1865 Johan Christian Julius (Jean) Sibelius is born in Hämeenlinna on 8 December. Others born in the same year include Danish composer Carl Nielsen and Russian artist Ivan Glazunov. Gustav Mahler is five years old; Tchaikovsky is 25, Brahms 32 and both Verdi and Wagner are 52 years old.
Jean Sibelius’ father, Christian Gustaf Sibelius, was a community doctor and his mother, Maria Charlotta (née Borg), the daughter of the dean of Pyhäjärvi. Jean’s father died of typhoid when he was only 2.5 years old. He was the middle child in a family of three children of whom Linda Maria (1863–1932) was the oldest and Christian (1869–1922) the youngest. The family spoke Swedish at home, but Jean completed his schooling in Hämeenlinna Lyceum, which was a Finnish speaking school.
1875 First attempts at composing, e.g. Water Drops (Vattendroppar).
1885 Jean graduates from school and starts law studies but drops out a year later to focus on his studies at the Helsinki Music Institute.
1889 String Quartet in A minor. First trip to Berlin to study.
1890 Engagement to Aino Järnefelt. Trip to Vienna to study.
1891 First drafts for the Kullervo Symphony.
1892 Marriage to Aino Järnefelt. Breakthrough work Kullervo is published.
1893 First daughter Eva is born. First performance of En Saga tone poem (final version in 1902).
1894 Daughter Ruth is born.
1895 Four legends from the Kalevala op. 22: Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island, the Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkäinen in Tuonela, Lemminkäinen’s Return.
1898 Daughter Kirsti is born (d. 13 February 1900).
1899 The First Symphony. Tableau music for Press Celebrations.
1900 Axel Carpelan becomes a life-long friend and patron of Sibelius. Carpelan suggests Finlandia as the name for the finale of the tableau music.
1901 Jean travels to Rapallo in Italy with his family and from there to Rome and Prague where he meets Antonín Dvořák. In Heidelberg, Jean becomes acquainted with Richard Strauss, who writes in his diary: “Sibelius is the only Nordic composer with depth.”
1902 First performance of the Second Symphony. The Origin of Fire cantata for the opening ceremony of the new building for the Finnish National Theatre.
1903 First version of the Violin Concerto. Daughter Katarina is born.
1904 Move to Ainola in Järvenpää.
1905 Revised version of the Violin Concerto. Visit to Berlin to conduct (Second Symphony). First visit to England towards the end of the year.
1907 First performance of the Third Symphony. Gustav Mahler visits Helsinki.
1908 Second trip to England. Jean starts to compose the string quartet Voces intimae, which is completed the following year in London. Daughter Margareta is born.
1909 Success in London (En Saga and Finlandia). Acquaintance with Debussy. A trip to Koli in eastern Finland with Eero Järnefelt. “One of the biggest experiences of my life.”
1910 Axel Carpelan manages to rescue Sibelius from financial ruin.
1911 First performance of the Fourth Symphony. Daughter Heidi is born.
1913 Luonnotar tone poem.
1914 Trip to the United States. Honorary doctorate from Yale University. The Oceanides tone poem.
1915 First version of the Fifth Symphony. First performance in Sibelius’ 50th anniversary concert.
1917 Finland gains independence. The symbolic value of Sibelius’ music grows even more.
1918 Civil war. The Reds keep watch in Järvenpää. Sibelius and his family move temporarily to Helsinki.
1919 Song of the Earth, a cantata for the Inaugural Ceremony of Åbo Akademi University. Celebrations and rendezvous with other artists. Final version of the Fifth Symphony.
1921 Visits to England and Norway as a composer and conductor.
1923 First performance of the Sixth Symphony. Visits to Stockholm, Berlin and Rome.
1924 The Seventh Symphony. Sibelius conducts its first performance in Stockholm.
1925 Trip to Italy. Tone poem Tapiola.
1926 Music for Shakespeare’s play the Tempest.
1931–33 Working on the Eighth Symphony.
1957 In September, Sibelius is out walking when he sees a wedge of cranes migrating to the south. “There they come, the birds of my youth!” 20 September, he has a brain haemorrhage and dies in the evening. At the same time, Malcolm Sargent is conducting the Fifth Symphony in the Great Hall of the University of Helsinki.
1957 Sibelius’ funeral in Helsinki Cathedral 30 September.