Customer Reviews

Sibelius Orchestral Works: An Owner's Manual (Unlocking the Masters)

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When I call the book Gigantic, I'm not referring to its physical size, which is quite modest. I'm talking about its intent and accomplishment.

Writing about classical music is difficult. Much of the terminology is unfamiliar to most readers, and there's always the temptation to go in one of two unwelcome directions: either over-popularizing the subject or being dry and academic. The effective path lies along a fine line between those two extremes, and David Hurwitz walks that line beautifully. I'm so impressed by this treatise on Sibelius that I'm going to immediately start collecting the rest of his similar books on Dvorak, Mahler, Haydn, and anybody else he's covered that I don't know about yet.

Although the market for a book like this one must be incredibly narrow, Mr. Hurwitz has waxed expansive and entertaining. His insights into the composition techniques employed by the Finnish master are unparalleled. The illustrative samples on the two included CDs are both wisely chosen and luminously recorded-- bravo!

I should probably explain that I consider myself somewhat of an expert on Sibelius and his music, having studied both the composer and his output for well more than fifty years. David Hurwitz, who is considerably younger than I am, has nevertheless studied these subject even more deeply than I have, and his analyses and evaluations ring absolutely true. From now on, when people ask me about Sibelius, I will quote Hurwitz rather than myself!

For anyone familiar with the jargon of classical music essays and with an interest in the subject, this book is a godsend. I had high expectations for it, and it exceeded them.

Written by radio commentator David Hurwitz, Sibelius the Orchestral Works An Owners Manual is a book and CD set celebrating the classic creations of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The text discusses Sibelius' musical language, symphonies, violin concerto, tone poems, theatrical music, and more, while two full-length CDs offer a beautiful cross-section of not only Sibelius' work, but also the compositions of his contemporaries and successors. An in-depth, at times modestly technical analysis, written especially for dedicated music lovers and musicologists, and a "must-have" for anyone interested in learning about and experiencing the Finnish master.

David Hurwitz's book on the orchestral works of composer Jean Sibelius is definitely a must-have for anyone doing extensive research on Sibelius's music.
This book offers a highly detailed analysis on all of Sibelius's symphonies, tone poems and shorter works and puts these works under the microscope so-to-speak. Granted, after reading this book, you'll probably never listen to a Sibelius piece the same way again.
Additionally, the book comes with two audio CDs. One is nearly 80-minutes worth of highlights from Sibelius's masterworks including the third and seventh symphonies heard in their entirety. The second disc is a compilation of music from various Finnish composers who have followed in Sibelius's footsteps. Brief bios of these composers are spread throughout the book as well.
Mr. Hurwitz has definitely performed his research well in writing this book. I personally have never read such an analysis on Sibelius's music that cuts right down to the most minute detail until this book was released. It's about time too.
Definitely a must-have for die-hard Sibelians!!!

I have some of the other books from this Unlocking the Masters series, and they are WONDERFUL!!! Not only are they factual and informative, but they are easy to read and really show you what to look/listen for in the music! It comes with a CD which has musical examples of pieces that are talked about in the book! This book is a wonderful tool for any student!

David Hurwitz's SIBELIUS, THE ORCHESTRAL WORKS: An Owner's Manual" is a guide to the symphonies and major tone poems of the great Finnish composer, meant for an audience of home listeners who may not be able to read music. He attempts to give people a movement-by-movement guide to what is going on within each work, concentrating on the musical development itself and not really the historical background of the pieces. If you are a novice classical listener who still has difficulties with recognizing things like sonata form, Hurtwitz's book can be useful to better understand how Sibelius structured this music so successfully. Hurwitz's also brings one's attention to aspects of Sibelius' orchestration that one might initially overlook.

Still, there's much I don't like about the book. Hurwitz's knocks of modernism seem entirely unnecessary, and his neglect of some figures in favour of less important ones is ridiculous (Dvorak was the great master of using "fake" folk materials, not Bartok?). Throughout he speaks of the music in arbitary terms ("this sounds like a forest", "the Third is a story of tragedy") that might make sense to people brought up on a diet of Romanticism, but will probably alienate people who want to enjoy the music as abstraction. The book also introduces in boxed texts several later Finnish composers who were inspired to some degree by Sibelius, and some extracts of their works are included on a second CD. Why he limited himself to Finnish composers I don't know (maybe Ondine wanted his help in marketing), but Sibelius' influence spread throughout all the Nordic countries. The Danish composer Vagn Holmboe, for example, would be better selected to show such influence than Magnus Lindberg, whose generation was trying to shake Sibelius off. Another Danish composer, Per Norgard, has long spoken of his admiration for the last movement of the Fifth, where Sibelius has a theme moving in different tempi simultaneously, and Norgard sees it as an inspiration for his own infinity series.

If you can read music, a great guide to Sibelius' Fifth is tSibelius: Symphony No. 5 (Cambridge Music Handbooks) by James Hepokoski. I hope to find similar more rigorous introductions to the other symphonies. But for listeners who don't want anything academic, I'd still suggest looking at Hurwitz's book, though it is sure not to please everyone.