In the light of his subsequent stature as one of the world's leading Sibelius interpreters, it is all the more surprising to learn that Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961) only came to this music when he was already half-way through his long conducting career. The facts, though, show that, before 1931, only the occasional miniature such as Valse triste figured in his programmes. Between 1931 and 1937, however, he absorbed into his repertoire all seven symphonies, the Violin Concerto and a considerable number of the smaller pieces, recording many of them for the Sibelius Society edition that EMI had begun in 1932.

From 1931 onwards Beecham's enthusiasm for the music never flagged. The symphonies, the concerto, which he recorded with both Jascha Heifetz and Isaac Stern, the tone poems and orchestral