Monday 17 November 2008

Sibelius Monument, Finland


Although it is stamped and has been through the postal system, it has escaped being postmarked altogether.   It is dated 1 November 2008.

Helsinki Suomi - Finland
Sibelius Monument (Eila Hiltunen, 1967)

This monument caused some controversy when it was unveiled in 1967 because of its abstract nature, and for this reason the face of Sibelius was included.  The main part is made up of more than 600 hollow tubes and weighs 24 tons.  It is one of the most visited sites in Helsinki and according to the sender of the card the "place is always crowded by tourists".  I can see why - I think it is outstandingly beautiful.  There is a smaller version in Paris at the UNESCO headquarters.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

4 comments:

  1. may never see it personally but at least, I know what it looks like.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, it almost looks like OZ. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a beautiful monument. It brings back memories of childhood during a time when I was being forced to take piano lessons by my misguided parents. I remember having to play a very basic and primitive arrangement of Finlandia and having my rather forbidding-looking tutor tell me it was Finland's National Anthem, and then making me try to pronounce the composer's name. I remember, being a rather ignorant 8-year-old boy, that I was afraid to admit I didn't know what a Finland was, but was inwardly amused to learn his first name was Jean. And he was a boy. A man, rather. Much later I was to learn not only what a Finland was, but also how to pronounce Jean.

    You probably would rather not have had to read this story. Sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. No, I like the story Max, truly I do. I never had to endure piano lessons, though my sister did. I think she liked them. I suspect my parents took one look at my thunderous face and decided it wasn't worth the battle.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to my postcard collection! I love hearing what you think of the cards - but spam WILL be deleted.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...