July is the greatest time in Finland. The days are 23 hours long, and in the far north, the sun never really sets. All Finns celebrate the light. So, it is time for a music pick from Finland.

Jean Sibelius (originally named Johan) is best known for his Finlandia, widely regarded as the country’s unofficial national anthem, and Sibelius’ December 8th birthday is celebrated as the “Day of Finnish Music”—Suomalaisen Musiikin Päivä.

Our choice for Music of the Week is Sibelius’ violin concerto, a piece of staggering virtuosity and complexity, that has seen many great performances by extraordinary violinists. Sibelius himself loved to play the violin, but his own composition was beyond his performance skills. It is left to the formidable solo violinists of the world, like the legendary Ida Haendel (whom Sibelius thanked personally for her performance), Itzhak Perlman, Anne Sophie Mutter, or the wonderful Sarah Chang, who we have selected here, and many others, to bring it to the stage.

Related:

Jean Sibelius on Wikipedia

Violin Concerto in D Minor on Wikipedia

Sarah Chang’s website

Sarah Chang on Wikipedia

Fire and ice: the best recordings of the Sibelius violin concerto