The Life and Music of Jean Sibelius
Taught by Jason Schulman
Jason Schulman is a life-long learner and wannabe scholar. A native of the great state of New Jersey, he earned his PhD in History at Emory University. When he’s not daydreaming about returning to Australia, where he spent a semester abroad, he’s trying to raise money for student scholarships at NYU.
Jean Sibelius was one of the world's most celebrated composers about 100 years ago, and is widely considered Finland's greatest composer. His music, like the exquisite Finlandia, was celebrated by Finnish people seeking independence from Russia around the turn of the last century. Sibelius remains a larger-than-life figure in Finland today. As Alex Ross put it in The New Yorker, "When Finns are asked to characterize their culture, they invariably mention, along with such national treasures as the lakeside sauna, Fiskars scissors, and Nokia cell phones, 'our Sibelius.'"
And for good reason.
In this class, we'll learn about the life and music of this fascinating musical figure. We'll cover Sibelius's biography and a bit of Finnish history and culture, and listen to some of Sibelius's most important compositions, including symphonies and tone poems.
Sibelius has a unique sound. His music bridged the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, and he is often studied as one of the "cold climate" composers. Tim Page described Sibelius this way in the Washington Post: "At his very best, he is often weird."
While appreciation for Sibelius has gone up and down over the decades, he's a great name to know. Your ears are in for a treat.
No musical knowledge is required; in fact, it's probably better if you don't have any!
