Joan Baez sings Sibelius
Yes, you read that right. 2007 brings the fiftieth anniversary of Jean Sibelius’ death, and his tone poem Finlandia was written as a protest against Russian influence in Finland at the end of the 19th century. Joan Baez sung her own a cappella version on Michael Moore’s 2004 Slacker’s Uprising Tour, and in anticipation of the composer’s anniversary year On An Overgrown Path has the full story and an audio file in Sibelius – his genius remains unrecognised.
Several articles in the book refer to Sibelius’ influence on Adams. That falls into some recognition as far as I see it. There’s one point where Ingram Marshall relates a story about he and Adams hanging out and listening to Sibelius in the mid-70’s. Something that one wouldn’t necessarily think happened often with contemporary composers in the 1970’s.
I’ll admit I’m not super familiar with Sibelius, aside from performing Findlandia and the 2nd Symphony a couple of times. It’s something I’ll rectify at some point.
Oh well. Happy New Year!
And the fact that he’s mentioned a lot in The John Adams Reader is validation of Sibelius? Either his genius or the recognition of same?
I’m in the process of reading “The John Adams Reader” and references to Sibelius are all over it.
Sibelius – his genius remains unrecognised.
Not by me it doesn’t.