POSTCARD N.83 - FINLAND

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 14th June; received on the 28th June

Postcard image: Jean Sibelius 

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Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) is often cited as instrumental in the creation of a Finnish national identity through music. Having been born in what was then Russian soil (small wonder Finns nowadays look across the border with the utmost distrust...) and although speaking Swedish at home, he would go on to attend the "first Finnish-speaking school in Russian-held Finland, where he came into contact with Finnish literature and in particular with the Kalevala, the mythological epic of Finland, which remained for him a constant source of inspiration" as can be read on Encyclopaedia Britannica website.

Elaborating on the canons of the  19th century Romanticism from which he would transition into a musical language that although strictly tonal was ever more permeated by the echoes of modernism,  he would produce a body of work that would lead to him being considered the most important symphonic Scandinavian composer of all times.

One of his most well known works is the Violin concerto, written in 1905, which I remember having had the pleasure of  hearing executed by Leonidas Kavakos and the Philadelphia Orchestra, directed by Christoph Eschenbach, many years ago.

Thank you so much Johanna, for making me recall it!

Stamps, L to R:

Both stamps used by Johanna are part of the same five self-adhesive domestic rate stamp set issued on05JUN2019, celebrating the Natural Life of Finland. These two depict granite rocks and the Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) butterfly,  a species that is also present in my own country, the remaining three on the set being illustrated with photos of a horse, a perch (Perca fluviatilis) and silver birch (Betula pendula) trees.