Jean Sibelius

It is easy to see why the oldest museum of music in Finland was named after Jean Sibelius. After all, Jean Sibelius has been the best known Finnish composer for decades. The museum got it’s current name in the late 1940’s when professor Otto Andersson received permission from Sibelius to attach his name to the museum. Andersson’s request was based not only on his own research interests, but also on a personal friendship with Sibelius, and naturally a considerable collection of Sibelius already present at the time.

The Sibelius Collection was based on material bequeathed to Åbo Akademi by baron Axel Carpelan, which was acquired by the museum in the early 1930’s. The Sibelius scripts owned by writer Adolf Paul were also bought into the collection. The Sibelius Collection has grown more and more throughout the years and currently consists of over 50 compositions handwritten by Sibelius himself, sheet music, correspondence, photographs, concert programmes, press clippings, and articles. Researchers may gain access to these archives by contacting the archival staff at Sibeliusmuseum.