Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius (), registered at birth as Johan Julius Christian Sibelius (Hämeenlinna, 8 December 1865–Järvenpää, 20 September 1957), was a Finnish composer and violinist of the late Romantic and early Modernist periods. He is widely recognised as his country's greatest composer and, through his music, is often credited with having helped Finland to develop a national identity during its struggle for independence from Russia.

The core of his oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies which, like the rest of his major works, continue to be performed and recorded in his homeland and internationally. His best-known compositions are Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto, the choral symphony Kullervo and The Swan of Tuonela (from the Lemminkäinen Suite). Also notable are pieces inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, over a hundred songs for voice and piano, incidental music for numerous plays, the opera Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the Tower), chamber music, piano music, Masonic ritual music, and 21 pieces of choral music. Throughout his career, he was frequently inspired by nature and Nordic mythology.

Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s, but after finishing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music for The Tempest (1926), and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he failed to complete any large-scale works in his final thirty years, a surprising and puzzling decline commonly known as "The Silence of Järvenpää", the location of his home. Although he allegedly stopped composing, he continued to try, including unsuccessful efforts on an Eighth Symphony. In his later years, he wrote Masonic music and revised some earlier works, while maintaining an active, though not always favourable, interest in new developments in the musical world.

The 100 Finnish markka banknote bore his effigy until 2002, when the euro was introduced. Since 2011, Finland has celebrated a Flag Day on 8 December, which coincides with the composer's birthday and is also known as "Finnish Music Day". In 2015, on the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, a series of special concerts and events were held, particularly in the city of Helsinki.