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With the composition of his tone poem Finlandia, Jean Sibelius firmly secured his reputation as the musical voice of Finnish nationalism. The composer harbored strong patriotic sentiments, and he had expressed these in several compositions of the 1890s. None were created with such a sense of urgency as Finlandia, however, and none struck such a responsive chord with the public. This work was prompted by a historical event. Early in 1899, the government of Czar Nicholas II issued the infamous February Manifesto, severely curtailing liberties in Finland, which was then under Russian domination. Censorship was tightened, and the authority of the Finnish Parliament significantly limited. The move sparked a wave of protest and, from Sibelius, an outpouring of music. After dashing off a choral song with veiled but unmistakable nationalist meaning, the composer set to work on an orchestral suite written to an allegory of Finnish history. This work was performed to great acclaim in Helsinki late in 1899, but Sibelius evidently understood that its success stemmed more from its patriotic overtones than its musical coherence. Accordingly, he reworked portions of the suite early the next year. Among other things, the composer divorced its final movement from the larger work, changing its title from Finland Awakes to simply Finlandia. This piece was performed for the first time in July 1900 and quickly became Sibelius’s most familiar composition. Finlandia unfolds in three episodes, each distinct in character. The somber first section juxtaposes dramatic music for brass and timpani with a plaintive chorale-like strain introduced by the woodwinds and strings. Suddenly, sharp figures given out by the brass usher in a more impassioned central section, in which not only the piercing brass chords but the furious passagework of the strings and a stirring march theme suggest strife and patriotic ardor. It is not difficult to perceive in all this a musical metaphor for oppression and resistance. Soon, however, the tumult subsides, and the woodwinds quietly announce a hymn-like theme, the most famous melody Sibelius ever wrote. The new subject is taken up by the strings and, after a brief return to the more energetic vein of the central episode, affirmed by the brass in the work’s triumphant closing measures. Like other composers who happened to create an extremely popular short piece – Rachmaninov with his C-sharp minor Prelude, for example, or Ravel with his Boléro – Sibelius came to have misgivings about this composition. He regarded it as a relatively minor work and resented the attention it drew from what he considered his more important music. Still, he understood its appeal. A dozen years after Finlandia was first performed, he wrote in his diary: “Why does this tone poem enthrall the public so much? I suppose because of its naturalness. The melodies on which it rests came to me directly. Pure inspiration.” What to Listen For The initial sections of Finlandia convey dejection and struggle. But it is the final part of the work, with its famous hymn-like melody, that made this piece an emblem of Finnish patriotism. © 2015 Paul Schiavo