Intimate Voices

Ainola, the home of Jean Sibelius in Järvenpää, Finland

Jean Sibelius is one of those composers whom we think we know, but whose work extends into far darker, more complex areas than is readily apparent in some of his more popular works. This is a composer who suddenly stopped composing at the height of his powers, and burned the manuscript of the symphony that he was sketching, remaining silent for 30 years.

For the Orchestra of the Swan's forthcoming concert at Stratford Playhouse on 21 January 2020, conductor Tom Hammond has curated a programme which explores the wider regions of Sibelius' imagination, combining performances of The Swan of Tuonela (from the Lemminkäinen Suite), a suite from his incidental music to The Tempest, Humoreskes for violin and orchestra (with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen) and Symphony No. 7, with readings from his letters. Symphony No. 7 and The Tempest are two of the last works that Sibelius, before his silence.

Entitled, Intimate Voices, the programme provides audiences with the opportunity to hear some of Sibelius' lesser known works, and also to explore the composer's complex musical imagination.

Full details from the Orchestra of the Swan
's website.