In the Fall of 2019, which feels like decades ago, I selected the Finlandia Theme for the Beginning Orchestra at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena, where I am a Music Director for the Harmony Project. I have fond memories of playing Finlandia in my youth orchestra days, summer festivals, and professional ensembles, so I was excited to find a simple arrangement of the theme that my group could play.

For those of you who have experience training young, beginning musicians in an orchestra setting, you might be familiar with the trials and tribulations of the rehearsal process. Things were slow going as we crafted our version for the December Concert. Still, the students shined in the performance, and during the early spring semester, regularly asked to play Finlandia. Several said it was their favorite piece. I just had to chuckle at this because the learning process did not kindle nearly this much passion for the composition. However, after they mastered it, they couldn’t stop playing it.

When Coronavirus hit, and all educational endeavors moved online – including music education – I felt so removed from many of my students. I started arranging their orchestra pieces for 4 part violins to share videos and music with them and keep their motivation high. When our online Spring Recital rolled around, I was touched to hear several students play Finlandia as their solo selection. It was so moving and a good reminder that as teachers we often plant seeds that germinate, grow, and blossom beautifully and sometimes unexpectedly…and sometimes those blooms take a little longer than expected.

In the same way that I highlighted the Theme from Jupiter when my students worked on it this Spring, I thought I would take this opportunity to dive into Finlandia and tell you a little more about it. No, I did not sing this song in school. No, I was not reprimanded for goofing off in assembly. I will admit that while I knew it was fiercely patriotic, I was naive to the fact that it was written as a response to czarist Russia in a celebration of the Finnish free press. I’m glad I learned something in this endeavor as well.

The History:

Sibelius wrote Finlandia for the Finnish Press Pension Celebration of 1899, a thinly veiled rally in support of freedom of the Finnish press, then primarily controlled by czarist Russia. Sibelius's contribution to the three-day pageant was a set of nationalistic musical tableaux. He later recycled several of these pieces into the suite, Historic Scenes No. 1, but the grand finale, originally called "Finland Awakens," became what is now known as Finlandia. The title “Finland Awakens” attracted negative attention from the czarist régime, so the piece was initially known as Impromptu. The Helsinki Philharmonic gave its first performances as Finlandia at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900.

I love that opening - don’t you? Those chords make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

In program notes for the LA Phil, Susan Key writes,

“Like all successful symphonic poems, Finlandia’s extra-musical meaning generates the music's formal shape. The composer described this meaning in stirring words: "We fought 600 years for our freedom, and I am part of the generation which achieved it. Freedom! My Finlandia is the story of this fight. It is the song of our battle, our hymn of victory.” His genius is that this story functions simultaneously on both exterior and interior levels – capturing just that intersection where patriotism feeds personal identity and vice versa.”

What an interesting sentiment. Are there parallels in today’s world? Based on how many times this tune has been re-imagined in different contexts and with different lyrics, her words certainly strike a chord.

The Hymn

Sibelius later reworked the Finlandia Hymn into a stand-alone piece. This hymn, with words written in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, is one of Finland's most important national songs. Today, during performances of the full-length Finlandia, a choir sometimes sings the Finnish lyrics with the hymn section.

Finnish lyrics:
Oi Suomi, katso, sinun päiväs koittaa,
yön uhka karkoitettu on jo pois,
ja aamun kiuru kirkkaudessa soittaa,
kuin itse taivahan kansi sois.
Yön vallat aamun valkeus jo voittaa,
sun päiväs koittaa oi synnyinmaa.

Oi nouse, Suomi, nosta korkealle
pääs seppelöimä suurten muistojen,
oi nouse, Suomi, näytit maailmalle
sa että karkoitit orjuuden
ja ettet taipunut sa sorron alle
on aamus alkanut synnyinmaa.

English translation:
Oh Finland, behold, thy daylight is dawning,
the threat of night has now been driven away.
The skylark sings across the light of morning,
like the firmament itself was chiming,
and now the day the powers of night is scorning:
thy daylight dawns, oh fatherland!

Oh Finland arise, and raise towards the highest
thy head now crowned with mighty memories.
Oh Finland arise, for to the world thou criest
that thou hast thrown off thy slavery,
beneath oppression's yoke thou never liest.
Thy morning's come, motherland!

It is also sung as a Christian hymn (Be Still My Soul, Hail, Festal Day, A Song of Peace, and in Italian evangelical churches: Veglia al Mattino). In Wales, Lewis Valentine uses the tune for the patriotic hymn Gweddi Dros Gymru (A Prayer for Wales).

This is My Song / A Song of Peace

One of the more famous renditions of this hymn is "This is My Song," also known as "A Song of Peace," with lyrics written in 1934 by Lloyd Stone. It often appears in hymnals with substituted and additional verses by Georgia Harkness (1891–1974). It is sometimes called "A Song of Peace," taken from the second line of the song.

Lloyd Stone (1912 – 1993) was born in California and attended the University of Southern California as a music major, with the intent of becoming a teacher. Instead, he joined a circus bound for Hawaii and remained there for the rest of his life, writing poems and songs. "A Song of Peace" is his best-known work. He wrote Stanzas 1 and 2 when he was only 22 years old.

Georgia Elma Harkness (1891- 1974) was a Methodist theologian with a passion for poetry and the arts. Born in Harkness, New York, Georgia was a graduate of Cornell and also studied at Yale and Harvard. A trailblazer for generations of women to follow, Georgia was the first female theologist to teach in a seminary. She wrote nearly forty books in the course of her career.

Lyrics:

This is my song, O God of all the nations,

a song of peace for lands afar and mine;

this is my home, the country where my heart is;

here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:

but other hearts in other lands are beating

with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,

and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;

but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:

O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,

a song of peace for their land and for mine.

May truth and freedom come to every nation;

may peace abound where strife has raged so long;

that each may seek to love and build together,

a world united, righting every wrong;

a world united in its love for freedom,

proclaiming peace together in one song.*
*Third stanza by Georgia Harkness.

This version was recorded and performed by many artists, including (my favorites) The Indigo Girls.

Finlandia in Pop Culture

References to Finlandia can also be found in pop culture although admittedly, I had never heard of or seen most of these (no offense to The Walking Dead or the Die Hard Series.):

Finnish film director Renny Harlin featured Finlandia prominently in the film score for his 1990 film Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
Finlandia is used in Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! by Russ Meyer.
Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish has used Finlandia as an intro to their live concerts, such as shows that are a part of their Imaginaerum World Tour.
Before joining Nightwish, Troy Donockley had already played a version of Finlandia as a guest musician for Mostly Autumn. It also appears on his album The Unseen Stream.
Joan Baez featured the Finlandia Hymn on her 2005 live album Bowery Songs. Baez's live performance also appeared on the album Mitä Vapaus, a compilation of protest songs by various artists, released by Amnesty.
On 8 December 2015, Sibelius' 150th birthday, Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, gathered over 1000 people on the Senate Square to sing Finlandia.
The Walking Dead features Finlandia in episode 5 of season 7 as Sasha and Maggie awaken at Hilltop in the night to a recording of Finlandia blasting from a parked car and zombies coming in.