Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)was a Finnish composer of classical music. Together with the work of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Sibelius' music is synonymous with Finnish national identity.



Jean Sibelius was born in 1865 into a Finnish-Swedish family in Hämeenlinna in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. His family consciously decided to send Jean to an important Finnish language school. This should be seen as part of the larger rise of the the Fennoman movement, an expression of Romantic Nationalism which was to become a crucial part of Sibelius' artistic output and politics.

His most famous compositions are probably Finlandia, Valse Triste, the violin concerto, the Karelia suite and The Swan of Tuonela (a movement from his Lemminkäinen suite), but he wrote much else besides, including other pieces inspired by the Kalevala, seven numbered symphonies, over a hundred songs for voice and piano, incidental music for 13 separate plays, an opera (Jungfrun i tornet, which remains unpublished), chamber music including a string quartet, piano music, 21 separate publications of choral music, and Masonic ritual music.