During the Second World War, Hugo Autere, an elderly cellist with the Helsinki Philharmonic gets a secret assignment from the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius # to copy the manuscript of the master`s long-awaited 8th Symphony. While working on the score, Hugo is suddenly inspired to revive his own composing skills, but is soon faced with his own mediocrity in front of a true talent. Meetings between Autere and Sibelius remain quite formal, but the cellist`s musically talented young grandson befriends the famous composer on a more human level.