Despite never having played the cello himself, Sibelius composed a number of works for this instrument. Although he was offered a position as a cellist in an orchestra formed by his friends during his school years (1881), the project fell through due to a lack of a cello. However, thanks to his brother Christian, he became acquainted with the instrument and began composing for it, not only as part of larger chamber music works (trios, quartets) but also as solos with or without piano accompaniment. For instance, according to a letter Sibelius wrote to his uncle Pehr in the summer of 1887, he had composed a waltz for his brother Christian (Kitti), which was to be included in cellist Jaromír Hřímaly’s concert tour under the title “Walse fantastique, opus I.” It is unknown which work this was, nor whether Hřímaly ever performed it.

During his school and university years, about ten works for cello with or without violin or piano accompaniment were completed. Some of these have been completely or partially lost (the piano part). The earliest cello and piano work is probably the Grieg and Tchaikovsky-influenced Andantino from around 1884. The following surviving cello compositions date from the middle and late stages of his studies in Helsinki. Andante molto (f minor; 1887) is noteworthy for the equal importance of the piano and cello parts, as well as for its quite showy cello cadenza: Kitti had made progress in her studies! Also from the same year (1887) is the Duo (e minor) for violin and cello, Tempo di valse (g minor), whose piano part is lost and which may be the same mysterious Walse fantastique from the same summer.

Theme and Variations in D minor (1887) Sibelius’ second largest cello composition, even in its somewhat unfinished state, is also the first Finnish solo cello work and one of the best Finnish cello pieces overall. If Christian played this composition, which contains quite difficult passages from Bach to Popper, without faltering, he must have achieved a considerable technical level in mastering the cello. The introduction is a two- or three-voiced Bach-like chordal section (chaconne!). The theme is a melancholy folk song-like melody. This is followed by six variations.

• Variation 1 (marked spiccato) reveals knowledge of the Baroque and Bach; it is neo-Baroque in character.
• Variation 2 is a character variation in the Romantic style with large leaps, seductive melodic phrases, chained trills, and Sibelius’ typical triplets.
• Variation 3 (Presto) is folk-like, even Kalevala-inspired, as a drone bass sounds for half the time under the melody.
• Variation 4 (in D major) is a Classical major-key variation, full of double stops, including chromatically descending sixths and rapid scale passages, which make the variation overly Romantic.
• Variation 5 is based on extensive rapid broken chords, partly chromatic scales, and flute-like tones in a Romantic virtuoso style.
• Variation 6 with its chords and melody-drone is again surprisingly reminiscent of a Kalevala melody. The variations are followed by a short epilogue, which is colored suggestively by high notes, pizzicato chords, and flute-like tones. The manuscript also contains one more possible D major variation, which is again a showy display of broken octaves, some of which are chromatic; this was perhaps intended to be a fast variation between the fifth and sixth variations before settling into a Kalevala-like mood.

Two different pieces in B minor for cello and piano were completed in 1888-89, but both are lost. The greater loss is the missing piano part of the Fantasy (1889), as it is a large, nearly 20-minute long, five-part composition that Christian described as “one of the most beautiful and magnificent cello works I have ever heard.” The movements are Moderato, Presto, Tempo di valse (Moderato), Alla polacca, and Alla marcia. From the same year, however, the Canon (g minor) for violin and cello has survived, as has the “Lulu Waltz” (Tempo di valse, F sharp minor) for cello and piano. In the latter work, the melancholy tone is striking, which may refer to some undocumented love affair.

Malinconia, Op. 20, for cello and piano (1900) Originally titled “Fantasy,” this work is Sibelius’ largest and only independent chamber music cello work with an opus number, as the two devotional works, Op. 77, Cantique (“Laetare anima mea, Ylistä sieluani”; 1914) and Devotion (“Ab imo pectore, kaikesta sydämestäni”; 1915), were originally composed for cello and orchestra and also exist in violin versions, while the four pieces of Op. 78, Impromptu (1915), Romance (1915), Religioso (1917), and Rigaudon (1915), are alternatively cello works only with violin. Erik Tawaststjerna does not find much to praise in this concert piece, which the composer claimed to have written “in three hours”; he notes that the cello part, despite its lack of originality, is rewarding, but: “the main reason for the failure was that Sibelius wanted to write a virtuoso part for the piano, equal to the cello part – perhaps with Sigrid Schnéevoigt, Georg’s wife, in mind. Nearly a quarter of the work is therefore piano solo cadenzas, and they sound quite conventional. Overall, the piano part is like a sample map, alternating octave passages for each hand, syncopated accompaniment, triads à la Tchaikovsky; there are a few bright spots, such as a somewhat barren fugato.” Perhaps one can get closer to a positive assessment if one considers the work as a piece of black mourning music inspired by the death of the composer’s beloved daughter Kirsti, where the pain is so sharp that it produces an overflowing, somewhat uncontrolled expression. When well-played, the piece nevertheless impresses with its large sound, strong chromaticism, and sublime melody, which alludes to the violin concerto and even the Fourth and Fifth symphonies.