Who is up for a swim!!?
Lets dig a hole on this frozen pond and swim in underwater!
Jean Sibelius House, Hämeenlinna.
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period. His music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as “prodigious.”
Jean Sibelius was born in this house in the center of Hämeenlinna. The core of Sibelius’s oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies. Like Beethoven, Sibelius used each successive work to further develop his own personal com-positional style. His works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.
In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius’s best-known compositions include Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto in D minor and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkäinen Suite).
And other parts of my quaint town remained blanketed in snow cover.
Foreverest 
Nice pictures especially the 1st one.
Thank you.
Glorious shots for the Sibelius score.
Haha glorious indeed!
These pictures are fantastic. Lovely place!
Thank you 🙂
love the fotographs ♥
Thanks!
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Beautiful post. Thank you for raising my awareness of Sibelius. Wonderful food for thought. And thanks for checking out my blog. I’m following you now and look forward to learning more about your world. Have a great weekend. Michele
Thank you so much for kind words on my humble post.
Gorgeous shots…I’m not a fan of winter, even though I live in northern Ontario, Canada, but I do love the look of freshly fallen snow…it is so beautiful!
Thanks for stopping by…
But warm spring and summer feel better after winter, don’t they? snow is always beautiful, and it brings light to the dark nights! Thanks for appreciating.
Lets swim in this? Not me thanks 😀
Why? Haven’t you heard of ice hole swimming in Finland?;)
I have also heard of fire walking and I don’t want to do that either 😀
hahaha 😀 cheers to that!
Have you ever done ice hole swimming?
😉 yes, it feels refreshing.
I am sure it does 😀
Beautiful photos and great post. Look forward to seeing more from you, but I’m not up for swimming in that frozen pond. 😉
Ice-hole swimming is popular and fun! 😉
A little too cold for this warm blooded girl! 😉
These are lovely photos Alvar! I love snowy scenes with frost and all. Thanks for the info on Sibelius…very interesting. I will stop by again. And thanks for stopping by my photo blog: http://paulajophotodesigns.com and following me! I love to connect with other photographers!
Thank you for stopping by and appreciating. I am not as good a photographer but I like sharing my experiences:)
I’ve enjoyed Sibelius’s music for decades, ever since I was in high school and college. I read somewhere at that time that Sibelius was considered a great composer by American musicologists but not so much by those in Europe (except for Finland, of course). If that was true then, I wonder if attitudes have become more favorable in Europe now.
I don’t tolerate the cold weather, but I’m happy to see your lovely pictures from a land of long winters.
Thanks for liking the pictures. At least some orchestras in London and China have taken Finlandia hymn in their ouvre.
Love the pics! Keep ’em coming! 😉
Thanks for givin some love on post. Cheers!
http://missgreyshus.wordpress.com/
Grace
Thanks alot.
So absolutely lovely! Straight out of a story book!
Thanks for appreciating.
Straight out of a story book : Reminds you of Narnia doesn’t it?
Beautiful hardly seems adequate so I’ll just say your photo’s are just breathtaking! WOW!
Oh that’s so kind of you. Somehow your lovely comment got unnoticed and remained pending for so long… thanks a lot!
Oh, I looooove Sibelius! I was lucky enough to live in Los Angeles when Salonen was the director of the Philharmonic there — Sibelius became a “standard” of their repertoire. So nice to see that the house is maintained.
Lovely photos!
Sibelius has been topic of many arts and his music has inspired many. his composition ‘Finlandia’ is one of the most important national songs of Finland. Thanks!
Beautiful photos, and I love Sibelius, I have Finlandia and Swan of Tuonela on vinyl. 🙂
good choice 😉 Thanks!
Thank you for visiting my site and introducing me to yours. Love Jean Sibelius and appreciate you showing where he lived. A beautiful country indeed. Best wishes, Robert
Thank you for appreciating! do visit Finland 🙂
I think this is how most Australians would imagine Finland, more than Finland as seen in the pictures of your summer holiday. It looks so beautiful.
Thank you, here in southern Finland winter lasts nowadays about 3-4 months and in summer the temperatures can rise up to +38c Its not all snow as people might think!
Truly beautiful landscapes. It is easy to see how a composer might get inspiration from an environment as stark and beautiful as this – those northern winters are something extraordinary.
Thank you, see also my video of aulanko, Which was the main source of inspiration for Sibelius!
Love that road through the forest with the moody sky. Got to find some summer sunshine now!
Summer sunshine feels priceless after winter, doesn’t it ;)?
Just stunning, I would love to walk through the trees in the snow, lucky you!
you are welcome anytime! Whatever you have seen in my amateur pics, just multiply it with 10… That’s the real beauty of Finland!!
You have a beautiful country!
Thank you. your pictures are lovely too.
I am compiling a list of lovely places to visit with my children. Finland is now on the list! 🙂
Thank you. I can tell you that you have made a good choice. There is nothing like being in lap of nature and bonding with family. When you are here don’t forget to visit world’s only Angry Bird’s Theme Park in Särkänniemi. The park opens only in summers, so do confirm beforehand. I’m sure your children will enjoy it. You can also take one day cruise to Estonia and see the beautiful old city in Tallinn. you can take Saimma canal cruise and visit my personal favorite city Lappeenranta. Other than that you can check on my blog as I’ll keep uploading more posts about things to be done and seen when in Finland!
Great to learn a bit more about Sibelius! Nice pictures!
Thanks a lot!