61. Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea

Finland’s most important composer, Jean Sibelius, and the founder of French Impressionism, Claude Debussy, were nearly the same age (their birthdates differ by only three years), but their tastes generally led them in different directions. They were also viewed differently in the avant-garde-dominated late 20th century. Debussy was regarded as a revolutionary who helped usher in a departure from tonality and nineteenth-century narrative in favor of music suspended in time and focused on timbre. Sibelius was regarded as a continuator of Romanticism, attached to traditional forms and genres, such as the symphony or the solo concerto. And although we realize today that these are oversimplified narratives, they did not come out of nowhere. Jean Sibelius dreamed of a career as a virtuoso violinist, but he began learning the instrument too late and lacked the necessary aptitude. In his famous concerto, he wrote one of the most demanding violin parts of all time – so demanding, in fact, that he later decided to prepare a new version, one that was slightly easier for the soloist. Nevertheless, none of the difficulties here serve merely as a showpiece – everything the violin plays contributes to the narrative: the violent cadenza in the first movement, the flowing melodies in the middle movement, and the breakneck leaps and broken chords in the finale. In contrast to this narrative centered on the main character, Debussy’s La mer (written at the same time!) is about an undirected, ceaseless flux of visions – the play of light on the water, the tides, and the gusts of wind. In the Sinfonia Iuventus concert, therefore, the wind converses with the sea, the violin with the orchestra – and two visions of music from the beginning of the last century.

– Dominika Micał (pisanezesluchu.pl)

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