Sibelius (scorewriter)

Sibelius
Original author(s)
  • Ben Finn
  • Jonathan Finn
Developer(s)Avid
Initial releaseApril 1993; 31 years ago (1993-04)
Stable release2024.6 (20 June 2024; 2 months ago (2024-06-20)) [±]
Written inC++
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, macOS, RISC OS
Available in9 languages
List of languages
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Portuguese
  • Russian*
  • Spanish
TypeScorewriter
LicenseProprietary Freeware, Proprietary software
Websitewww.avid.com/sibelius Edit this at Wikidata
An example of sheet music created in Sibelius.

Sibelius is a scorewriter program developed and released by Sibelius Software Limited (now part of Avid Technology). Beyond creating, editing and printing music scores, it can also play the music back using sampled or synthesised sounds. It produces printed scores, and can also publish them via the Internet for others to access. Less advanced versions of Sibelius at lower prices have been released, as have various add-ons for the software.

Named after the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, the company was founded in April 1993 by twin brothers Ben and Jonathan Finn to market the eponymous music notation program they had created.[1] It went on to develop and distribute various other music software products, particularly for education. In addition to its head office in Cambridge and subsequently London, Sibelius Software opened offices in the US, Australia and Japan, with distributors and dealers in many other countries worldwide. The company won numerous awards, including the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2005.

In August 2006 the company was acquired by Avid, to become part of its Digidesign division, which also manufactures the digital audio workstation Pro Tools. In July 2012, Avid announced plans to divest its consumer businesses, closed the Sibelius London office, and removed the original development team,[2][3][4] despite a 11,590-strong 'Save Sibelius' petition spearheading a campaign led by Derek Williams that included extensive protests on Facebook and elsewhere.[5][6][7][8] Avid subsequently recruited new programmers to continue the development of Sibelius, and Steinberg hired most of the former Sibelius team to create a competing software, Dorico.

  1. ^ "An interview with Ben Finn, co-founder of Sibelius [Part 1 of 2] - Scoring Notes". 23 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Sibelius software's London offices to close". Rhinegold.co.uk. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Avid Divests Consumer Businesses and Streamlines Operations". Business Wire. 2 July 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Of Note: Finale and Sibelius tips and tutorials by musician, arranger and music notation expert Robert Puff". Rpmseattle.com. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  5. ^ Banks, Adam. (17 August 2012). "Avid hits bum note with Sibelius", MacUser. p.14. Publisher: Dennis Publishing (London, England)
  6. ^ Schofield, Jack. (7 August 2012). Users petition Avid to sell Sibelius music software arm. ZDNET
  7. ^ "Save Sibelius". Facebook. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Sibelius is in crisis!". Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2012.