Symphony No. 4 in a minor, Op. 63

“It is as if Sibelius penetrates directly to the core of life’s ruthlessness and exposes that core without offering any false consolation.”¹

• Sibelius wrote Symphony No. 4 between 1910-11. The piece premiered in Helsinki in 1911 with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, conducted by the composer.
• Symphony No. 4 consists of four movements:
  1. Tempo molto moderato, quasi adagio
  2. Allegro molto vivace
  3. Il tempo largo
  4. Allegro²
• In a note written shortly before the symphony’s premiere, Sibelius wrote, “The symphony is ready. Iacta alea est! (The die is cast!) It’s a must! It calls for much courage to look at life straight in the eyes!”³
  • In 1908, Sibelius endured a surgery to remove a tumor from his throat, which also required giving up alcohol and tobacco cold-turkey. The subsequent withdrawal as well as his traumatic surgical procedure drove Sibelius into a dark period. Symphony No. 4 perhaps served as a way for the composer to work through this difficult time, a way to put his “dark night of the soul into artistic perspective.”⁴
• Fun fact – while writing Symphony No. 4, Sibelius was also working on a piece based on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. Sibelius never completed The Raven work, but sketches from it made their way into the symphony.⁵

1. “Symphony No. 4, Op. 63 (1911),” Sibelius.fi, accessed November 12, 2025, https://sibelius.fi/musiikki/orkesteriteokset/sinfoniat-1-7/sinfonia-iv-op-63-1911/.
2. “Symphony No.4, Op.63 (Sibelius, Jean),” IMSLP, accessed November 12, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.4,_Op.63_(Sibelius,_Jean).
3. Dr. Ilkka Oramo, “Symphony No. 4,” Hollywood Bowl, accessed November 12, 2025, https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/musicdb/pieces/3982/symphony-no-4.
4. Stephen Johnson, Notes in accompanying booklet, Sibelius: Symphonies Nos 1-7 performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis, LSO 0675, 2016, compact disc.
5. “Symphony No. 4, Op. 63 (1911),” Sibelius.fi.