Sibelius - Karelia Suite, Op. 11

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Karelia Suite, Op. 11 Composed in 1893; premiered in 1893 in Helsinki Performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (1895-1967) Recorded November 1961 at the Großer Saal of the Musikverein, Vienna 0:00 I. Intermezzo 3:13 II. Ballade 10:26 III. Alla marcia Sibelius composed the Karelia Suite, Op. 11, in 1893 as incidental music commissioned by the Viipuri Students' Association for an event intended to raise funds for educational support in the Karelia region. Derived from a more extensive series of tableaux that celebrated Karelian history and culture, Sibelius later extracted three movements into an orchestral suite, which became one of his most accessible and beloved patriotic works.