Once upon a time in Finland, Sibelius saw a flight of swans and felt his imagination take wing. That’s the story behind the unforgettable horn theme that crowns his Fifth Symphony: music as ...

Apart from some trivial piano music, only the Fifth Symphony was composed during the conflict, completed in time for his 50th birthday celebrations. Finland proclaimed its independence after the ...

and the same team left an abiding impression in Helsinki with the Second and Fifth Symphonies. It was the Sixth that featured in Sir John’s last-ever Manchester concert in May 1970. Within less than a ...