Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

It is said that one can tell much about a person from their handwriting. Sibelius's signature is facinating with its huge 'J' pointing downwards and first 'S' rising upwards. Anyone care to speculate?--kp

Well, I suppose even in his signature, he shows a flair for the dramatic. I, too, hav always been tickled by that big J that definitely makes you take attention!

Sibelius took the continental sounding name Jean to present a certain image, I think, so the name was important to him. So, when signing his name, he wanted something distinctive, and I think he accomplished it with a very characteristic signature.

Speaking of composers and signatures, Akira Ifukube often signed his name with ancient Japanese calligraphy as opposed to modern. Ifukube was fascinated by the past (he certainly expressed that in his music), and even in his signature, expressed that.

kullervopete wrote:

... and first 'S' rising upwards. Anyone care to speculate?--kp

Harri M? Do you see an S-motif in there perchance?

Kurkikohtaus wrote:

kullervopete wrote: ... and first 'S' rising upwards. Anyone care to speculate?--kp Harri M? Do you see an S-motif in there perchance?

Hahaha...THAT is very clever, Kurki!

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

Sibelius believed that in an earlier life he had been a swan or crane and he certainly had a mystical relationship with these birds. The opening of his signature seems to symbolise these wild birds.--kp

Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!

Oh yes, it`s funny.

But, to be honest I visited the Finnish National Archive in spring 2006 to see his signatures, but I didn´t find it written like a mark of gruppetto.

There I saw many original documents, familiar from books, handwritten by him. What a feeling! Hundred years old postcards to Axel Carpelan to Tampere. And they were in my hand!

Pete, what an interesting observation. Though purely coincidental, there is something rather "bird-like" about the J, especially when you compare it to those photos.

Indeed yes, My observation suddenly hit me a day or so after I sent in my original post. As Tapkaara says, probably coincidental. But as we know Sibelius's art reveals many amazing attributes that he himself was unaware of at the time that he wrote the music. These Cranes and Swans were the Leitmotif of Sibs life, would it not be inconceivable that at a sub-concious level these wild birds found expression in the great mans signature.--kp

When he wrote to his uncle Pehr and explained that he had adopted the name 'Jean' as his 'musician's name' (31st March 1886, see Goss, The Hämeenlinna Letters, p.85 where it is reproduced in facsimile), the handwriting was of course much younger and quite disciplined. The J is clearly recognizable by comparison with the later signature but the lower part is more carefully and elegantly rounded and the bar at the top is less spontaneous. Go back even earlier, to 1875, and the J has a much more playful, rounded character - also the top bar (though he was so young then that we shouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions).