Symphony No. 1 in e minor, Op. 39

Composer: SIBELIUS, Jean
  • Sibelius wrote his First Symphony in 1899, when he was 33 years old.
  • The piece consists of four movements:
    1. Andante, ma non troppo – Allegro energico
    2. Andante (ma non troppo lento)
    3. Scherzo: Allegro
    4. Finale: Andante – Allegro molto – Andante assai –
      Allegro molto come prima – Andante (ma non troppo)1
  • Listen for – Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1 is cyclical in nature: the main musical material is recycled in various ways throughout all four movements.2
    • Though the composer had written several programmatic works for symphony before Symphony No. 1, Sibelius never assigned a program for the latter.

Sources

  1. “Symphony No.1, Op.39 (Sibelius, Jean),” IMSLP, accessed March 19, 2026, https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.1,_Op.39_(Sibelius,_Jean).
  2. Zachary Gassenheimer, “Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1,” The Orchestra Now (2024), accessed March 18, 2026, https://ton.bard.edu/sibelius-symphony-no-1/.

Cut IDs

23723 40750 15711 24667