The U.K. may (possibly) be leaving the political and trading partnership that is the E.U. at the end of March next year but, geographically, historically and culturally there will be no divorce, no decree absolute.

So, I’m starting a new thread looking at one or two of the most famous composers from each country in the E.U., the E.E.A. and, well, Switzerland!

Finland‘s most famous and greatest composer is, unquestionably, Sibelius.

Jean Sibelius was born in 1865 and died in 1957. His music, often using traditional musical forms and much of it re-telling Finnish mythology, is said to have helped Finland develop its national identity during its struggle for independence Russia.

His most famous work is, undoubtedly, the 1899 tone poem Finlandia with its memorable “hymn” that has had a life of its own (including becoming a national song of Finland).

Sibelius wrote 7 symphonies, a Violin Concerto, the Karelia Suite, Valse Triste and The Swan of Tuonela.

Stylistically, Sibelius is considered a nationalistic romantic composer. It could be argued that his lush harmonies, powerful melodies and wonderfully oozing orchestrations were more akin to the great composer at the middle up end of the 19th Century (Dvorak, Borodin, etc.) than his early 20th Century contemporaries.

After completing his Seventh Symphony, some incidental music for ‘The Tempest’ and the tone poem Tapiola in the mid-1920s, Sibelius largely retired from composing (though he did begin to sketch an Eighth Symphony, nothing was heard during his lifetime).

During the last 30 years of his life Sibelius rarely spoke publicly about music and, in 1945, the highly self-critical composer burned many incomplete scores and papers.

He died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 91 and is buried in Ainola.

Few composers can have had such a deep impact on a nation and its history. Sibelius will continue to be loved and admired around the world but especially in Finland.