Tapiola (Sibelius)

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Tapiola (literally, "Realm of Tapio"), op. 112, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, written in 1926. It was the product of a commission from Walter Damrosch for the New York Philharmonic Society. Tapiola portrays the terrifying spirit (Tapio) lying behind the stark Finnish pine-forests that enveloped Sibelius's isolated home outside Järvenpää.

It was premiered by the New York Symphonic Society on December 26th of 1926^[1].

When asked by the publisher to clarify the work's program, Sibelius responded by supplying a quatrain:

Widespread they stand, the Northland's dusky forests,

Ancient, mysterious, brooding savage dreams;

Within them dwells the Forest's mighty God,

And wood-sprites in the gloom weave magic secrets.

It was to be his last major work, even though he would go on to live for another thirty years.

A typical performance takes between fifteen and twenty minutes.

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Inkpot review of Tapiola.

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