Karelia Suite

11 is a subset of pieces from the longer Karelia Music (named after the region of Karelia) written by Jean Sibelius in 1893 for the Viipuri Students' Association and premiered, with Sibelius conducting, at the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, on 23 November of that year.

Sibelius first conducted the shorter Suite ten days later; it remains one of his most popular works.

The rough-hewn character of the Music was deliberate – the aesthetic intention was not to dazzle with technique but to capture the quality of naive, folk-based authenticity.

[1][4] Sibelius conducted the Karelian Music at its premiere on 13 November 1893 at the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland.

These four pieces were sold to Edition Fazer in 1899 and, at Sibelius's request, Overture and Karelia Suite were published as Op.

It is thought that Sibelius burned his eighth symphony along with most of the Karelia Music in August 1945, with only the 1st and 7th tableaux spared from the fire.