Marshall Walker's grandmother Isa with her children. Marshall's mother Nora is front centre and the boy is uncle Marshall. Photo: Marshall Walker
Marshall Walker grew up in Glasgow and was hooked by the music of Sibelius at a very early age.
It became a lifelong passion. He started to call him 'The Big Man'.
These programmes, written in the form of letters, pay tribute to the Finnish composer's genius and give thanks to him for a life's enrichment from a self-confessed "junky".
In this third programme, Walker's mother informs him that Sibelius' music - especially the famous Valse Triste - was also important in her own family.
We hear stories about Walker's grandfather and uncle, both of whom he never met. The grandfather was killed in a horrific rail accident in Arbroath, and the uncle died on the Salonika front in World War I.
'Valse Triste' was a finalist in the Best Spoken Feature at the 2007 NZ Radio Awards. First broadcast 23 November 2006.
