Illa-1111]

Me too ❤

[@crystalwilliams8315]

​@@Illa-1111 that's why I'm here today!!!!! So beautiful ❤

[@monicacharpentier2488]

I’m reading it right now!

[@debraaurandt4228]

Same

[@riikka6388]

Me too! I'm just reading it (although I'm Finnish, I can't say I'm very familiar with Sibelius music 😅 so had to come and listen ). I love the book, happened to find it in the library by accident (or not!?)

[@PalleRasmussen]

This was Tolkien's favourite piece of music according to his daughter.

[@eirarodriguez6035]

Hej, mange hilsener til dig, jeg er finlænder, som har boet mange år i DK, Men I öjeblik bor i Finland, selvom det stresser en smule i denne her verdenssituation, alligevel..der er mennesker, som har det værre end os i DK, eller i Finland. Kan du have det godt min ven.

[@rsuman]

Really ? Remarkable!

[@jackvoncken3725]

Really? But I can imagine, he did. He knew Finnish Mythology very well.

[@Franka.1966]

Just ggogle: fairychamber Swan, The Sacred Bird

[@violinphelan]

Wow! This specific movement only or the whole suite?

[@youngso7135]

요즘 라흐마니노프와 말러에서, 시벨리우스에게 빠져있다. 깊고 멋진 음악들

[@sifridbassoon]

I first heard of this piece as a college sophomore in my Music Literature class. Then two years later (at a different college), we played it on an orchestra concert. I have loved it ever since. I sat behind the English Horn player on the concert. This piece sounds so calm and effortless, but the breath control you need to play those long phrases is a killer.

[@vincenzogalvagno697]

Una musica di serenità,mi si infonde dentro, sale piano piano, grazie Sibelius.

[@JackOpulski]

In a previous life, I listened to this while recovering from a serious illness

[@andreanagy4801]

❤❤❤

I know Sibelius for a long time, but sadly I didn't listen this one before. It's wonderful!

[@bretthess6376]

I used to listen to this played on my vinyl record back 35 years ago when I was living in a miserable hovel in Champaign-Urbana. Some of the best days of my life.

[@mattjohnson9962]

Brett Hess: Looking back at the days gone by.

[@ozzylepunknown551]

For some reason, my darkest times are the most nostalgic ones

[@sifridbassoon]

College days are like that. 😁

[@valeriechapman1612]

Jean Sibelius The Swans of Tuonella. You can just imagine Swans floating on the water. It’s such a tranquil piece of music I often listen to this music when I don’t want to think about anything troublesome. It’s a haunting piece but calming too. Great piece Jean.

[@oliverjohn5566]

Amorphis introduced me to Tuonela and Finnish mythology with its amazing album of the same name and their 2007 album " Silent Waters " portrays a swan in a black river. Viva Finland!!!🇫🇮🇫🇮🇫🇮

[@lordvonatar1115]

Me too the same! Amorphis is one of the bands I prefer. Expecially thousand lakes is immortal work \m/

[@philipkelly4628]

Stellar performance from karajan and the berliners, don't much care for the video, you need to lie back and close your eyes, the video is a distraction, just listen and let the music speak for itself, truly sublime in my opinion the best ever performance.

[@mattjohnson9962]

Philip Kelly: You're right. The video is a distraction.

[@danielhiggins4331]

I JUST LOVE IT WHEN IGNORANCE SPEAKS ... DON'T YOU ??? IF YOU JUST LEAN BACK AND CLOSE YOUR EYES, THEN THERE ARE NO DISTRACTIONS FOR YOU TO WAIL ABOUT !!

[@michaelrandall9034]

@@danielhiggins4331 All caps, uh? Jackass rears it’s common head.

[@DreamsInWhite]

It's one of the compositions that I have lately been obsessed with. I have Sibelius on my MP3-player and whenever and wherever the Swan of Tuonela starts I am entranced, the real world just stops existing. And quite interestingly, I always find it exhilarating as opposed to melancholy.

[@douglasglwilliams]

The sadness is so deep, the repeated cries of anguish so profound, that it is indeed exhilarating. I realize the truth of the statement that the function of art is to make us feel "not alone."

[@douglasglwilliams]

... Ironic since this is the loneliest and saddest of music.

[@josephbarclayross6216]

Maseru Emoto, the one who discovered that water crystals pick up emotion, claims in his book "Water Crystal Healing: Music and Images to Restore Your Well-Being" that this piece is a cure for worry and anxiety. That's what brought me here. And now I believe it. I thought Debussy and Delius were the only ones who could write like this. Inexpressibly beautiful.

[@bretthess6376]

My compliments on your excellent taste in music. The Swan is in a class by itself.

[@oleflogger6828]

I love this piece. But, I'm disappointed that so many listeners think of it as full of "sadness". I don't. To me, it is completely, totally, about beauty - supreme beauty.

[@musiclady49]

One of the most gorgeous, lush pieces I've ever heard and I have 60+ years of listening to classical music! Perfectly portrays the story of the swan that was to be killed but was spared! 💖💖💖

[@josephineprocter7042]

I'm so glad that a few people have said something about the story behind this music. I had no idea at all about this. Thank you all he shed light on this wonderful, sublime music

[@liab.romero]

What's the story ?

[@vanishingghost.4335]

I used to listen to this when I was 10 years old watching the sun go down above a water tower that looked like a castle. I bought the cassette and wore it out.

[@mariaphillips8664]

This tune simply penetrates your soul!!! It really is beautiful.!!!

[@ricardohuhtala5071]

Being half Finnish and half Brazilian , this music reflects exactly the difference between these two culture , one a big country with all natural resources available in the planet , and the other with just a few of them and yet it’s people capable of such wonders , after all is the people that makes the difference .

[@permaveg]

Great piece from Sibelius performed by the late great Karajan with the mighty Beliners and an enjoyable vid to go with it, enchanting.

[@trudareynolds8592]

I didn't know about this until I performed it with a local Symphony. I love it!

[@dbcarroll19]

The melody is timeless; haunting, plaintive, evocative and full of mystery. I keep returning to it and it gives me peace.

[@georgehemingway3476]

This to me is the finest work Jan Sibelius ever wrote ! and I always enjoy it when perhaps I should be doing something else .

[@joangrey9545]

Music of the Heavens....beautiful!

[@johndaniel2009]

i agree it is heavenly and other worldly somehow. it also feels macabre and melancholic,, a black swan on the river that the dead have to cross to the underworld..

[@nigelcutteridge7972]

From @NigelCutteridge (aka 'Angel Nigel' 😇) In September 1982, I was working at THE SADLERS WELLS THEATRE in London ~ after helping to organise the Annual 'Sadlers Wells Theatre Festival.' The same month, THE SADLERS WELLS ROYAL BALLET staged the WORLD PREMIERE of this haunting piece ~ and I was privileged enough to be invited to watch some of the rehearsals beforehand. Now, more than FORTY YEARS later, every single time I pass the theatre, a strange THRILL runs through me ~ the GHOST of THE SWAN, perchance?... 😇😇😇😱😱😱🙏🙏🙏

[@laurentb8720]

The world premiere of The Swan of Tuonela was in 1982, really?

[@mirandaayoung5]

That is a truly beautiful video for one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written by Sibelius.

[@onlyme112]

Or anyone.

[@LawrenceCarroll1234]

This was the first classical piece that I was totally captivated by in my early teens. It evokes so beautifully and clearly the transcendent imagery of a Swan gliding over the “Lake of the Dead” from Finnish mythology that I couldn’t - and still can’t - resist. its infinitely eerie, haunting gentleness and sweetness are completely enchanting!!! And it was this same version by Herman von Karajan that I heard. One of brothers had bought it, and the LP had the beautiful 4th Symphony by Sibelius well (both are absolute masterpieces in my mind.)

[@oleflogger6828]

"Infinitely eerie": that's a good descriptive for Sibelius. He's recognizable, and almost immediately. I had that kind of experience at an SFSO concert in Louise Davies Hall, SF. We were in a loge box and the person in front of us turned to me and asked what encore MTT had just conducted. My response was, "I don't know that piece. But, I'm certain it was by Jean Sibelius; maybe from Lemmenkainen or Pohjola's Daughter (it definitely wasn't that)".

[@mattjohnson9962]

Lawrence Carroll: True statement.

[@patrickuotinen]

In the old Finnish mythology we don't actually have a lake of death, we have a river of death, Tuonelan virta, which separates Tuonela, the land of the death, from the land of the living. The Swan of Tuonela swims in that river.

[@LawrenceCarroll1234]

@@patrickuotinen , ah! Thank you for that enlightening knowledge! It is always a joy to find out more about such things.🙏🏻

[@laurentb8720]

I didn't know Herbert had a brother called Herman

[@paulwilliams8389]

Superb piece of music. This gets deep inside my soul.

[@rclaughlin]

The interpretations of Karajan and Jarvi are the best ever.

[@elsieparker6983]

YUP.

[@udosteffen3386]

Wer die Landschaft und das Kalevala-Epos verinnerlicht hat, der hört diese Musik noch intensiver.

[@Richard-yd1ws]

"After great travails Lemminkäinen made it to the underworld and he found the magic swan, but as he drew his arms to kill the bird, Louhi’s cruel guile became apparent. The swan began to sing a haunting song of divine beauty. The golden notes described life’s splendor and its heartache-the wordless music summarizing everything that people long for and care about in their journey from the cradle to the grave. The impossible sadness and magnificence of the song moved Lemminkäinen’s heart and h 1:00 e realized he could not kill the great bird. "

[@josephineprocter7042]

Thank you so much for the explanation. Very interesting.

[@happyanne555]

Thank you! Loved this since I was a child .

[@elsdemuynck9219]

But it seems dead at the end ?

[@vasnibran8732]

❤

[@melinapitari5397]

Grazie ❤

[@strombolitic]

That's the one I've been searching for. Decades.

[@francoisdelmar3]

I always adored this tone poem and I think the Karajan version is the best, because it has a sort of ice-world reserve to it--in my opinion. But I also rather like the video you made. Thanks.

[@borisbrinkmann]

Sibelius considered Karajan being a congenious interpretator of his works in general...

[@shyne6413]

Прекрасное произведение! Прекрасное исполнение! И прекрасна легенда!

[@andrewpink4956]

I have fallen in love with this piece of music

[@highphysics3617]

Absolutely enchanting. Your presentation is superb. Well done.

[@bastiatintheandes4958]

Magnificent! Thanks for your GREAT visual work and for choosing the unsurpassable Berliner Philharmoniker recording.

[@williamsackelariou1860]

Never heard this music before but l must say it is magnificent music from the first bar to the last Thank you

[@aifoSFilms]

I thank God that gave me a musical ear so I can enjoy and understand this music: feel the emotions and the passion of the melody.

[@finnishpagan2911]

Ukko is magnificent, isn't he?

[@paullewis2413]

All credit to Karajan championing the great Sibelius at at time when he was seldom played and very much under appreciated in central Europe.

[@kumardesai2811]

A TRUELY BEAUTIFULL PEICE OF MUSIC

[@Maxinator11-11]

This song was mentioned in Chapter 23 (Cosmic Sound) in the excellent book, the Afterlife of Billy Fingers. I highly recommend this book. Truly amazing. I saw a swan floating on the river beside my mothers house before she passed …. And it disappeared under the bridge. A long term resident of the village had never seen a swan on that river in at least 50 years. My mom had to get up and go to the kitchen from her sick bed and we both saw the swan floating by. Paramhansa means supreme swan … and is the first name (monicker) given to the famous guru Yogananda, who wrote autobiography of a Yogi

[@eirarodriguez6035]

I feel with you!

[@bobsmith8942]

The swan is the legendary bearer (or guide) of the dead to the afterlife.

[@LNE.]

It is a divine music,it calms every worry.thanks for the above info.love+light to all.

[@alisonmclean2004]

That book is what brought me here today. ❤️

[@D8ORIN8A]

La otra vida de Billy Fingers es mi libro de cabecera♥

[@aleksandradudek8649]

Lubię muzykę Sibeliusa. Jest mi dziwnie bliska. Smutek potrafią w muzyce wyrażać kompozytorzy słowiańscy i północni. I rożek angielski jako łabędź - cudowne brzmienie, a tak rzadko w symfonice wykorzystywane. Cudo. Dziękuję

[@anthonytaylor4968]

Fabulous,eerie and yet beautiful,I love it.

[@antoniocorreadeaguiar6780]

O) mar, a neve e a tristeza, cruzam-se no espírito de Sibelius. Muito boa esta interpretação.

[@chapczukmarta5070]

belleza,pureza,expresion de los sentidos ,,,magnifico

[@sheebafan13]

mysterious, touching, delicate.

[@parthoroy9141]

I love the cinematography you put together for this piece - very haunting 🎵

[@BoulderMamacita]

Exquisite and mellifluous delivery by the cor Anglais player. Lovely phrasing--impeccable intonation. Beautiful!!!

[@neretorrep5088]

J'aime Sibelius et sa musique angoissant perturbante ,mais si belle

Huippu. Legendaarinen Karajan johtaa Berliinin philharmoonikkoja. Sen kuulee heti. Huipputasoa kaikki.

[@jannehietavirta9744]

Se joutsen on oikeastaan musta

[@iancrossley6637]

Wonderful Cor Anglais

[@ralfhaggstrom9862]

Wonderfully Beautiful. "Tuonela" is Finnish for, The place after death,

[@finnishpagan2911]

@Sophie And Tuoni is the God of Death and his realm is (of course) Tuonela and to get there one has to cross the River of Tuonela, and on that River swims a Swan, the Swan of Tuonela, and anybody who wishes that Swan anything bad will have a terrible fate.

[@XandriaRavenheart]

@@finnishpagan2911 Is this based on Lemminkäinen's story, where he never manages to kill the swan?

[@johnroberts6116]

@@finnishpagan2911 - Thank you for that information as appropriately I wish this piece to be played at my funeral.

[@thebasisti2482]

Legend says that Disney asked Sibelius a permission to use this in their Fantasia movie, but he declined. Could have fitted into it!

[@windstorm1000]

its the mystical entrance to land of the dead in Finnish legends--the swan is the guardian of the gate.

[@windstorm1000]

not to take away from this haunting video/music--but the swan in finnish mythology is black--not white--

[@susanbryant6516]

So it’s an Australian swan, then!

[@anssim928]

@@windstorm1000 No, it's a white swan in a black river.

[@jameswiernick7398]

Correct, it's nice to know someone who not only appreciates but actually knows it's meaning!!!!!

[@annalaulumaa2227]

We are europa

[@englishrose47]

Haunting and mystical. Jean Sibelius was a twentieth century genius

[@jukeboxfandango]

this song was 19th century

[@englishrose47]

Sibelius died in 1957, in the twentieth century. Also it’s not a song - there are no words, no singers.

[@mariaengracio4849]

VERY BEAUTIFUL... ET LA MUSIC EST MAGNIFIQUE...C'EST UNE QUE J'AIME BEAUCOUP DU COMPOSITEUR... ET SI C'EST POSSIBLE!!!... JE SOUHAITE, APRÉS MA MORT, ETRE REÇU PAR UN CIGNE SI BEAU ET UNE MUSIQUE SI CHARMANTE... CE SERAIS UN RÊVE, NON?!...

[@mariaengracio4849]

Hello Poseidos ocea! Thank you for your answer. As I know, THE SWAN OF TUONELA is part of Finland Mythology. And, in that mythology, the underword is called TUONELA( as,for example, in greek mythology is called HADES); and there exist a SWAN that received and take the souls of dead people to theirs last voyage. Is like CARONTE in greek mythology. I don't think that is a dream. As you know, the composer JAN SIBELIUS was born in FINLAND and almost all his work is based in Finland and his mythology. I am sure you know, for example, the BEAUTYFUL composition "LUONNOTAR". If not, try to listen and I think YOU WILL LIKE VERY MUCH. Exist a BEAUTYFUL video in YOU TUBE with the translation of the words of the soprano, to english. Once again, THANK YOU for your message and, PLEASE: STAY WELL AND HAPPY. Ciao!...

[@joanacastro3182]

La mejor pieza clásica de todos los tiempos!

[@socorrocabrera8335]

Que bella interpretación,llena de misterio y presagio

[@alfredoviera2260]

Y melancolia!

[@Marcos_Lee]

It is marvellous!!! Thank you!!! ✨🦢✨

[@jeroniterres3395]

Maravilloso!!...de ensueño!!

[@artemakin]

For those who are unfamiliar with Sibelius' music but love the dark tone of 'The Swan of Tuonela,' I highly recommend exploring his other tone poems: Tapiola, The Pohjola's Daughter, Luonnotar (the latter featuring operatic singing, but still very atmospheric), as well as his Fourth Symphony.

[@radiootoo]

Your newest subscriber-for-life thanks you for your channel.

[@kimstarr325]

Annie Kagan, thank you for being brave and sharing your brother Billie Fingers story. This music and so many other “pearls” in his journey.

[@10gsplus]

I become home sick for a place I have never been to .... exquisitely beautiful

[@jounisuninen]

This should go with the paintings "Tuonelan virralla" (at the River of Tuonela) and "Lemminkäisen äiti" (Mother of Lemminkäinen) by painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela.

[@finnishpagan2911]

I agree, they would be so fitting.

[@KenMoss2986]

I love the depth of the Kalevala in its shamanism, and then the first hints of Christianity with a virgin birth from a lingonberry. I love this piece of music depicting the realm of the dead.

[@silvanapion]

O infinito transbordou a alma do compositor

[@RickardAgren]

Trueth forever best for all is the best...

[@rc-fannl7364]

Definitely an amazing performance of an amazing piece of music

[@1943carlosrodriguez]

SOBRECOJIDO. SOLIDARIO...SENCILLAMENTE LO ACOMPAÑO EN SILENCIO EN ÉSE, SU VIAJE AL FINAL DE SUS DÍAS...AMIGO Y HERMANO CISNE.

[@RickardAgren]

Fantastic ❤❤❤❤❤❤RAa

[@himatstosh6236]

What a beautiful image!

[@hallofmusicc]

Pure beauty...😍

[@messerschmitt2622]

Art for my ears

[@vasnibran8732]

❤

[@kezzabanana4958]

Brilliant composer top 3 ever.

[@enigmaalphacentauri.6730]

divine!!!!!

[@miriamoconnor7099]

Thirty-three years ago, my Mom passed away. As my husband and I rushed to the hospital before she died, THIS composition was on our classical music station. What are the odds?

[@mattjohnson9962]

Miriam O'Conner: That was in 1987 and she is always in heaven. Minimal odds.

[@roberthensley9640]

Some coincidences are very meaningful What a beautiful and relevant piece of music to remember your mom by ! Condolences, it doesn't matter how long ago it was, we never stop missing those we love who are gone.

[@roberthensley9640]

Some coincidences are very meaningful. What a beautiful and relevant piece of music to remember your mom by. Condolences, it doesn't matter how long it has been, we never stop missing our loved ones who are no longer with us

[@neirafaelferreiralopesfilh7289]

Contains a luminous sadness, opens the heart.

[@Pearlaceous]

So beautiful ...

[@mattc1124]

This is beautiful, heard this on a lost horizons dramatisation on the bbc.

[@perhapsmiracles5432]

For me; this (admittedly somewhat melancholy) piece always sets a great ‘chill’ running down my spine and visions of a (mythical but graceful) swan than does even Saint-Saens’ piece (from ‘Carnival of the Animals’). What instrument can more aptly portray this waterbird so deeply inspiring as it has been to humans since time immemorial - than the (somewhat gracefully morose) tones of the cor anglais ?

[@perhapsmiracles5432]

PS; btw: the vid is truly **out of this world** - literally!

[@kar0l96]

Eerie and ethereal.

Karajan on legenda.

[@mariajesusortega4116]

Qué belleza !!

[@sarahkim1058]

Beautiful !

Wunderbar!..

[@cavaleer]

Karajan's were always perfect, always the best of any composition.

[@helendavidsonthompson6739]

Wonderful.

[@amschaper]

Musiikkia, joka koskettaa sielua!

[@davidgunn3947]

Such a dreamlike peace of music

[@tancredpaladin7254]

Beautiful music!

[@GamalAbedelNasser]

This is the only thing, able to cure & clean up my Mind.

[@Tapani-ud6wu]

Music from spiritual world.

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

Simplemente maravilloso.¡¡¡

[@jormahuhtakangas9770]

Kaunista. ❤

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

Maravillosa música y vídeo.

[@8zepointwand]

The afterlife of Billy Fingers says this is close to the ambience of heaven