Sibelius challenged me with this | Sibelius: Symphony 5 (Karajan) | Classical Music Reaction 

Hey Gidi. I absolutely love Sibelius and this is probably one of my favorite symphonies ever. I know it's weird and hard to listen to. I don't even know what attracted me but something made me fall in love with this piece when I heard it for the first time. For me is more than music, really is one of the most profound works in history. It dig so deep into human spirit...more than anyone else. In this music I found my spirituality. I recommend you to listen to the other Sibelius symphonies so to trying to get more into his music, the 3rd and the 7th are wonderful. Hi from Italy😊

You are having quite an interesting and unique path into classical music, I bet very few beginners focus on such a wide range of composers. Rather I think it's more natural for beginners to go by phases, focusing on one composer you particularly like and gradually open to the world of classical music. Your audience has a large variety of tastes, and lot of experience, you will hardly enjoy a piece from their favourite composer as much as they do. When you don't enjoy a piece, I advice to wait, and give a second listen in the future, not right away. It's useless to try to understand when you're far from the right mindset. Listen to what you like, until you consume it, devour it all until you are sick of it.

Hi Gidi! The key to understanding Sibelius' music is to remember that it is basically describing the nature of Finland and its moods, although it can certainly be seen as just classical pieces of pure music of the period when Sibelius lived and worked. I once listened to this symphony on an old steamer in the beautiful and vast archipelago outside Finland's southern coast, and that made all the difference. Eyes closed, reclining on a bench after lunch with no disturbing noises outside, and all the time in the world... I find that the first movement of any symphony just acts as an introduction and the second movement is where the meaning of the whole piece becomes clear! So, patience is needed...and imagination.

you may struggle with this but i love every second and i think its one of the most succinct, full formed conceptually and well-rounded symphonies ever written, although it took a few listens to get. the first movement is all about the climax at about 8 mins in - and the buildup is very soothing but also cathartic. took me the longest to appreciate the middle movement. i like herbert blomstedts version the best. im always surprised people take to prickly and mean sounding mahler so quickly but not stuff like this, but its all question of taste would love to see the reaction to karajan sibelius 7 as well cheers x

Sibelius symphonies are immersive organic breathing experiences like a plant spreading roots and stems till it triumphs in full bloom. They're about nature, the Finnish mountainscapes, the rushing ravines, fjords _(mostly Norwegian)

This is one that took me a while to appreciate -- in fact I don't think I fully understood the first movement until I played this symphony, and even then not until after two or three rehearsals. The slow build makes it seem to meander at first; it's not always easy to see the direction it's going until after the fact. The horn theme in the third movement is iconic, though. Although it's not necessarily about anything, the third movement was inspired by the sight of a flock of swans taking flight at sunset, and to me there was something about that horn theme that felt like flying even in the first listen (before I was aware of the inspiration).

My favorite Sibelius symphonies are the lesser known ones! 3, 4, 6. Three is easy to like, number six is absolutely gorgeous. The fourth is extremely challenging and I wouldn't recommend it right away. But I think it's one of the greatest symphonies ever written. The violin concerto is incredible.

Sibelius often writes very introverted music, which can make it difficult to appreciate sometimes. You might get more enjoyment out of his symphonies if you were able to listen to them without specifically focusing on them, but more as something in the background while daydreaming or meditating, or working on another task such as homework or something 😊 I already told you- I'm a Dark Souls junkie, and playing with Sibelius in the background is just such a nice fit... wonderful combination of terror/horror/struggle and beauty. I do like Symphony 5, but not as much as some of his other works. Sibelius is in my Top 5 favorite composers.

I had the opportunity to hear this beautiful symphony live. The swan theme starts again here 31:08 ❤❤

Herbert von Karajan will always be my favorite conductor. I might be biased because i am German too, but the perfection is just insane. You should listen to Beethoven 9th Symphony - Herbert Von Karajan (1080p),

Hey! I love your videos and your interpretations on classical music. Could you please react to Wieniawski Violin concerto 1 in f sharp minor and the Korngold concerto? I notice you haven't reacted to any of those composers and they're some of my favorite!

I must admit, for Sibelius symphonies, I prefer no. 2, 1, then 7 and only then the 5th. I'd strongly recommend trying those other ones out. The 5th isn't too personal, It's an impressive construct, but more distant emotionally. I enjoy the big, slow tune in the 3rd movement, which for me, conveys a sense of longing, of memories of old, times passed by.

This symphony is often described as a return to a style more accessible to the general public than the fourth symphony was, but I have always found its emotional progression to be cryptic in a way the fourth symphony isn't. From easygoing at 29:11 to lugubrious at 29:50 to cacophonous at 31:38 to triumphant at 32:57, for example. Symphonies are often structured as grappling with and resolving some large-scale tension. This symphony gives me the impression of having been conceived that way, but if so, I find the logic of it unclear. If I had to choose between the fourth and the fifth, I would choose the fourth, but I do at least find the weirdness of the fifth intriguing, like it's hiding secrets. I put Beethoven's 13th string quartet in the same category.

If you faced a Sibelius's symphony, you can try one day a Bruckner's one. Bruckner isn't an easy composer in the beginning but it worths the effort, he is in my top 3 best composers of all time. Not all of his symphonies are good, the number 4 is the most acessible. The best are n.o 7, 8 and n.o 9 (unfinished) . The Adagio of the 7th is a masterpiece, the Adagio and Scherzo of the 9th are absolute crazy. He is one of the fathers of music for cinema aside to Wagner and Mahler, and the inventor of the 'riff', as we hear in Rock for example. His symphonies are truly powerfull and his musical linguage is different from the other composers, in my opinion. Bruckner's best works are in the Adagios (of his late sympnonies, mainly) . Ob. Conducting Bruckner it's not easy, so we have some conductors specialized in Bruckner, one of my favourite is Gunther Wand, there are a lot of Bruckner's symphonies with Wand in youtube. Celidibache does a good job too with this composer, but his Bruckner's recordings are s l o w l y.

uhhh... this is a good one!

You MIGHT want to try the BIS label recording from around the mid 1990s with Vänskä with the original 4 movement version.....helps better digest it

Hey Gidi, I’ve watched a bit of your reactions now. Curious if you’ve ever listened to a current/newer composer. I’ve studied a lot of these composers you’ve checked out so far. Student of Mahler, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. I have 11 symphonies to check out! I’d recommend my 4th or 7th right out the gate. I’d appreciate your review my brother! (By the way, all my records or still of a computer, looking to get works performed live, but I still think worth the listen due to the quality of the software. 👍🏽)

Would love for you to listen to Messiaen's Vingt Regards, recorded by Bertrand Chamayou.

This is one of my favourite symphonies by Sibelius but I get what you’re saying. It may be a little difficult to understand. I think a lot of people would want you to react to his 7th symphony witch is just amazing. It is a little shorter than most symphonies but packed with great melodies and emotion, I think you will enjoy it.

You know, I am listening to classical music since I am 5 or 6 years old, over 30 years now and there are some composers that haven't reached me (yet) one of them is Sibelius, it certainly is my loss. I think it is difficult to like and love all the great composers, some people don't like Schubert, Brahms or even Mozart and Bach, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Those silly pictures of geese and nuclear power plants (for some reason,) really distract from the music itself. One of the greatest symphonies of all time.

Plss u should make reaction on Medtner's Piano Concertos 2 and 3🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I'll take the opportunity to say my word about this piece (VERY long comment ahead): First of all the choice of recording here is really not it, I mean It's practically prehistoric coming from 1977. And of course the conductor is Karajan who was certainly not great with Sibelius. My personal favourite recording on youtube is the one by The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, the choice of tempo is far more sane and the recording quality is night and day compared to this. With that out of the way; I understand perfectly how you didnt enjoy what u listened to here (I also didn't) and relate to not understanding this piece when I first heard it. Even the second and third time I simply didn't care for most of it, but there was the charming opening winds and the immaculate time freezing magic of the swan theme which kept me coming back again and again nonetheless. And everytime I heard it, it opened up a little bit more to me. After maybe 10 times of hearing the whole piece I realised I had to understand what was going on with this piece. So during this summer I made the effort of note by note transcribing the entire score into Musescore. I did this for several reasons: 1st to study Sibelius' compositional style and orchestration, 2nd to understand this piece in particular and 3rd to Create a digital midi and digital performance of the piece that suits my liking perfectly. And 2 and a half months later I finished it, during that time I discovered this piece all over again and as I had hoped it finally clicked with me and is currently my no.2 favourite symphony off all time. (though sibelius' 7th may take the spot sooner or later). Beethoven's 9th being 1st of course. (now I'll go through each of the movements) MVT.1 This movement was originally 2 movements the first "Molto Moderato" and the second which was a Scherzo. However when Sibelius rewrote this entire symphony he realised the first 2 movements were in fact one continuously accelerating movement. Going from Very moderate to Very Fast tempo. And so he composed the best transition I've ever heard at 9:27 (I see u smiling there as well :) The First half 0:34 ("Molto Moderato") is performed very well by most conductors even Karajan here. However the Scherzo that it fades into at 10:08 is always performed at a ludicrous tempo. The indication prior to it is "bit by bit less moderately" clearly not a rapid accelerando as is the norm in performances and the tempo the scherzo begins at is a simple "Allegro Moderato" or "Moderately lively" and not the rapid Vivace I hear in every single recording. MVT.2 A slower very pastoral movement, bringing to mind the jolly summer life in finland, it's hard to make it bad. Thought Karajan's choice of tempo here is still too fast for my preference. Not much to say honestly I like it a lot, but it's not my favourite slow movement. There are many cool moments towards the end: this insane frantic section at 21:08 and this gorgeous section at 23:36 with the lamenting Forte violins and soft brass and winds outlining a jazzy set of chords. MVT.3 The most famous movement with the wonderful "Swan theme" which was written in a moment of sudden inspiration when Sibelius saw a swan take flight. Personally I think Karajan absolutely slaughters the theme in this recording, the Turku philharmonics iteration is far far better if you ask me. This piece can be seen as a corresponding continuously de-accelerating movement and a conversation between 2 themes. The first theme played by string tremolos and The swan theme. Both themes basically appear in 3 unique forms throughout the movement, in this order: Tremolo theme 1 -> swan theme 1 -> tremolo theme 2 -> tremolo theme 3 -> swan theme 2 -> swan theme 3 -> end. If it isn't obvious already I absolutely adore this piece, I mean I dedicated a few months of my life to studying it after all.

Sibelius is a deceptive composer when you follow along his musical development. He starts out quite accessable and gets more advanced and heady the further down the line you go. His Symphonies are all masterpieces but only the first 2 are really widely accessable, from 3 onwards they get more difficult and moody. Nontheless 5 is probably his best, as hard to get as it is at first.

I really like the horns part in the 3rd mov (25:56). but the rest of the symphony is quite boring to me honestly...

This isn't at all easy to absorb on the first listen. Sibelius isn't usually thought of as radical as some early 20th century composers, but his later works like this are radical in their own way. I think one of the biggest differences from what you called more "straightforward" works is the different concept of narrative. So much of classical music in the 19th century, since Beethoven, is structured in the manner of a human narrative, a kind of journey. There are also formal conventions, such as sonata form, that help guide the listener. With Sibelius in his later symphonies, that's largely gone. I agree the visuals in that video were annoying, but I think that they're trying to show something. The story Sibelius is trying to tell is one of nature, not humans. For example, the horn call in the third movement is supposedly inspired by a flock of swans taking flight, and I've always imagined the first movement as a cloudy day where the sun peeks through from time to time.

Truly impressed that a young African-American male, like yourself, has taken to classical music, when so many have not. I myself am Mexican-American and my family gave me hell for listening to "music by dead white guys". I am very proud of my collection of several thousand LPs and CDs - all classical/opera which i would not have if it wasn't for my intense love for this music. I was even more impressed when you sat thru the entire "Abschied" from DAS LIED VON DER ERDE by Mahler without reading anything about the music or the words Mahler set to music. talk about jumping into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. Allow me to give you some constructive criticism though: you need to separate the composer, in this case Sibelius, from the conductor, Herbert von Karajan a little better, like mentioning the orchestra is conducted by Karajan. You should try and find someone to help you with your introductions. they would make a big difference.

Sibelius is a great composer, but If you think Sibelius compose obscure symphony, try Per Nørgård works, «Iris for orchestra» a little piece of 15 min, really,I hate listen it, not because she was bad, but because she succeeded in her objective too perfectly, i can't sleep after listen it, a real horror of beautiful works.

Listen to the 7th symphony, it’s his true masterpiece. It’s also only 25-30 minutes long. Listen to Bernstein also, this Karajan recording you chose wasn’t good.

Oh Gidi, just like my request of the Bax Symphony No.2, you had trouble getting into it/understanding it. I don't blame you. The early 20th century composers like Bax and Sibelius are less straightforward with their melodies and themes, and their music is more "atmospheric" and brooding. You may grow to like them more as you age and mature. Just like with Rock and Jazz, classical music can be "generational". My love of classical music, for example, is focused on late Romantic/early 20th century classical music. Likewise, your taste may be more oriented to the Romantic period of classical music, roughly from Beethoven to Brahms to Wagner. Everyone is different as to their love of classical music.

Sibelius's later music is typically non-emotional, really not depicting people or their feelings, more the impersonal harshness of nature, the wide open empty spaces, and particularly the cold. There is also sometimes a bit of Norse mythology mixed in (the parts relating to nature and nature spirits, not to battles and heroism.) His later symphonies (4-7) may take a little getting used to in order to fully understand, as you said - I know they did for me. When I first heard this symphony (and the 7th), I could tell right away that I was going to like it, even if I could also tell that I didn't really understand it yet. (I also generally prefer the same performers' 1965 recording on Deutsche Gramophone, compared to this 1977 recording on EMI.) The 7th Symphony is one of my very favorite symphonies by any composer, more so than the 5th (though again it took a few listens to start to understand everything that was going on). It's a 25-minute organic single-movement work that grows from the tiniest of ideas, and is absolutely brilliant, with incredible power and in the end a feeling of liberation and triumph. It's a more mature and enjoyable, more compact, and better put-together, version of the 5th, in some ways. Sibelius lived for another 33 years following its completion, and, despite many attempts, never completed or published an 8th symphony - the 7th was just too perfect an achievement for him to ever surpass. (Again, my favorite performance is the 1967 performance from Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic on Deutsche Gramophone: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XHHfvdAqvn8.html - this one you want to crank the volume up for, it starts very quiet.)

I agree with you about this symphony. I love a lot of Sibelius, but out of his symphonies, I really think only No.1 and No.2 are "enjoyable". After that, I find his symphonies too monotonous, oblique and hard to enjoy. Apart from his first two symphonies and the violin concerto (which you've already reacted to), I would suggest his more picturesque works like "Tapiola" (from late in his life) or "Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari" (from early in his life).

The pictures in the video are not at all helpful. They don't really represent what the music is about ... because the music isn't about anything in particular, and there is no message. Having said that, it is often said that listening to Sibelius evokes thoughts of the Finnish landscape and I suppose that's what the pictures are meant to do.

Especially the first half of the first movement in this interpretation is too slow for me and therefore the music can meander. In my opinion, the images accompanying the video were also rather counterproductive. It may be more beneficial to watch and listen to live performances of orchestral works that you are hearing for the first time, because if you can see which instruments or groups of instruments are playing, that can be helpful, just as a tip. For example, I recommend the concert recording with Hugh Wolff especially for Sibelius's 5th Symphony: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EcjvvBbZhn4.html

This whole symphony messes too much with my expectations. Like there are some amazing tonal moments which I’ll timestamp, but everything in between is a droning note with frankly annoying themes over it. 1st: peaceful opening theme. 1:26 Jk bye it’s gone. From here, it’s monotone but also somehow too chromatic. There’s a fake out at 3:00 and 5:49 where music starts to go somewhere, but then just suspends in mid air for 3 min. 9:30 finally. Symphony could’ve honestly started here. Convinced 13:00 is a joke. Strings doing most insane, drawn out development until brass saves the day at 13:44 with a mighty ending. 15:35 2nd: we really doing a whole movement of this up and down theme? 18:54 Some nice counter-melody. 20:44 nice development that lasts a minute til we’re back to boring main theme, with brass straightup playing a different song 22:05. So out of place. 24:37 3rd: One the best openings of all time. Weaving tremolo string sections. Gorgeous. 25:35 Comes to halt but new theme is majestic so it gets a pass. 27:44 feels like 1st mov again. Lost. 28:14 opening sneaks in. makes me think the junk before it was just to set up this precious moment. 29:13 opening theme stops. Almost feels like 2 different pieces. But we get one of the most dramatic buildups and climaxes ever. 33:27 Gimmick ending but okay. I’d say this symphony as whole is mildly infuriating. Great moments surrounded by meandering or strange one’s.

Sibelius has truly great moments wrapped among very monotonous music. The fragment starting at 25:50 is one of the greatest in all music, but the rest of the symphony is quite boring in general.

Terrible recording of this fantastic piece…

You just need some good recordings. 🙊 The video animation can only be a joke. A terrible one.

These images are cringe, somebody’s truing to impose their perception into you