Jean Sibelius (born 8 December 1865 in Hämeenlinna, passed away on September 20, 1957 at Ainola, his home in Järvenpää) is the best-known and most highly regarded Finnish composer of all times.

Few composers were able to capture in music the myths, history and natural beauty of their home country like Sibelius did. His most critically acclaimed works are the seven symphonies, tone poems and the violin concerto.

"Janne"

Sibelius was the son of a municipal doctor, Christian Gustaf Sibelius, and his wife Maria Charlotta Borg. Originally christened Johan Christian Julius, young Sibelius soon got the pet name "Janne" after Dr. Sibelius's late brother, the merchant captain Johan "Janne" Sibelius.

In his student years, Sibelius began to use the old calling cards of Johan Sibelius, found among the papers of his late uncle. Uncle Janne had had his name printed in French, as was the fashion at the time, and this is how Johan Christian Julius "Janne" Sibelius became known as Jean Sibelius to posterity.

Music replaced law studies

After his matriculation in 1885, Sibelius enrolled in the law school at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland in Helsinki, but he could only focus on music, and he quit law school after just one year.

From 1885–1889, he studied music at various institutions in Helsinki, including the Helsinki Music Institute – today's Sibelius Academy – under Martin Wegelius. He continued his studies into the next decade, first in Berlin (1889–1890) and then in Vienna (1890–1891).

Friend of celebrated artists

In Finland, he became part of the wave of Fennoman artists whose ranks included celebrated writers and painters such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Pekka Halonen, Eero Järnefelt, Arvid Järnefelt, Eino Leino, Robert Kajanus, Juhani Aho and Eero Erkko. A number of these artists went on to form a community around Lake Tuusula near Helsinki.

Sibelius had a particularly close relationship with the Järnefelts, and he later married Aino, the sister of Eero and Arvid. Jean and Aino had six daughters: Eva, Ruth, Kirsti-Maria (who died of typhoid at the age of one), Katarina, Margareta and Heidi.

One of the symbols of the national struggle

After his return to Finland in 1891, Sibelius continued writing the Kullervo Symphony, which he had started in Vienna. Premiered in 1892, the Kullervo was one of the great successes of Sibelius's career.

During the period of Russian oppression, Sibelius grew into one of the symbols of the national struggle. Patriotic works such as Finlandia and the Song of the Athenians lifted Finnish spirits during those hard times. Sibelius's National-Romantic period ended with Symphony No. 1 (1899).

New home in Ainola

In 1904, the new home of Jean and Aino Sibelius was completed. Built by Lake Tuusula, the house was called Ainola, "Aino's house". An active social life and late nights at Helsinki restaurants had begun affecting Sibelius’s family life and work as a composer.

"In Helsinki, the song within me died," Sibelius later declared. Moving to Ainola provided Sibelius with the perfect working environment for the rest of his life.

International concert trips

In the early teens of the century, Sibelius made several concert trips to Gothenburg, Riga, Copenhagen, Berlin and many other cities; as a result of these trips, his international reputation began to grow. The Great War of 1914-1918 brought tough times for Sibelius, both mentally and materially.

In order to secure an income, he had to compose small works - songs, piano pieces and compositions for violin and piano. The creative break of 1920-1922 was followed by Sibelius’s late period, the symphonies. He continued performing abroad and completed his Symphony No. 6 (1923) and Symphony No. 7 (1924).

Funeral Music

Funeral Music for organ op. 111b (1931), which Sibelius composed for the funeral of his friend Akseli Gallen-Kallela, is generally considered his last public work. although Sibelius continued to work on his eighth symphony up until 1943. He destroyed the score of this and a number of other works in a great bonfire in Ainola in late 1940s.

Sibelius died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 91 on September 20, 1957 at Ainola. After the memorial service at the Helsinki Cathedral, Sibelius's coffin was brought to Ainola and buried in the garden where he rests today.

Mourners lined the streets and roads all the way from the centre of Helsinki to the town of Järvenpää.