This tone poem by Jean Sibelius was composed in 1897. It is scored for a small orchestra composed of solo English Horn, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoons, horns, trombones, percussion, harp, and strings.
The English Horn represents the voice of the swan, and its solo is one of the best known cor anglais solos in the orchestral literature. The music paints an image of a mystical swan floating through a place called Tuonela, the realm of the dead. The hero of the epic, has been tasked with killing the sacred swan, etc etc. It is the Music that is so amazing! Listen to some of it now:
