Jean Sibelius
November 6, 2021 4:39 AM

What pop songs have borrowed from Jean Sibelius?

I've been listen to piano works by Jean Sibelius and I hear passages that either have been (or could be) adapted to melodies in pop music. Follow up question: Is his work public domain such that it could be borrowed? Finland seems to be rather protective of his work.
posted by falsedmitri to Media & Arts (7 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
I can answer the second question: most of Sibelius's works are still under copyright in the EU, since the copyright term there lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator (Sibelius died in 1957). They are in the public domain in Canada, where the copyright term lasts for 50 years after the death of the author. And in the US, anything published before 1926 (which includes almost all of his major works) is in the public domain.

IMSLP, which keeps track of these things closely for obvious reasons, has some helpful charts about public domain terms.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:16 AM on November 6, 2021


Found one:
5th Symphony => Since Yesterday
posted by falsedmitri at 8:13 AM on November 6, 2021


There's a sample of Symphony #7 on the Beatles Revolution 9. That song is more of a Stockhausen homage but they made the nod to Sibelus too. (You can argue whether it counts as a "pop song".) This article also asserts that Tomorrow Never Knows uses a chord from that same symphony.
posted by Nelson at 9:20 AM on November 6, 2021


another "don't know if it's exactly pop" option, but Yes's Jon Anderson has spoken of being greatly inspired by Sibelius.

Jon Anderson - Mysteries of Music which is something of commentary/documentary begins with an excerpt (Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105).
posted by philip-random at 9:22 AM on November 6, 2021


Thanks for the replies.
posted by falsedmitri at 9:30 AM on November 6, 2021


WhoSampled has some samples and a couple covers.
posted by box at 11:00 AM on November 6, 2021


Keith Emerson's pre-Emerson Lake & Palmer proto-prog group The Nice recorded a rocked-up version of the Intermezzo from Sibelius' "Karelia Suite" in 1969.
posted by ryanshepard at 5:14 PM on November 6, 2021


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