The Finlandia hymn (Finnish: Finlandia-hymni) refers to a serene hymn-like section of the patriotic symphonic poem Finlandia, written in 1899 and 1900 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was later re-worked by the composer into a stand-alone piece.
Contents
- Finnish national song
- Christian hymns
- Be Still My Soul
- We Rest on Thee
- A Christian Home
- I Sought the Lord
- This Is My Song
- Other hymns
- Land of the Rising Sun national anthem of Biafra
- Band covers
- References
With words written in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, the Finlandia hymn is one of the most important national songs of Finland (though Maamme is the de facto national anthem).
Other words commonly sung to the same melody include six Christian hymns ("Be Still, My Soul"; "I Sought the Lord"; "We Rest on Thee"; "A Christian Home"; "This Is My Song"; and "I Then Shall Live"), "Gweddi dros Gymru" or "A Prayer for Wales" (a national song of Wales), "Ambrosian Oaks" (the alma mater of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa), "Land of the Rising Sun" (the national anthem of the short-lived African state of Biafra), and "At Thy Call We Gather" (the alma mater of Iolani School in Honolulu, Hawaii). It is also serves as the music for Capital University's alma mater, "O Capital."
Finnish national song
After the success of the full-length symphonic poem (most of which consists of rousing and turbulent passages, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people), Sibelius published a stand-alone version of the hymn as the last of twelve numbers in his Masonic Ritual Music, Op. 113, with a text by opera singer Wäinö Sola. The version usually heard today has lyrics written by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi and was first performed in 1941. Sibelius himself arranged the hymn for choral performances.
The de facto national anthem of Finland is Maamme (Our Land), but it has never been officially recognised. There have been numerous suggestions that the Finlandia Hymn should become the national anthem. However, Maamme is already so widely recognised and used that it would be difficult to dislodge it.
Christian hymns
Other words commonly sung to the same melody include many Christian hymns, namely "Be Still, My Soul"; "We Rest on Thee"; "I Sought the Lord"; "A Christian Home"; "This Is My Song"; and "I Then Shall Live"
"Be Still, My Soul"
The Christian hymn "Be Still, My Soul", written in German ("Stille meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen") in 1752 by Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (1697–1768) and translated into English in 1855 by Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813–1897), is usually sung to this tune. It begins:
"We Rest on Thee"
The Christian hymn "We Rest on Thee", written by Edith G. Cherry around 1895 is also commonly sung to the tune of Finlandia.
This hymn is also famous because it was the last hymn sung by the five missionaries involved in Operation Auca before their deaths and a line from the hymn's final verse provided the title for Elisabeth Elliot's book about that incident, Through Gates of Splendor. The hymn's first verse is:
"A Christian Home"
The Christian hymn "A Christian Home", written by Barbara Hart, is found in many Protestant hymnbooks and is sung to the tune of Finlandia.
"I Sought the Lord"
Calvinist Churches sing a version called "I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew", lyrics by anonymous:
"This Is My Song"
In 1934, Lloyd Stone wrote "This Is My Song", a text that appears in many hymnals:
Other hymns
An older version from Unitarian Universalists:
Cedar Grace, set to the tune of Finlandia:
A verse by Josh Mitteldorf, for difficult times:
From The Salvation Army:
A hymn recorded by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
The combined Brigham Young University Men's Choirs sang the following at the end of April 2007 Priesthood Session of the LDS Church's 177th Annual General Conference. The words are paraphrased from the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 4:16-35, often referred to as "The Psalm of Nephi",
"Land of the Rising Sun" (national anthem of Biafra)
The tune of "Finlandia" was also adopted by Biafra for its national anthem "Land of the Rising Sun" during its attempted secession from Nigeria.
Band covers
The symphonic metal band Nightwish played Finlandia in their Dark Passion Play tour, featuring Troy Donockley on the uilleann pipes.
Miriam Stockley, notably the lead vocalist for Adiemus, recorded a cover version, entitled "A Finnish Summer Night - Finlandia," which is set to the melody of Sibelius' "Finlandia" and appears on her second album, "Second Nature" (2003). It features her own rewritten lyrics, different from those of the Christian hymn, "Be Still, My Soul."