麻豆社

Donald Macleod commemorates the 50th anniversary of Finnish composer Sibelius's death. By the age of 26, Sibelius had already established his reputation with the first of his symphonic masterpieces, marking him out as a standard-bearer of Finnish culture. Sibelius had always wanted to be a virtuoso violinist, but an injury early in life together with crippling attacks of stage fright put this ideal well out of reach. In his early 40s, Sibelius suffered debilitating health problems which, together with his ever-present financial worries, had a dramatic effect on his state of mind. When Sibelius died in 1957 at the age of 91, he had acquired the status of national icon and the most famous musician in the world, in spite of the fact that he composed virtually nothing during the last 30 years of his life. Donald Macleod explores Sibelius's life and works.