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Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2010

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Summary

It is rather impossible to explain art with words, therefore I don't like to speak about my music. When I do I regret it the next day. The listener has unlimited possibilities of misunderstanding me and limited possibilities of understanding me.

A good threshold: Sibelius's words stand as a warning to commentators on his music. And they are reinforced by the current state of hermeneutics and critical theory, which would regard as naive any claim, implicit or explicit, to have objectively understood the workings of any cultural artifact, much less such a multifaceted and socio-aesthetically complex one as the Fifth Symphony. What follows here, then, reflects only the current state of my own dialogue with that work and the material and psychological conditions under which it arose – a dialogue with which I confess to having been fascinated for as long as I can remember.

Sibelius's work on the Fifth Symphony's three performed versions from summer 1914 to its eventual publication by Wilhelm Hansen in 1921 forms an enormously complex story that cannot be offered in full detail here. Merely to compare the three versions adequately would exceed the space allotted, but we are also confronted with numerous sketches, drafts, partial revisions, diary entries, letters, and the like.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

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  • Preface
  • James Hepokoski
  • Book: Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
  • Online publication: 11 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620188.001
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  • Preface
  • James Hepokoski
  • Book: Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
  • Online publication: 11 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620188.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Preface
  • James Hepokoski
  • Book: Sibelius: Symphony No. 5
  • Online publication: 11 January 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620188.001
Available formats
×