Chuck Oates
29 September 2008
Revised: 9 Nov 2008
Minor Rev.: 12 Feb 2009
Norman, Oklahoma, USA
The Finlandia Hymn
The Finlandia Hymn, seventh entry in my music section, is from a particularly beautiful section of Jean Sibelius' patriotic symphonic poem ("tone poem"), Finlandia, first entry in my music section. Sibelius himself arranged this part of his symphonic work for choral performance, and it is absolutely gorgeous! It has become an unofficial national anthem of Finland.
Since not too many of us on this side of the Pond speak Finnish, below is a literal translation of the Finnish lyrics borrowed from Wikipedia's "Finlandia Hymn" ariticle. The history of the work, as well as the lyrics in Finnish, can be found at http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/finlandia-hymn/ .
Enjoy!
Prof. Oates
[Added 8 Oct 2008:]
P.S. Anne (pronounced "un-neh"), a native of Finland who is now studying at the Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences (Kymenlaakson ammattikorkeakoulu) in Kouvola, Finland sent me the following commentary on Finlandia--along with some possible anecdotal evidence for global warming. I thought you might like to read it too; so, with her permission here are Anne's thoughts on Finlandia. (Thanks, Anne!) --CLO
"To me, Finlandia is something that always makes me humble and emotional, it's so.. patriotic. I've sung it at the Independence day event since I was 13 till last year, now I'm not in any choir anymore so I'll miss it.. :s The feeling is so wonderful up there with the orchestra. Actually I prefer the intrumental parts to the hymn but still. The whole piece is very beautiful yes.. And I actually really think that Sibelius has been able to capture the right feeling in it, sometimes I'm amazed.. There's something in the blowing instruments that sounds very Finnish, don't know why. Gotta think of the snowy woods. :D Oh I hope there'll be snow this winter.. Of course [there'll be snow] in the North but I moved to South Finland this fall and it's not as certain here.. Also in Oulu which is my hometown, the past few years the winter has started later and lasted less. My boyfriend comes to Oulu for the New Year and I *really* hope he'll see some real winter."
[From Wikipedia's "Finlandia Hymn" Article]
A literal translation of the lyrics would be:
O, Finland, behold, your day is dawning,
The threat of night has been banished away,
And the lark of morning in the brightness sings,
As though the very firmament would sing.
The powers of the night are vanquished by the morning light,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth. O, rise, Finland, rise up high
Your head, wreathed with great memories.
O, rise, Finland, you showed to the world
That you drove away the slavery,
And that you did not bend under oppression,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth.
Another verse by Josh Mitteldorf, for difficult times:
When nations rage, and fears erupt coercive,
The drumbeats sound, invoking pious cause.
My neighbors rise, their stalwart hearts they offer,
The gavels drop, suspending rights and laws.
While others wield their swords with blind devotion;
For peace I'll stand, my true and steadfast cause.
Another Finlandia recording I have on an ancient vinyl record incorporates the lyrics below. The arrangement is the complete orchestral Finlandia with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir joining in to sing the hymn portion with orchestral accompaniment. These lyrics, by the way, are written by an obscure U.S. (Massachusets) poet, and have little or nothing to do with the Finnish lyrics. Oddly, they're the only lyrics I had ever heard until I found the recording of the Hymn sung in Finnish on MySpace the other day. See http://www.minerland.net/recordings.htm .
On great lone hills, Where tempests brood and gather
Primeval earth, Against primeval sky, We faring forth
Possessed by fervent longing Have found a throne, Eternal and high
Have knelt at last, In wordless adoration, Till fire and whirlwind, Have gone by
With ardent song, We greet the golden morning, By faith upborne
Remember not the night, The whole wide world
It hails triumphant dawning, God walks abroad
In garments of might, The hills behold, Are now a path of splendor
Transfigured all, And all crowned with light
The hills behold, Are now a path of splendor
Transfigured all, And all crowned with light.
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Commentary on the "On Great Lone Hills" lyrics can be found at http://www.recordingchannel.com/forums/recording/61702-on-lone-great-hills.html .
----------------
Chuck Oates
Addendum of
30 Sept 2008
Rice Is Our Home
In the mid-1960s at Rice University in Houston, a group of Rice bandies promoted a new school song based on the the Finlandia Hymn tune to replace the gawd-awful Rice school song, "All for Rice's Honor," whose tune was "Our Director" march played at a funeral tempo. Alas, the replacement effort was eventually unsuccessful. :^( The lyrics, as best I can remember them, were
"Rice is our home, wherever we may wander
Throughout the years, whever we may roam
??--several lines forgotten--??
as ??something?? days become a memory."
Thankfully, Dr. Ken Dyer, Rice's Marching Owl Band director of some years ago, wrote an arrangement of "Our Director" that succeeded in making the march sound something like a school song, though it still (very intentionally) features the "yump-ta-dump-ta-da-di-da-ya-da-da" phrase in the middle that makes eveyone laugh. Serviceable it is; "Annie Lisle" (the tune of Cornell's, Vanderbilt's, U. Kansas' and Moore High School's school songs), it isn't.
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Rice U.'s "All for Rice's Honor," arr. Ken Dyer, artist(s): Da MOB!
Copyright © 2000-2008 Rice University — All rights reserved.
http://mob.rice.edu/media/ricehonor.mp3
You'll need to copy the address below into your browser or .mp3 player to hear Cornell's Alma Mater. MySpace is blocking it as rogue site, although I've visited it many times and never had a problem--make your own choice, I guess.
Cornell U.'s Alma Mater (tune: "Annie Lisle")
http://www.gleeclub.com/experience/music/almamater.mp3
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