Few composers have had such a high profile in their national culture as Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and the ASO’s presentation of all seven of his symphonies over three concerts is most welcome, allowing the fullest appreciation of his unique and wonderful compositional style.

Sandwiched between Sweden and Russia, Finnish territory was frequently and violently contested throughout its history. In 1809, it was absorbed into the Russian Empire as an autonomous grand duchy, and it did not gain independence until 1918. Sibelius grew up speaking Swedish (the Finnish language was suppressed), but in the latter part of the nineteenth century, a Finnish independence movement emerged.

While Sibelius denied programmatic readings of his work, claiming it to be “pure music”, he was seen as a national figurehead because his music seemed so characteristic of Finland’s landscape and folk culture, inspired as it was by the Kalevala, the book of epic Finnish poetry which was itself an assertion and celebration of Finnish identity.

Such was Sibelius’s early success that, in 1897, before any of his symphonies were completed, he was granted a state pension, albeit modest, for life, and in 1915 his 50th birthday was designated...