Orchestral Works 5

So great was the effect of Sibelius's incidental music for Maeterlinck's play Pelléas et Mélisande that August Strindberg, whose wife had performed the role of Mélisande, agreed that he should write the music for his as-yet unperformed play Svanevit (Swanwhite). Composing for an orchestra of thirteen he wrote in a style reminiscent of Grieg, and both play and music were very well received by critics and audiences alike. The play Ödlan (The Lizard) inspired Sibelius with it's dreamlike atmosphere, whilst the two brief melodramas show his skill in writing for drama on a miniature scale.