DESCRIPTION:
This historic clip shows Jean Sibelius at his home, Ainola. The first moving images of Jean Sibelius dates from the spring of 1927, when he was filmed at Ainola by the Finnish cinematographers Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan. Aho and Soldan were the sons of the noveliest Juhani Aho, and had grown up in the close vicinity of Sibelius and his family.

In the 1927 film, we see an urbane and relaxed Sibelius on the Lake Tuusula road. The images are striking: in his bowler hat, the composer has a casual, Anglo-Saxon air which differs from later portrayals of the Karsh-ian Sibelius as the brooding and forbidding musical titan.

The documentary also provides intimate glimpses of family life at Ainola: we see a happy Aino in the role of home-maker and her daughters picking apples in the garden (one runs up the path that would eventually lead to Sibelius's final resting place). Their father reads the newspaper and contentedly puffs on his cigar.

In one scene, Soldan's camera catches the composer at work at the piano; another shows his daughter Margareta playing a violin solo, caught against the light filtering through a window.

In 1945, shortly before his 80th birthday, Sibelius agreed to be filmed again by a Finnish film team. This time, Aho and Soldan show us a very different Sibelius, the aged composer watching the forests, cranes and lakes, full of autumnal nostalgia.

(Adapted from a text (c) Ilkka Kippola 2010 - from the Sibelius Edition Vol. 13)

No commercial purpose is intended with the use of this clip. All rights belong to (c) Aho & Soldan (http://www.ahosoldan.com). For more clips, you can visit the invaluable pages of http://www.sibelius.fi/english/media/index.htm

In uploading this clip, I seek only to promote the music of Finland's greatest composer and showcase his life. For more info, please visit http://dustofhue.com and https://facebook.com/sibelius.jean or http://sibeli.us.