Sibelius originally wrote the Andante festivo for string quartet in 1922. The first performance was given on 28 December 1922 in Jyväskylä at the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Säynätsalo sawmill (though Sibelius had originally been asked to write a cantata). He lived for another 35 years, but only a handful of major works followed this stirring pièce d’occasion, and the 1938 arrangement of the Andante festivo for string orchestra and timpani was virtually his farewell to composition.

© Nigel Simeone 2015