In March 1901, the Second Symphony was received as a statement of independence for Finland, although Sibelius always discouraged attaching programmatic ideas to his music. Kajanus introduced several of the composer's works abroad Sibelius himself was invited to Heidelberg and Berlin to conduct his music. In the next decade Sibelius would become an international figure in the concert world. The year 1899 saw the premiere of Sibelius' First Symphony, which was a tremendous success, to be sure, but not quite of the magnitude of that of Finlandia (1899 rev. The honor was in lieu of his loss of an important professorship in composition at the music school, the position going to Robert Kajanus. In 1897 the Finnish Senate voted to pay Sibelius a short-term pension, which some years later became a lifetime conferral. The Lemminkäinen suite, begun in 1895 and premiered on April 13, 1896, has come to be regarded as the most important music by Sibelius up to that time. The premiere of Kullervo in April 1893 created a veritable sensation, Sibelius thereafter being looked upon as the foremost Finnish composer. Sibelius returned to Finland, taught music, and in June 1892, married Aino Järnefelt, daughter of General Alexander Järnefelt, head of one of the most influential families in Finland. Now Sibelius began pondering the composition of the Kullervo Symphony, based on the Kalevala legends. In Vienna he studied with Karl Goldmark and then Robert Fuchs, the latter said to be his most effective teacher. In 1889 Sibelius traveled to Berlin to study counterpoint with Albert Becker, where he also was exposed to new music, particularly that of Richard Strauss. Though Sibelius auditioned for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, he would come to realize he was not suited to a career as a violinist. During this time he also became a close friend of Busoni. He took up composition studies with Martin Wegelius and violin with Mitrofan Wasiliev, then Hermann Csillag. In 1885 Sibelius entered the University of Helsinki to study law, but after only a year found himself drawn back to music. Jean showed talent on the violin and at age nine composed his first work for it, Rain Drops. His physician father left the family bankrupt, owing to his financial extravagance, a trait that, along with heavy drinking, he would pass on to Jean. Sibelius was born in southern Finland, the second of three children. Finland's Jean Sibelius is perhaps the most important composer associated with nationalism in music and one of the most influential in the development of the symphony and symphonic poem.
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