![]() Otherwise he would scarcely have used the piano throughout his life as a practical instrument, one on which he improvised and gained new ideas. Sibelius' statement to Levas must come closest to the truth. ![]() Sibelius added that one day his piano pieces might become as popular as those of Schumann." 'I know that they have a secure future, I know it despite the fact that they have completely fallen into oblivion.'. He appreciated them to the full and considered the opinion of the musical world unfair. On the other hand, according to his secretary Santeri Levas (1960), "Sibelius himself had a completely different view of his piano pieces. as a matter of fact the piano does not interest me because it cannot sing." He said to his pupil Bengt von Törne (1937): "I write piano pieces in my spare moments. Sibelius seemed to provide ammunition for the views of his critics by a few careless remarks. "there are technical difficulties, to be sure, but generally the piano texture is melodious and colourful - but unlike any other piano style". In Sibelius's piano music everything works, everything sings - but on its own terms." Gould's conclusion was absolutely positive: "Sibelius was able to make a significant addition to the far too limited piano repertoire of late Romanticism." According to Eero Heinonen According to Gould "Sibelius never wrote against the grain of the keyboard. Pianists such as Ilmari Hannikainen, Glenn Gould, Erik Tawaststjerna and Eero Heinonen have seen Sibelius's personal way of writing for the piano as an interesting challenge, and none of them has doubted Sibelius's mastery of the instrument. On the other hand, pianists who have taken the trouble to study the music itself have without exception praised Sibelius's piano style for its originality and its suitability for the instrument. Those who have found fault with Sibelius's piano music have usually been music writers or critics. One wonders if he was supposed to write only symphonies and let his large family starve. Symphonies and songs." Anyway, it seems absurd to blame a professional composer for trying to maintain his family in the only way he could, by writing music for money. He wrote in his diary (16th May 1910): "One has to combine things great and small. But for Sibelius himself there was no aesthetic problem. ![]() Few great composers have received as much criticism as Sibelius for writing miniatures - especially small-scale piano and violin pieces - instead of concentrating on large orchestral works, and above all on symphonies.
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