Sibelius: Symphonies Nos.1 & 3

The musical abilities of Sibelius were soon realised, although not developed early enough to suggest music as a possible profession, until he had entered university in Helsinki as a law student. His first ambition had been to be a violinist. It later became apparent that any ability he had in this respect - and here his own violin concerto would have offered insurmountable technical difficulties for him - was far outweighed by his gifts as a composer, developed first by study in Helsinki with Martin Wegelius, then with the pedantic Becker in Berlin and with Goldmark, and more effectively, with Robert Fuchs in Vienna.