Over the past
several weeks, we have looked at various composers and their use of
nationalism. Many of these composers found that using folk music from their
homeland helped to forge a connection between their music and national pride.
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius went about composing his famous Finlandia in a different way. Finding
inspiration in the nature surrounding him as well as in the Finnish epic Kalevala, Sibelius created his own
melodies and wound up accidently composing Finland’s folk anthem when he
completed Finlandia.
During the 19th-century,
Finland lacked a sense of national identity as it was a part of the Russian
Empire and culturally saturated with influences from Sweden. Finlandia was composed during a period
of political unrest in Finland as the Russians sought to draft Finns into their
own military. Sibelius’ iconic work was first performed under the heading Finland Awakes at a national event in
Helsinki.
You may have
heard this piece performed with lyrics at some point. Did you know that
Sibelius did not actually write lyrics to his work and was angered by the fact
that others did so? Here’s a listening clip of Finlandia. Can you see why the Finnish people felt so much national
pride when listening to this work?
