Okay, this is too late. Unfortunately I was travelling on 6.12. when Finland celebrates independence day. But as independence doesn’t end on that day, I’ll post this music piece today. Composer is, of course, Jean Sibelius, it’s called, of course, Finlandia. During the last years of Finland being a part of Russia, this music was the secret national anthem, composed to strengthen Finnish identity. It was first performed in the year 1900. The version below is a recording from the opening ceremony for the new Music Hall in Helsinki in 2011. I chose it because it has a choir with it.

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 ring.

The powers of the night are vanquished by the morning light,

Your day is dawning, O land of birth.

O, rise, Finland, raise 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 has come, O land of birth.

I hope you enjoy listening to it and”feel” the independence in it.

Finlandia

The picture is again Koli National Park  in North Karelia.

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