Alpha and omega, beginning and end: these two works, his First and Seventh symphonies, bracket his compositions. + In the ensuing 25 years six other...

Alpha and omega, beginning and end: these two works, his First and Seventh symphonies, bracket his compositions. + In the ensuing 25 years six other symphonies emerged, and their characteristic tonal colorings, austere Nordic temperament and innovative formal conception carved out a place for Jean Sibelius. + In recognition of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius, the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra and principal conductor Paul Mägi held concerts during which these two symphonies were performed and recorded live for this CD release on the Swedish Society/Naxos label. + This album follows on a previously released CD on the same label featuring the composer’s Third and Fourth symphonies, with the Fourth not only demarking the middle point of Sibelius’s symphony output but also his finest, most well known and most somber work of its kind.