Romance in C major, op. 42

Sibelius wrote the C major Romance for string orchestra in 1904, the year he moved out of Helsinki to the house at Järvenpää where he spent the rest of his life. It is a single movement of about five minutes, built on a broad melody in the violins over a walking bass, and it has stayed among the most frequently played of his shorter pieces. He produced a steady stream of such works throughout his career, partly for income; they subsidised the symphonies, which sold far less well.