Sibelius - Finlandia Hymn
Last week I posted a male voice choir rendition of the famous theme from Finlandia by Sibelius, set by the composer with words by Koskenniemi. The lyrics are in Finnish. Here they are.
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."
Haven't got a clue what they mean, but paired with the music I know how they make me feel. Finnish is a beautiful, liquid, melodic language. A bit like Elvish really...
Contrary to what a lot of people think it isn't the national anthem. In fact as far as I know Finland doesn't have an official national anthem. The unofficial one is "Maame" with words by the Finnish poet Runeberg, written originally in Swedish. Given the long "History" between the Finns and the Swedes, it might seem that a wholly Finnish anthem would be more appropriate.
Photo for Nathalie
It is interesting to note other unofficial National anthems. Waltzing Matilda maybe. Or in my own country Scotland, the tussle between "Flower of Scotland" and "Scotland the Brave". I'm on the side of the latter as a tune, but the words by Cliff Hanley are ripe for plucking by the ever self-derogatory Scots.
So
Home of my heart forever
etc etc "
Quickly becomes
Home of the midgie terror..."
What makes a good national anthem? Well you need to be able to sing it loudly and confidently at your enemies.
But I digress. This week's music is interesting for a couple of reasons. It's a bit long, but I think it's worth persevering with. If like Nathalie you are impatient to comment, you can right click the comments link and open it in a new tab
Sorry, no guess on this Sunday music!