Jean Sibelius

In the autumn of 1888, while studying music in Helsinki, Sibelius met Aino, the daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, the governor of Vaasa, and fell in love with her. They got married on 10 June 1892 at Maxmo. The couple had six daughters: Eva, Ruth, Kirsti, Katarina, Margareta and Heidi.

In 1903, Sibelius had a house built on the shores of Lake Tuusulanjärvi in Järvenpää, 38 kilometers north of Helsinki. It became the family’s home and he called it Ainola, or the "Aino's place". Although he lived off and on in Helsinki for professional reasons, he spent the last years of his life in this house.

It was here that he died from brain hemorrhage on 20 September 1957. He was then ninety-one years old and was survived by his wife and five daughters. He was buried in the garden of the house.

Jean Sibelius was born on 8 December 1865 in the small garrison town of Hämeenlinna, then under the Grand Duchy of Finland. His birth name was Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; but at home, he was called Janne, which he later changed to Jean and thus became known as Jean Sibelius.

His father, Christian Gustaf Sibelius, was a Swedish-speaking military doctor. His mother was Maria Charlotta Sibelius née Borg. Janne was born second of his parents’ three children, having an elder sister named Linda and a younger brother, Christian.

Christian Gustaf was of bohemian nature and therefore, when he suddenly died from typhoid in July 1868, he left nothing but unpaid bills. His mother, then pregnant with their third child, sold their home and moved in with her own widowed mother, Katarina Borg, who also lived in Hämeenlinna.

Thus from childhood, Janne was brought up mostly in female company with only an uncle, Pehr Ferdinand Sibelius, providing him with some male influence. Pehr later became a father figure to him and also his music advisor.

Pehr, who also played the violin, was quick to recognize the young boy’s aptitude for music and encouraged him in this. As Janne turned seven, he had ‘Aunt Julia’ brought in as his piano teacher.

In the autumn of 1885, after passing his school leaving examination, Janne Sibelius enrolled at the Imperial Alexander University in Finland, today known as the University of Helsinki, to study law. Concurrently, he also enrolled at the Helsinki Music Institute, now the Sibelius Academy, to study music.

Initially, he tried to pay equal attention to law and music, but soon started neglecting the former. In the autumn of 1886, despite his family’s opposition, he abandoned law to concentrate fully on music.

At the Music Institute, studying under the Institute’s director Martin Wegelius, he had his first formal lesson in composition. Although violin playing still remained his life’s ambition, he soon realized that he had started late on the violin and therefore concentrated on composition.

Thereafter, under the direction of Martin Wegelius, he began to compose chamber and instrumental music. During this period, he is said to have composed more than one hundred pieces, among which, the ‘Violin Sonata in F’ and ‘String Quartet in A minor’ are two of his most significant works.

Apart from Wegelius, his piano teacher, Ferruccio Busoni, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship, also influenced him greatly. Sometime during this period, inspired by one of his long departed seafaring uncles, he changed his name to French-sounding Jean. That it sounded more professional was another reason for it.

Jean Sibelius studied at the Helsinki Music Institute till 1889. Thereafter in the same year, on the advice of Wegelius, who wanted his student to receive strict German training, he moved to Berlin and began to study counterpoint with Albert Becker.

Here for the first time, he had the opportunity to attend a variety of concerts and operas. Among them, Finnish composer Robert Kajanus conducting his symphonic poem ‘Aino’ influenced him most. It is said to have inspired Sibelius to use the epic poem ‘Kalevala’ as a basis for his composition later in life.

In 1890, after studying with Becker for one year, Sibelius moved to Vienna. Here he studied with composers Robert Fuchs and Karl Goldmark. Fuchs taught him Hugo Wolf and Gustav Mahler while from Goldmark he learned to handle orchestra.

So far Jean Sibelius had mainly concentrated on chamber music composition. Now under Goldmark’s guidance, he began to work on orchestra and composed ‘Overture in E major’ and the ‘Scène de ballet.’

This was also the time, when he started being aware of his Finnish identity and almost immersed himself in the study of ‘Kalevala.’ It led to the composition of ‘Kullervo Symphony’, a work he started in Vienna, but finished in Helsinki.