What is Jean Sibelius?
[[File:Jean Sibelius, 1913.jpg|thumb|]] '''Jean Sibelius''' (born [[Hämeenlinna]] (Tavastehus) 8 December 1865; died [[Järvenpää]], 20 September 1957) was a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[composer]]. He is one of the most famous people from Finland and one of the greatest composers of [[symphony|symphonies]] of all time. He was born at a time when [[Russia]] had a lot of power in Finland and the Finnish people were trying hard to keep their own [[culture]] and their [[independence]]. This [[nationalism]] can be heard in a lot of his music, especially some of the [[choral]] music. After 1928 he composed very little. He lived in [[retirement]] in his home in the Finnish countryside. == His life == === Early life === Jean (pronounced the [[French language|French]] way) was born 100&nbsp;km [[north]] of the Finnish capital [[Helsinki]]. His [[grandfather]] had changed the family name from a [[Finnish language|Finnish]] name to the [[Latin]]-sounding “Sibelius”. His father died during a [[cholera]] [[epidemic]] when Jean was very young. His family spoke [[Swedish language|Swedish]] at home, but when he was eleven he went to a Finnish-speaking school. He learned to play the [[violin]] and wanted to be a [[soloist]]. He loved reading the ''[[Kalevala]]'' which was a long [[epic poem]] about the old Finnish [[legend]]s. He also loved the Swedish-speaking poets who wrote poems about [[nature]]. In 1885, he went to [[Helsinki]] to study [[law]] but he soon gave up law and concentrated on his violin studies and [[Composition (music)|composition]]. He went to [[Berlin]] to continue his music studies. He became good friends with the [[pianist]] and composer [[Ferruccio Busoni]] and went with him to Leipzig. At this time he had mainly written [[chamber music]]. In [[Vienna]] he had lessons from [[Karl Goldmark]] and heard lots of [[orchestra]]l music. He spent a lot of his money, much of it on [[alcohol|drink]] which was to be a big [[problem]] for him for many years. === Early success === He went back to Finland in 1891. He earne