by Ben Hogwood Image of Sibelius courtesy of Wikipedia, and Finnish photographer Daniel Nyblin

On this day in 1896, the world premiere of Jean Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite took place in Helsinki. The suite, in four distinct movements, has become a popular concert piece and is an early indication of the composer’s ability to tell dramatic tales through the orchestra. In this case the story follows Lemminkäinen in the Kalevala, the Finnish epic of folklore and poetry. The four movements are Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, The Swan of Tuonela (sometimes placed third and the most popular of the four), Lemminkäinen in Tuonela and Lemminkäinen’s Return

You can listen to a performance below from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste:

Published post no.2,857 – Monday 13 April 2026