Nordic tone
English composer
Definition
The characteristic sound world of Finnish and Scandinavian Romantic music — austere, harmonically ambiguous, with a gravity and inwardness associated with the Nordic landscape. In Sibelius's piano music, the Nordic tone is most audible in the Three Sonatinas (Op.67), where tonal centres are deliberately obscured and the textures are bare rather than rich.
Interpretive Guidance
Nordic tone does not mean cold or uninvolved — it means internally intense. The Piano Sonata and Sonatinas are filled with strong feeling, but that feeling is contained, not displayed. Avoid expressive exaggeration; the quietness is the expression.