Symphony No. 4 in A Minor

Sibelius never gave clues publicly as to possible “meanings” in his symphonies, but there’s little doubt that the Fourth (1910-11) reflects a spiritual crisis. After an operation to remove a tumour in his throat, his moods veered dangerously. Challenged by both the violent expressionism of fellow composer Schoenberg as well as Freudian psychoanalysis (pioneered in Finland by his brother Christian), Sibelius set out to explore his own inner darkness in the hope, as he put it, of getting it “into some kind of new perspective”. The result is a symphony whose stark originality and emotional power can still startle today. The opening is like a door swinging open, to reveal a world where night and desolation reign. There are moments where the music seems to fly from this vision, especially in the fast second and fourth movements (the latter’s manic quality enhanced by the weird tinkling of a glockenspiel), but in each case the outcome is bleak. But in finding expression for all this, Sibelius enriched his musical language with an array of innovative techniques, notably new scales and harmonies and complex shifting cross-rhythms. The profoundly tragic slow movement could be described as variations in search of a theme—a search which ultimately fails. Yet there is a possible message of hope here: that in confronting one’s own darkness, one may find the way back to light.