- Sibelius composed the familiar version of his tone poem Finlandia in 1900. The work premiered in Helsinki the same year.
- An early version of Finlandia was entitled Suomi herää (‘Finland Awakens’) and formed the finale of incidental music to a set of tableaux celebrating Finnish history.
- The famous hymn-like middle section of this tone poem was partly inspired by a patriotic choral entitled Herää, Suomi! (‘Awaken, Finland!’) by Emil Genetz (1852-1930).
- The two tunes share a nearly identical opening motif.
- Finlandia was one of the works Sibelius conducted during his first visit to England in 1905, helping cement his international reputation.1
Sources
- Fabian Dahlström and James Hepokoski, “Sibelius, Jean,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 30, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000043725.
Cut IDs
20192, 20193, 40025