Moreover, the nature of the changes themselves is very dramatic: the very opening of the symphony lacks its familiar horn-call, which today seems an intergral part of the fabric of the opening movement nor does the original second movement begin where I – and I suspect many others – had always imagined, in the context of the final version, that it did. But, as listening to this disc – a somewhat disconcerting experience – amply demonstrates, Sibelius did far more than simply conflate the first two movements into one: he trimmed down the entire score – the finale alone is some 200 bars longer in the original – and made extensive changes but most of the familiar material is still here, in one form or another. The "conventional wisdom", as propogated by liner-note writers, gives the impression that betwen 19 Sibelius did little to the symphony other that collapse the first two movements together. Now, as with their groundbreaking recording of the original version of the Violin Concerto (CD-500), the Swedish company BIS have secured permission from the Sibelius family to make the première recording of the composer's first thoughts. A further two revisions followed, resulting in the now-familiar version first heard in 1919. There are grounds for suspecting that the composer rushed to finish the symphony in time – probably one reason why he was dissatisified with the original version, which was almost immediately withdrawn and has apparently only been heard in public on one subsequent occasion. As most Sibelians will be aware, the familiar version of the Fifth Symphony (today probably the most popular of the seven) is in fact the third, dating from 1919.īut Sibelius originally completed the symphony in time for his 50 th birthday concert in 1915.
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