SKU: BR.OB-5704-19

ISBN 9790004348161. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The famous Valse triste grew out of the incidental music to Arvid Jarnefelts drama Kuolema (Death). After the first staged performances in December 1903 at the Finnish National Theater in Helsinki, Sibelius expanded the original string scoring by adding winds and timpani. It is in this form that the work was first heard at the University of Helsinki's festival hall on 25 April 1904 under the direction of the composer before it set out to conquer the musical world.

The Valse triste is part of the incidental music in several movements which Sibelius composed in 1903. Freed from its functional framework, the concert version of the Valse triste, written shortly thereafter, set out to conquer the musical world.