Sibelius The Wood Nymph

[Alan Howe]

Coming between Kullervo and Symphony No.1, this is an entirely typical and characteristic tone poem of which I was previously unaware. I gather it was only rediscovered in the 1980s and given its first performance by Osmo Vänskä in 1996. I am blown away...

[tappell]

Thank you for the heads up. I was not aware of this piece, although discovered I already had it on a recording by John Storgards. I am equally blown away, particularly as it falls within the earlier period of Sibelius's works which is much more to my taste than his later works.

[Alan Howe]

Actually the Wood Nymph contains plenty of music that is also proleptic of Sibelius' later works - especially the opening which looks forward to the 5th Symphony and, in its moments of sheer wildness, to Tapiola. What an amazingly original composer he was - virtually from the word go.

[semloh]

Yes, Osmo Vänskä recorded it in the BIS Sibelius series with the LahtiSO.