Jean Sibelius

Daniel M. Grimley is Professor of Music and Head of Humanities at the University of Oxford. His books include Delius and the Sound of Place (2018).

"A brief, thoughtful biography that should prove engaging to scholar and novice alike . . . Jean Sibelius: Life, Music, Silence is a welcome addition to the literature on a creative master who continues to stand apart." - Tim Page, The Wall Street Journal"The three-word subtitle of Daniel M. Grimley’s Jean Sibelius: Life, music, silence (Reaktion) provides the key to its excellence. “Life” shows Sibelius’s emergence from a Swedish-speaking provincial-city background into becoming an international celebrant of Finnish language, myth, poetry and landscape. “Music” insists on the varieties within Sibelius’s output – songs, piano compositions, theatre music (with Everyman outstanding) as well as the tone-poems and seven symphonies, here superbly analysed. “Silence” means “27 years … an intractable dilemma”. Grimley probes political ambivalences, the reality of an Eighth Symphony, while leaving us with huge gratitude for the incomparable richness of “Life” and “Music”." - Paul Binding, TLS 'Books of the Year'"Always more than simply a Finnish national figure, Sibelius's life spanned tumultuous events. This book situates him within a rich interdisciplinary environment, paying attention to his relationship with architecture, literature, politics and the visual arts. Drawing on the latest developments in Sibelius research, it is intended as an accessible and rewarding introduction for the general reader, and also offers a fresh and provocative interpretation for those more familiar with his music." - Presto Music Awards 2021 - Book Winner"Grimley writes well and sensitively: providing technical information and opinion without being over-academic . . . Jean Sibelius Life, Music and Silence is a subtle and informative study of Sibelius providing much fresh information and perspectives." - Classical CD Choice"It is easy for a biographer to lose focus on what Sibelius called his “inner life”, while trying to include all his other activities within a very intricate and unfamiliar socio-political context. Professor Grimley has an exemplary grasp of the latter, and (like his subject) generally knows what to leave out." - John Greening, TLS"The quest to compose drove [Sibelius's] life, yet as Grimley notes, much else about him is hard to pin down . . . This complexity is embraced in a wide-ranging yet taut narrative, in which the musical works are balanced with the life story. And while this is far from the first Sibelius biography, the British academic adds something new by meticulously drawing on relevant cultural, artistic, historical and political context. Broad ideas are interrogated, whether that's the complexity of national identity or the vision of the Finnish forest composer. The insightful musical analysis makes a wonderful case for the rarer songs and theatre music." - BBC Music Magazine"Composer Jean Sibelius is almost always associated with nationalism, particularly in his homeland of Finland. However, as Grimley demonstrates, Sibelius was a composer of much more depth than just his well-known major works. He also composed theater works, songs, and chamber works. Grimley examines this broader catalog and also considers some of the revised chronology issues to Sibelius’s catalog discovered through work on the complete edition of Sibelius's works . . . Sibelius is so much more than just a few labels, and Grimley delicately places Sibelius both within his time and within his own popular canon. Recommended." - Choice"With a new spring in his step across already familiar ground, Daniel Grimley reinvigorates the life-and-works format by vividly placing Sibelius within the ever-shifting artistic and geopolitical landscape of his time, and that of existing scholarship. Grimley’s elegant fusion of “audible” musicological detail and warm human insight will enrich the academic and general reader alike." - Hilary Finch, former music critic, The Times"Daniel Grimley’s Jean Sibelius: Life, Music, Silence is a concise, balanced and reader-friendly volume that combines successful biographical study with cultural-historical cross-section and discussion about up-to-date topics in the literature, such as the debate on Sibelius’s political orientation. Extending the examination beyond the standard Sibelius repertoire, the author’s perspective on the composer’s music is fresh and inventive." - Timo Virtanen, Lecturer at Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, and Editor-in-Chief of the Jean Sibelius Works