Suite for Strings, op. 98b

The Suite champêtre, op. 98b, dates from 1921 and belongs to a group of light orchestral pieces Sibelius wrote in the years after the Fifth Symphony, when publishers' advances were his main income and the large works came slowly. Three short movements — Pièce caractéristique, Mélodie élégiaque, Danse — are scored for strings alone and take under seven minutes together. Sibelius was dismissive of this part of his output, but the writing shows the same handling of string texture as the symphonies, compressed into miniature form.