Sibelius 4 Symphony Herbert Blomstedt Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 

It's a strange symphony and breaks a lot of symphonic rules. But it works. You make a good point.

@@DavidA-ps1qr Are you suggesting that I am strange and break alot of rules, but it works? If so, I concur.

@@ilirllukaci5345 No personal views either meant or intended. I was talking about music. Far more important than any individual, apart from Sibelius himself of course.

@@DavidA-ps1qr I was kidding, I just wasn't sure which comment you were referring to.

The fourth does contain moments of rarified beauty and light, but your description is basically spot on.

Yes as others have commented it does take a few more plays. Helps if you are lonely and depressed to put you in a proper frame of mind! Its bleak.

That is the original German arrangement of the symphony orchestra which means a real dialogue between the first and the second violins. Herbert Blomstedt reintroduced it when he became Gewandhaus conductor in 1998. Now it is manifested in every treaty for coming chief Gewandhaus conductors.

@@ursularissmann-telle4000 I’ve seen that seating plan used many times for classical era compositions but its use with Sibelius is unfamiliar to me and as I mentioned, it serves this piece well.

I've never heard a rendition of this symphony which isn't ascetic (apart from 2nd movement). Good performance I'll grant you. My enjoyment spoiled by youtube putting ad breaks within the movements. Thanks!

I hear you - Try a 100+ times... I've been a Sibelius fan all my life. Love all 7 symphonies. each has its own charm. The 4th his darkest of course.

@@AnthonyDonnellyTT Yes I hear you. And I think I am also up at 100+, not with all of them, but nr 2, (my favourite) and also 3, 4 and 5.

Put out the book, man !!

I'm seriously high right now, and you must have been one thousand times more high to compose such sentences of meaningless mental masturbatory BS.

😼😸😼

It. Ends. In. Disaster. That's why it's my symphony. The composer called it his "psychological symphony".

🤪@@ilirllukaci5345

Dampened frolic😅

Utterly detestable and pointless.

Tal vez porque su único propósito no es emocionar

Much like ending of 5. It's marked to speed up a bit with no "a tempo" marked after that. Yet, 99% of conductors play the final chord sequence as if were a disintegration rather than a finale.

Understandable. The 4th is Sibelius' psychological symphony. It stands out in the middle of his seven symphonies as the crossroads of a dilemma he faced as he encountered what was going on around him in the world of the concert hall in the early 20th century. Would he go with the modern trends of extended dissonance, tonally ambiguous passages, bi-tonality and irregular phrases? He tried them all out in his 4th, in what the British musicologist and biographer Robert Simpson referred to as the 'symphony of the tri-tone', the interval referred to in the Middle Ages as 'the devil in music.' By composing his 4th, he had realized what direction he needed to go. In his later symphonies he would return to a stable tonality and regular phrasing while continuing to innovate in immediate motive development as a component of form and discovering unique sound combinations available in the orchestra. In Sibelius' gloomy 4th Symphony, I grasp that same 'emotive thread' that runs through all his music and so have made my peace with it.

Yes, this is his "depressive" symphonie, it takes some time to get near for example the first movement.

Warren Wilson, please look at my words about how I began to love this music.

I quite agree it doesn't compare with the 2nd and 5th

@@josephinepower5577 Indeed, the 4th is far greater than either the 2nd or the revised 5th.

höpsis

Completely disagree. I think audiences feed their own egos by trying to always be the first person to applaud or stand or shout "bravo!" before the last chord cuts off. A piece of great music should have a deep effect on you, and a moment to contemplate what you just heard is warranted. I wish more performances ended with no applause altogether.

​@@clarineric Many thanks for your reply. I agree that the desire to be the first to shout 'bravo' is annoying and especially so in opera where the final notes are obliterated by audience interference - especially in the USA. But I recently went to a concert which included Shostakovich 5th and, at the end, the conductor froze for what seemed an eternity. I have attended concerts conducted by Klemperer, Kempe, Bohm, Kondrashin, Ancerl, Barbirolli, Boulez, Kertesz, Abbado and many more and none of then did this statue stunt. I really do wish that this current trend would stop so I feel we have to agree to disagree. All the very best.

I suggest the delay is to allow for a clean cd recording.

​@@pawkie2 Many thanks for your comment. What you have suggested may be true but I have attended many live performances which were not recorded and the conductors still do the ego thing.

Not a shame at all! Gives all in attendance time to let the last notes settle in the soul. It might be worth considering whether there is a reason beyond ego that might be inspiring the conductors you are watching to do the same thing.