Finlandia
Finlandia op. 26 is a symphonic poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius from 1899/1900 with the line- up : 2222-4331-Pk-Gr.Tr. + Bck, Trgl-Str.
Origin and contemporary reception
As a result of the Russo-Swedish War , Finland had been part of the Russian Empire since 1809 , after having been part of Sweden for centuries . The national "awakening" of the Finns that began in the 19th century led to the recognition of Finnish as the second official language in Finland (alongside Swedish ) in 1902 . In the 1890s, the Finns opposed increasing Russificationfought. The main focus was the protest against harassment of the press. In this context, so-called “press celebrations” were held to support the journalists' pension fund, at which theatrical performances with national statements were often staged. Sibelius contributed a six-part suite to accompany such a performance of “living images from the Finnish past and mythology” in the Swedish Theater (Svenska Teatern) in Helsinki in 1899 . The last of these pieces was the first version of the symphonic poem “Finlandia”, which had an acclaimed success, so that Sibelius reworked it to the form known today shortly after its premiere.
At that time, the program of the piece was immediately accessible to the audience, and even today, with knowledge of the historical situation, it is not difficult to assign appropriate extra-musical content to the various parts. So it was that "Finlandia" quickly became part of the Finnish national consciousness. The tone poem was considered to be Finland's “secret national anthem” and was so popular that the Russian authorities banned it from performing. Nevertheless, Sibelius managed to get performances under the Finnish title "Suomi" (= "Finland") , which was not suspect for the Russian authorities . The popularity and patriotic-emotional significance of the piece in Finland are still unbroken today.
"Finlandia" was performed at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, bringing not only the composer Sibelius, but also the Finnish question into the attention of the rest of Europe.
The "Finlandia Anthem"
In 1941 Veikko Antero Koskenniemi wrote a text for the vocal middle section. In the threatening situation in Finland after the attack by the Soviet Union in 1939, this text expressed the hopes of the Finns and was accordingly very well received.
Use as a song outside of Finland
The melody of the Finlandia anthem has also been used outside of Finland:
- In England it was based on the hymn "Be still, my soul" by Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813-1897), which in turn is a translation of a song by Catharina Amalia von Schlegel (1697 – after 1768).
- In Italian Protestant churches, the melody is often sung to the text Veglia al mattino .
- In the internationally hardly recognized Republic of Biafra , which existed from 1967 to 1970, Finlandia with the text " Land of the Rising Sun " was the national anthem.
- In the 1990 score for Die Hard 2 , composer Michael Kamen made very clear references to the music of Finlandia .
- In the GDR , Finlandia was the cult live title of the star combo Meißen . However, it was never allowed to appear on an LP, presumably because the GDR culture officials did not tolerate a "freedom symphony" directed against Russia being played. Possible fears of the GDR leadership with regard to copyright payments to western countries are also discussed.
- The Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish played the song as an intro on their 2009/2010 world tour. On the Imaginaerum World Tour since 2012 she often plays Finlandia as the first encore with transition to the Song of Myself .
- In the series Tom Turbo , when the series was still called "Die HOT Spur", it was used in the appearances of the villain Prince Finster.
literature
- Thomas Aigner : Jean Sibelius. Finlandia op.26 (1899). In: Günter Brosche (Ed.): Musicians' manuscripts from Heinrich Schütz to Wolfgang Rihm. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-15-010501-3 , pp. 106-107 (with illustration of the score).
sources
- ^ Academic Music Care, Hamburg
- ↑ "Be still, my soul" ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Federazione delle chiese evangeliche in Italia, Innario Cristiano, nuova edizione, Turin (Claudiana) 2000, No. 339
- ^ "Veglia al Mattino" on the pages of the Chiesa Valdese
- ↑ Thoralf Koß: Star Combo Meissen: Live (Review). In: Musikreviews.de. February 3, 2009, accessed September 15, 2018 .
