The Sibelius Museum
(photo: Miro Rein [cropped], Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

The Åbo Akademi University Foundation has acquired the world’s largest private Sibelius collection from the Rolando ja Siv Pieraccini Foundation. It will become part of the collection of the Turku-based Sibelius Museum, part of the Åbo Akademi University Foundation. The Jean Sibelius collection, comprising 239 items, is unique in both its content and its scope.

The Italian-born publisher, bibliophile and patron Rolando Pieraccini, who has lived in Finland since 1975, began collecting Sibelius material in 1965 when he purchased a hand-written letter by the composer. Today, the collection consists of 239 items: letters, printed sheet music and manuscripts, photographs and other documents. Most of Pieraccini’s Sibelius collection consists of letters from the composer to his German publisher Robert Lienau, who played a central role in bringing the composer’s works to international attention.

Letter from Sibelius to the record producer Walter Legge, 1935

‘It is wonderful that an organisation that values Pieraccini’s life’s work – the valuable Sibelius collection that is linked to our national cultural heritage – is taking on the collection and that it will become part of the Sibelius Museum’s collections. It has also been important to Rolando Pieraccini that the collection remains in Finland,’ says Juha Viertola, chairman of the board of the Rolando and Siv Pieraccini Foundation.

The Sibelius Museum in Turku is a music museum of both national and international significance. Jean Sibelius, who granted the museum the right to use his name in 1949, plays a central role in the museum’s activities. The museum’s Sibelius collection – one of the largest of its kind – is well known and widely used by researchers.

The foundation for the museum’s Sibelius collection was laid by a bequest from Baron Axel Carpelan to Åbo Akademi University and by the purchase of the Sibelius manuscripts acquired by the author Adolf Paul. The collection has since grown through further donations and purchases. The Pieraccini collection is a comprehensive and valuable addition to the Sibelius Museum’s collection.

‘The Sibelius Museum’s Sibelius collection has a history spanning almost a century and, over the years, has served researchers, musicians and the general public through the museum’s collection service. Rolando Pieraccini has made a significant cultural contribution through his collecting, and the recent acquisition of Sibelius material strengthens the national and international significance of the Sibelius collection. This also contributes to the work of developing the museum’s permanent Sibelius exhibition,’ says museum director Teemu Kirjonen.

Cultural work is an important part of the activities of the Åbo Akademi Foundation. Since 1917, the Åbo Akademi Foundation has supported scientific research, academic education and culture in Swedish in Finland. ‘Strengthening the collections named after Sibelius in the Sibelius Museum with material relating to our internationally recognised national composer, which also represents our country’s Swedish-language cultural heritage, is entirely in line with the Foundation’s purpose. The timing is also perfect, as the Sibelius Museum is now preparing for its centenary in 2026’, says Lasse Svens, treasurer at the Åbo Akademi Foundation.

Source of text and letter to Walter Legge: Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi press release