Sibelius Symphony no 5
The symphony starts with combinations of woodwind, including, flute, oboe, bassoon, horns (although this is a member of the brass section). Strings and then trombones and trumpets then join, with an important role also taken by timpani. Tempo slowly develops throughout the first movement (which is a combination of the first two movements of the original 1915 version), and dynamics also increase, especially at the end of the first movement.
The second movement opens with strings playing pizzicato, which is a feature for most of the middle movement. Tempo is steady and quite fast in the centre of the piece. There is a short passage, which has a waltz type melody, before returning to main theme of this movement.
The final movement is started strongly by strings, with woodwind joining as the tempo slows during this movement. There is an interesting coda at the end, with trombones and trumpets playing short sharp motifs.
Sibelius moves away from some of the formal methods discussed in a traditional symphony, especially with regards to tempo, but stayed loyal to the major/minor scalic tradition, with the work starting and ending in E flat major.
Nielsen Symphony No 5
This symphony is very different to the Sibelius symphony. The opening is very interesting with viola and bassoon the the only instruments in the first bars. It has a much richer sound than the Sibelius symphony. Percussion is used a lot in this symphony. In addition to timpani, side drums, tambourine and triangle are used as well as other percussion. Much of the first movement is in the form of a march to a slow tempo.
The second movement starts with a much quicker tempo, as Nielsen moves away from the march theme of the first movement. Tempo and dynamics gradually raise until the middle part of the movement where they drop off again as the brass section exits (for a bit) and French horns combine with strings as it slowly builds again towards the climax, but a quieter ending than the heights the middle section of the movement reached. The symphony ends with brass and timpani combining with a final flourish to bring the work to an end.
Nielsen’s symphony was in contrast to the Sibelius symphony. Whilst Sibelius let each movement build on the previous one in developing a theme, Nielsen wrote two movements that contrasted with each other. The crux of the first movement is the march theme throughout, enhanced by the use of percussion. The second movement moves away from this as the strings take us up to a peak in the middle of the movement before the woodwind and brass parts slow the tempo, but then slowly build to the climax of the piece. Percussion is hardly used at all in the second movement.
Sibelius and Nielsen used the orchestra in very different ways to convey different stories. The theme of the Sibelius symphony is the flight of swans, whilst Nielsen is trying to convey the story of battle. Sibelius uses woodwind to give the piece the peaceful timbre of the swans in flight, whilst Nielsen uses the bassoon and viola at the start to give the piece a dark timbre to convey the gloom of the anticipation of battle. Nielsen then uses percussion, tambourine and side drum especially, to illustrate the march to battle. The full power of the string section is then used as the battle commences, building to the height of battle in the middle of the second (and final) movement, before other elements, slower tempo, woodwind and brass tell of the aftermath of the battle.