"Sibelius wrote a very large mass of highly genial and attaractive music. I'm thinking of all those delightful suites, symphonic poems like En saga and Pohjola's Daughter and that rather strange composition - very strange indeed - The Oceanides, which, incidentally, the composer has asked me to record. I don't know why: I shall ask him one day why he asked me to do this very special thing. Of course I shall do it - naturally." - Sir Thomas Beecham And with this recording he did, shortly after a 90th birthday concert for the great Finnish composer at the Royal Festival Hall on December 8th, 1955 (Sibelius's birthday), the same year he was awarded the Order of the White Rose of Finland for conducting Sibelius. In the original review of the mono LP in The Gramophone of September 1957, Lionel Salter remarked that - "Beecham captures the magic of this closely-knit, highly organic score... every phrase is lovingly moulded... The engineers have contributed an excellent balance and very clear tone." When the stereo LP was released in 1962, Salter confirmed "Beecham's performances... are beautifully shaped and tremendously intense."