The Sibelius monument at Hiltunen is dedicated to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). The monument is located in Sibelius Park in the Töölö area in Helsinki, the capital of Finland.
The monument is a sculpture of Finnish artist Eila Hiltunen called Passio Musicae and was opened on September 7, 1967. The sculpture won the competition organised by the Sibelius Society after the composer's death in 1957. The competition was held in two rounds after one early winner was abandoned. Initially it provoked a lively debate about the virtues and flaws of abstract art, and although the design looked like stylised organ pipes, it was known that the composer had created little music for organs. Hiltunen turned to her critics, adding the face of Sibelius, which is next to the main sculpture.
It consists of a series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded to each other in a wave-like manner. It weighs 24 tons (24 tons; 26 short tons) and measures 8.5 by 10.5 by 6.5 meters (28 ft 34 ft 21 feet). Hiltunen's goal was to capture the essence of Sibelius' music.
A smaller version of the monument "Dedication to Sibelius" is at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Work on a similar concept, also developed by Hiltunen, is located at United Nations headquarters in New York.
In 1939, the Leo and Regina Weinstein Foundation organized a sculptors' competition to design a work depicting a scene from the Finnish national epos "Kalevala". to be installed in the park. The winner is Aarre Aaltonen (1889-1980) and his work "Ilmatar and Scope". a bronze work that was presented in 1946.
