The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, named after Finnish composer
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
, is a competition for violinists up to age 30. It is held every five years in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
. The first competition took place in year 1965, eight years after the death of the composer to mark the centenary of the composer's birth. The competition is arranged by the
Sibelius Society of Finland
The Sibelius Society of Finland ( fi, Sibelius-Seura ry, sv, Sibelius-Samfundet rf) is a society in Finland dedicated to the music of the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was set up in December 1957. The Society and the Ministry of Education o ...
and the
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...
.
The competition has always had high-level competitors, and winners such as
Oleg Kagan,
Viktoria Mullova
Viktoria Yurievna Mullova ( rus, Виктория Юрьевна Муллова, , vʲɪˈktorʲɪɪ̯ə ˈmuɫəvə; born 27 November 1959) is a Russian-born British violinist. She is best known for her performances and recordings of a number ...
, and
Leonidas Kavakos have become internationally performing soloists. The popularity amongst the players might be explained by the location of the competition:
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
connecting western Europe and
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
was probably considered safe enough by the Soviet authority to allow players to attend the competition.
Structure
The competition has three rounds: the first round, the second round, and the final round. After each round, a number of competitors are chosen to proceed to the next round, and after the final round the finalists are ranked. In the final ranking, the performance in each round is considered as a whole. To be accepted in the competition, candidates need to send a performance sample for a competition committee for pre-selection.
The first round program consists typically works of
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
, a sonata by
Mozart, and
Paganini's capriccios. It is said that Bach measures readiness, Mozart measures understanding of style, and Paganini measures technical ability. The second round, often referred as the semi-finals, consists typically of a sonata for violin and piano, few pieces by Sibelius, a modern Finnish piece, and a virtuoso piece. In the final round, the finalists perform two concertos accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. One of the concertos is mandated as the
Violin Concerto in D minor by Sibelius.
In 2005, 175 applications were received, 58 competitors were accepted of which 50 took part in the competition, 20 proceeded to the second round, and 8 were chosen to the final round.
Laureates
See also
*
List of classical music competitions
European Classical music has long relied on music competitions to provide a public forum that identifies the strongest players and contributes to the establishment of their professional careers. This is a list of current competitions in classica ...
*
World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...
References
External links
*
* Th
competition pagesof
Finnish Broadcasting Company
Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...
The Sibelius Society of Finland
{{Authority control
Violin competitions
Music competitions in Finland
Things named after Jean Sibelius