Orchestral Composition of the Day, Installment 6:
"Homage to Sibelius"
for Chamber Orchestra
(2023 - ca. 11:30)
While inspired by the music of Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), "Homage to Sibelius" contains no quotes of his music. Rather, the opening passage of his Symphony No. 6 is inflected in the opening passages of my composition.
Follow the next URL to see a high quality synthesized scrolling score music video for this unperformed title.
The sheet music for the full score and instrumental parts is available for sale from me, and from Sheet Music Plus. Follow the next URL to visit the distributor's product page for this title.
Follow the next URL to view a watermarked PDF of the full score on my website.
Follow the next URL to hear a fine synthesized rendition on my website.
NOTES
To say that the music of Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) has had a profound effect on me is an understatement. I nearly did my doctoral dissertation on his "Symphony No. 6," but instead opted to do write about a more neglected composer and title instead: "Twelve Songs," Op. 27 by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871–1942). Visit the next URL for more information. https://www.stanleymhoffman.com/doctoral-dissertation
The notes from my original posting about "Homage to Sibelius" from October 20, 2023, appears below. Thank you for your time and attention.
Stanley M. Hoffman, PhD
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I have long wanted to compose an homage to Jean Sibelius. However, his music is copyright protected in the EU for another five years or so. Thus, I struggled with how to compose a work without any direct musical quotations, and yet which in some way captures the essence of his symphonic music.
I had a breakthrough in recent weeks, and the result is an eleven-minute orchestral composition which manages to invoke his music without directly quoting it. The opening passage on which the piece is based invokes the opening of Symphony No. 6 without quoting it; also, my homage is in the key of A Minor whereas the symphony is in the key of D minor. The piece also invokes the orchestral colors of one of my other favorite pieces of Sibelius, The Swan of Tuonela. My composition is scored very closely to that one, but I ended up using two oboes; I never needed an English Horn, and I added two flutes to that scoring. Thus, the instrumentation is as follows: 2fl-2ob-1cl/bcl-2bn-4hn-3tbn-timp-bd-str; the duration is ca. 11:30. My homage also invokes the more youthful compositions of the great master, and of course features his biggest personal influence, the sounds of nature.
Sibelius was a master of musical forms. He managed to create entirely original forms such as the one for Symphony No. 7. While I do not pretend to be in his league in any way, I did manage to compose a work in a four-part form, which is unusual, and not the least of which for me. The piece contains all kinds of indirect references to the music of Sibelius through the use of motifs, melodies, harmonies, ornamentation, and orchestration.
While not the most original piece of music I have ever composed (that would be The City In the Sea: Choral Tone Poem), my Homage to Sibelius is among the most subtle of my works in that it contains a good deal of variation technique, and a lot of attention to detail. Like my Homage to Vaughan Williams for string orchestra, the idea was not to break new stylistic ground, but rather to pay homage to the ground broken by the master.
More so than anything, my Homage to Sibelius invokes how the symphonic music of Sibelius makes me feel when I am listening to it. I hope you enjoy it.
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