Ah, Sibelius. Another one of those composers that I had a decidedly 'meh' attitude towards before actually getting stuck into their music. Sibelius, I would say, is the composer that taught me the value of repetition.
His second symphony, for example, begins with repeated lower strings notes and is replied to by a wind, brass and horns melody which takes different guises each time, but essentially repeats itself. On large and small scales, Sibelius uses repetition for two immediately apparent reasons. Firstly, as can be observed from this symphony's opening moments alone, repetition serves as a means of reinforcement and reiteration. In the wonderful recording linked to below, you can really hear the players pushing through these repeated notes giving real meaning to them - something which I think Sibelius was intending. And on a much larger scale, the repetition of certain melodies with changes, decorations and variations also gives them meaning across the entire movement and even piece. The fourth movement is another good example of this, especially as it builds to its climax.
Secondly, repetition serves almost as a mantra, something to ground the more ethereal aspects of the music as it builds, as can be heard later on in the first movement. We'll talk more about this kind of thing next week looking at a different piece by a different composer, but for now, the repetition of single notes as well as musical ideas can serve the purpose of grounding the music - of bringing it back or keeping it routed somewhere.
Of course, Sibelius is not all about repetition in this sense. He has a knack for 'repeating' traditional Finnish melodies in a new way, weaving them in and out of each other with new and interesting harmonies, often evoking the image of rolling hills and vast mountains just through the interlocking of simple 'folk' ideas and adding music to elevate them. This can be heard throughout the symphony, but is a good way into the rather difficult (on first listen, anyway) second movement. And this, in itself, is a form of repetition. If nothing else, this symphony is about repeating ideas from one's past into the future, and using music as a way to 'repeat' the almost sublime nature of that which inspires and surrounds you.
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