The works of Scandinavian composers present the thematic through-line of this concert. The best known among them, Jean Sibelius, is represented by his Symphony No. 1 and the famous overture Finlandia, composed at the end of the 19th century as a call to awaken the Finnish nation’s patriotic spirit.

One of many Serbian premieres of this season is Echoes of Eternity, Concerto for two trombones and orchestra – a piece with a unique dramaturgical concept. The soloists are the legendary Ian Bousfield, who held leading positions at the Vienna and London Philharmonics, and his former student, now Principal Trombone of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Wheeler.

One of the most famous works of Jan Sibelius (1865-1957), but also of entire Finnish classical music, is the symphonic poem Finlandia. The awakening of the national consciousness of the Finnish people and the protest against the occupation by Imperial Russia received their musical form in this work, composed in 1899. To avoid Russian censorship, the work was often given other titles. Through the musical content divided into several sections, Sibelius tried to depict famous moments in Finnish history, composing music that was often considered folk. In 1941, verses by the Finnish poet Koskeniemi were added to the last and most famous anthem section, Finland Awakes, and since then it has been performed with great success throughout Finland as a separate festive composition, Finlandia Hymn.

Jan Sandström (1954) is a prominent contemporary Swedish composer. He wrote works of various genres, but vocal-instrumental works and three concert pieces intended for trombone are among the most successful and performed works. Thanks to the collaboration with the legendary trombonist Christian Lindbergh, Sandström made a great contribution to the enrichment of the concert repertoire for this instrument, for which the literature in this genre is quite limited. His first concerto for trombone and orchestra, the Motorbike Concerto, written in the late 1980s, was performed by the Belgrade Philharmonic in 2014, with Ian Bousfield as soloist.

Echoes of Eternity is Sandström’s third concert piece, written for two trombones and orchestra. It was commissioned by the Symphony Orchestra from Extremadura on the occasion of the candidacy of the Spanish city of Cáceres for the European Capital of Culture in 2016. It was premiered by Lindbergh, while the second solo trombone part is generally assigned to the first trombone of the orchestra.

The concept of the concert is unconventional and thematically follows the rich history of the Spanish city over 2000 years old, which is under the protection of the world cultural heritage of UNESCO. The dramaturgical sequence includes 24 short musical episodes in which, in the middle of the piece, the soloist recites the verses of a song about the city of Cáceres. After Spain, Echoes of Eternity was performed all over the world, among others in Great Britain, Japan, Venezuela and New Zealand, and the Belgrade audience heard the work for the first time.

Jan Sibelius’s (1865-1957) First Symphony was composed in 1898, when the composer was 33 years old. In the same year, the symphony was premiered by the Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by the author. The strict symphonic framework is characterized by a pronounced musical narrative with a strong national stamp. The first movement follows the late Romantic tradition of shifting the dramaturgical focus from exposition to reprise, while the second movement is replaced by a rondo, which is more reminiscent of a variation form. The three-part scherzo is in the typical scherzo style with a break in the middle section. The thematic material entrusted to the clarinet from the beginning of the first movement of the symphony, transformed, finds its place in the introduction of the finale, marked as quasi una Fantasia. In this sense, the musical material shows a certain degree of similarity, and the way of its development is completely specific and different from the classical sonata form. This is why this symphony is unique, not only in Sibelius’ oeuvre, but also as the first work of this genre in the oeuvre of a composer, not at all immature and beginner, but with its own stamp.

Asja Radonjić, M.Sc