In the '

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' thread [

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] I recently touched on evidence of a possible Religious element in the Third Symphony and scholar Timo Virtanen's theory that their might be a connection with his uncompleted Oratorio 'Marjatta'. I have been reading more about Virtanen's findings and although its all conjecture, I have found it facinating enough to post some of it here.

Virtanen claims that the three parts of the Oratorio, the birth of Christ, the Funeral of Christ and the Resurrection correspond to the three movements of the Third Symphony.
The first movements exposition relates to Marjatta 'the fairy maiden' going into the woods; in the middle of the exposition there is an episode in B minor which, it is suggested, relates to primeval nature ['through the woods there goes a call']; this is followed by 'spellbound the child went closer...deep into the woodland'. Next according to Virtanen, the development section corresponds to 'Marjatta' finds the berry, her pregnancy and loneliness'. The recapitulation then parallels Christ's birth, and the hymn-like coda with its 'Amen' closure corresponds to Christ baptiized and crowned King of Karelia.
Virtanen treated the second movement as an ABA1-type structure. The two A sections then correspond to the funeral procession and the B section to Marjatta's lament and to 'nature sounds'. Virtanen showed an early draft of the theme of the second movement which had a funeral march character, also a transcription of the orchestral draft for Luonnotar/Pohjola's Daughter containing choral-like material that became choral phrases at various places in the movement. The devout phrases by devided cellos possibly correspond to Marjatta's lament.
Virtanen suggested that in the first part of the finale the fragmentary thematic idea's correspond to the expectation of Christs resurrection in the libretto. He also pointed out the second part of the libretto included references to a cuckoo described as a 'Holy bird! Bird of hope!' and claimed that the finale contained important cuckoo motives. Then the culmination of the development section [ending at bar 245] relates to sunrise and resurrection: The sun descends onto Jesus' grave as a large eagle and after shining for three days opens the grave.' Finally the hymn-like concluding section corresponds to the final chorus, 'the creator has arisen from death'. Sibelius had written 'the concluding march of the finale-not too fast; a religious atmosphere'.
Virtanen continued that Sibelius was a pantheist, not a church believer or attender. He was interested in religious ideas, religion's mystical side and certainly the religiosity in music.

We will all continue to have our own personal responses to Sibelius's great Third Symphony, but Virtanen's idea's are thought provoking. I am indebted to John Grimshaw's report of Virtanen's presentation given at the Fourth International Jean Sibelius Conference at the University of North Texas (

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) in 2005.--kullervopete.

Click on the coloured words in kullervopete's post to get to the appropriate places.
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The foundation of Viranen's ideas obviously lie in the analysis and comparison of sketches and materials from Marjatta, along with the interesting reference to the early drafts from Pohjola's Daughter (n.b. as kullervopete hints at with his slash "/", the "working title" of Pohjola's Daughter was indeed Luonnotar, which had nothing to do with the later vocal work).

But what I am particularily fond of is the following imaginary scenario:

I believe it is completely plausible that a Kalevala reader, after reading the last Runo, could somehow make a connection between the Marjatta story and the 3rd Symphony, without knowing anything of the abandonned oratorio. This is an hommage to the sheer narrative power of Sibelius' music, even music that he himself claimed to have no program. I personally made one such association, between Runo 16 and En Saga (click

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for the relevant thread). I know very well that Sibelius stated that En Saga has no program, that it is a state of mind or feeling. Nevertheless, I find that the flow of the piece fits that particular story perfectly, and I believe that many listeners will find that the 3rd Symphony also fits Marjatta perfectly, despite the fact that it is abstract or "absolute" music.

But why stop there? I am sure that many Kalevala/Sibelius lovers could make countless connections between the symphonies and the Kalevala, bound only by the liveliness of their imaginations. I think the key to this lies in the way the Kalevala is embedded in Sibelius and in Finnish society. Not just the content, the legends, but the flow of the narrative, the pace of the text, the way the stories unfold. When I first started working through the translation, it was hard going. But after a while, one becomes accustomed to the pace, the myriad esoteric tale-telling devices that make the work what it is. I say with all humility that I can "feel" the Kalevala, albeit through Keith Bosley's English translation, and that "feeling", the way the stories unfold and are told, is everpresent in the music of Sibelius.

To summarize this rambling, I believe that narrative of Sibelius' music, whether programmatic or not, unfolds in the same way with the same feeling and pace that is present within the Kalevala. This is why it is easy for well honed listeners to make these connections, whether they were intended by Sibelius or not.

A few points about kullervopete's post:

Virtanen wrote:

Virtanen treated the second movement as an ABA1-type structure. The two A sections then correspond to the funeral procession and the B section to Marjatta's lament and to 'nature sounds'.

I have to take issue there. The second movement of this symphony is a very clever variation technique, with 4 statements of the theme, separated by various interludes. Anyway that I line it up, I cannot find how this could be grouped as an ABA form.

Virtanen wrote:

He also pointed out the second part of the libretto included references to a cuckoo described as a 'Holy bird! Bird of hope!' and claimed that the finale contained important cuckoo motives.

Now that is an interesting idea... to this day I was admittedly left scratching my head as to why the oboe plays the quiet little repeated "G" above the first statement of the hymn in the Finale. I never made a bird-call connection, that sounds quite plausible to me, whatever the context (i.e. Holy Bird or common sparrow).

I have just played Sibelius 3 again [ Kamu - Helsinki Radio S. O. ]
with 'Marjatta' in mind, and yes I agree with much that Kurki has said. This is not to say that I now regard this work has the 'Marjatta' Symphony any more than I view it as Sibelius's 'English' Symphony - and yes I thought I heard a cuckoo somewere!
Sibelius may well have used idea's, motives and themes from his earlier and disbanded Oratorio, but as always with the Finnish Master, the music has its own inner logic. The work was of course dedicated to Sibs English champion Granville Bantock and part of the first movements development is said to depict fog banks drifting along the English coast.
Listening to the powerful Finale of No.3 this could well be Christs Resurrection, but for me it conjures up a huge steam train racing into the final straight.--kullervopete.

As Kullervopete rightly says, the music has its own inner logic. Two remarks:

Steam train - hehehe, well that ought to be Finlandia (or rather, Finland Awakes) - because the tableau included a steam locomotive. From what I can gather (not yet verified), in the tableau music a model locomotive was pushed on stage during the 'chugging' bars that begin the main Allegro section. Must have been quite a sight back in 1899!

Fog banks along the English coast - wasn't it Tovey who said that? He should have known better... It is a singularly unhelpful comment, being nothing short of complete and utter twaddle as far as Sibelius is concerned - though it may genuinely represent his own inner response to the music. (Q.v. my recent post about people shoving their own subjective interpretations down our throats! Believe them at your peril!) But it is as misguided as, say, comparing early Sibelius to Abba...

Yes indeed 'Heraa Suomi' from the press celebrations music [1899] this was a mass protest against Russian control of the press, and as Andrew B pointed out, the climax of the work 'Finland Awake' is said to incorporate evocations of the sound of a steam train.
Classical music is in fact littered with references to trains, from Dvoraks Humoresque No.7 in B flat too Schoenbergs 'Faniculi Fanicula' [1921] One of the most famous is Honegger's 'Pacific 231', this piece of course was expressly written on the subject of a train. But I still come back to the Finale of Sibelius 3 as a great example.
As regards the 'fog banks along the English coast', this was not Tovey. He did quote the phrase in his excellent book 'Symphonies And Other Orchestral Works' [Oxford University Press]
I wonder if Bantock himself got this from Sibelius.--kullervopete.

Thanks Kullervopete - I am in Finland without reference works to check quotes.
The chances that the fog business originates with Sibelius cannot be higher that 1 per cent - it simply does not fit in with any of the other evidence, but is just the sort of (admittedly catchy, imaginative, poetic) phrase that an Englishman would dream with the (in itself admirable) aim of interesting his compatriots in the music.

These days some critics seem to have the opposite aim - to put people off trying anything but a few selected works... don't you think?

kullervopete wrote:

Classical music is in fact littered with references to trains ...

A little aside, I would add Godfrey Ridout's From the Caboose to this list, in fact, I would put it at the top.

Ridout (1918-1984) was a Canadian composer heavily influenced by Elgar, Walton, Vaughn Williams, Host... which country are those fellows from? The movement I mention is from a suite called Music for a Young Prince, written to celebrate a young prince Charles' first visit to Canada in 1959. If you haven't heard this suite, it's a "must-listen" for pure orchestral fun.

In Canada he is most remembered by orchestras and the public for his spankingly happy Holstian overture Fall Fair, written in 1961 (it received its Marienbad premiere in 2005).

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In the 'Ainola' thread [Finland Topic] I have displayed a picture by Oscar Parviainen 'A prayer to God' which Sibelius called 'Valse triste'. Andrew B revealed some background information in the thread regarding the picture and I have been looking at some facinating revelations about the picture and Sibelius's unfinished 'Marjatta' Oratorio.

It seems that the idea for Paviainen's painting came in Paris during January 1906 when Sibelius played his 'Great Feast' [Stor Fest], 'Funeral March' [Sorgmarsch] and 'A prayer to God' [Bonen till Gud] to Parviainen who later wrote to Sibelius that he would use the 'Red-Red and Black-Black Funeral march' and 'The wonderful Prayer to God' as themes for his paintings.

He carried out his plan a couple of years later and gave the paintings to Sibelius as presents. The Funeral march was eventually called 'The Cortege' it hangs on the wall of the Dining room.

The themes of Sibelius which inspired Parviainen probably came from Sibs attempt at an Oratorio 'Marjatta', to a text by Jalmari Finne. The work never developed more than a sketch. Finnes Text mentions a Feast, a Funeral march and a prayer. In the text, Marjatta prays to God to save the infant Jesus, but in the painting 'A prayer to God' the person prayed for seems to be a little girl. Parviainen who knew the history of the family may indeed has Andrew mentioned, been depicting Sibelius's daughter Kirsti, at whose deathbed Aino Sibelius had prayed in February 1900, when the family were living at Mattila House in Kerava.

Sibelius recieved the painting in 1910 or soon after, and he hung it in a prominent position behind the piano. At the beginning of 1927 Paviainen asked Sibelius whether he ever actually used the 'Prayer to God' theme which he had played to Parviainen in Paris. Sibelius anwered that it was in the Finale of his third symphony, and he even wrote down the notes in the letter to demonstrate this. The sequence in question is the final Hymn which emerges in the middle of the Finale.

When the painting was taken down at the beginning of the 1990's, the text 'Bonentill Gud' [A prayer to God'] measuring 20 x 80cm and written by Parviainen in red chalk was discovered on the back- if one looks at the painting at a suitable angle, the mirror image of the text can also be seen, as a raised impression on the surface of the painting.--kp