Jean Sibelius

This volume is clearly destined to serve henceforth as the authoritative text for Sibelius. More than a biography, itexplains his understanding of music as an improvised creation. To begin with, the orchestral tone-poem Kalevala based onan ancient myth, the Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 5 (Original and Final Versions) give a musical naturalism un-paralleledby any other twentieth-century composer!Tomi Makela has been most generous and most judicious in apprising Sibelius. This being the result of research fromFinnish and Swedish language sources. Erudite background and immensely readable vernacular makes this book substantivelycomplete.Strongly recommended!Dag Stomberg

It’s very heavy going as it is written in themes rather than chronology. However once you get to grips with the style it is both informative and insightful. There are some excellent appendices. The binging could be better quality considering the price. Ideally used along side a more traditional biography.