Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of Andante festivo, JS 34 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). This solemn, hymn-like piece was written in 1922 originally for string quartet. In 1938 the composer arranged it for string orchestra with timpani and in 1939 he conducted it for a radio broadcast by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the World Fair in New York City, making it the last appearance of Sibelius as the conductor and the only instance of the composer interpreting any of his own works. The work was also performed at his own funeral. I'm playing it from Esa Ylönen’s transcription for organ solo which is based on Karl Ekman’s piano transcription. I recorded it at the recently restored magnificent Emanuel Štěpán Petr organ from 1912 at St. Ignatius church in Prague, Czech Republic when Vidas, me and our friends Paulius Grigonis and Vytautas Meskauskas visited it last weekend. Thanks so much to the organists Jeremy Emanuel Vittek and Martin Maxmilian Kaiser for hosting us!
Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/andante-festivo-arr-for-organ-21996944.html?aff_id=454957
More information about the organ at St. Ignatius church in Prague: https://www.kostelignac.cz/index.php?page=17&art=79
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