Jean Sibelius and Carl Nielsen take a particularly prominent position among Scandinavian composers of distinction. Two of their most important works were composed in the mid-1920s, Sibelius' tone poem Tapiola, a piece about the infinity and sublimity of nature, and Nielsen's sixth and final symphony, which, although labeled “semplice” (simple), is multi-layered and thoroughly complex. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto is a work from his American years, premiered in 1947 but already conceived at the end of the 1930s and dedicated to Gustav Mahler's widow Alma. His experiences with film music, which he had gained in Hollywood, are also - and especially - reflected in this tangibly inspired concerto.