Sibelius: Complete Original Piano Music, Vol. 4

Featuring

Erik Thomas Tawaststjerna
Jean Sibelius

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Composer Biography

Wilhelm Kempff, a great admirer of Sibelius, once commented on the first sonatina that it was "something to polish one's touch on."

Compositional Technique

The third sonatina in B flat minor is structurally the most interesting of the opus, with all movements built on the same thematic foundation of a series of intervals: third-fourth-fifth.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sibelius considered thematic unity, or "deep logic," as one of the three main criteria of symphonic form, alongside stringency and style.

Compositional Technique

Sibelius's Three Sonatinas op. 67 revolve around the Fourth Symphony like satellites, with the symphony's tritone tensions providing the gravitational field.

Composition History

During a stay in Berlin in January and February 1914, Sibelius's interest in impressionism was reawakened after the "dark" period of the Fourth Symphony.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sibelius created a refined, individual piano style in his Sonatinas op. 67 and Two Rondinos op. 68, which, despite appearing ascetic on paper, conceal a rich potential of sounds.