Score Club - Finlandia, Jean Sibelius
Welcome Score Club!
This page will be our primary source of information, and will be updated each week with new information and helpful hints. But first, we will start with the reason why we are all here….the music!
Finlandia, Op. 26
OrchestraOne’s season theme is “Home", and we could think of no better piece than Jean-Sibelius’ (1865-1957) Finlandia to kick off the season. Written as part of a larger commemoration of Finnish history, it evokes the struggle and strength of the Finnish people, the natural landscape of the country, and the hope that Sibelius had for his home. The piece quickly became the unofficial national anthem of Finland.
What makes the piece so special is that it is not only a literal interpretation of Sibelius’ home country of Finland, but a journey of hope, determination and the resiliency of people while facing difficult odds. Written as a covert way to protest censorship from an oppressive government (more on the history later!) it brings us to Sibelius’ home in Finland, but also helps us to find the “Home” within ourselves.
Jean Sibelius, 1913.
RLPO plays Jean Sibelius masterpiece Finlandia JEAN SIBELIUS Finlandia Vasily Petrenko
Let’s get to the music!
To the left are two videos of Finlandia, one with the orchestra, and one with the score if you would like to follow along with the music. You can also download the score for free here!
The first (and most important) thing to do with any piece is to listen, listen, listen. The only goal here is to enjoy the music! Make sure to head over to our active and engaged listening page to read more about how to listen really well.
Once you have had a chance to listen through a few times, you can start getting a bit more specific. Pick some musical moments (up to five) that particularly stand out. Try to keep these moments small: a cymbal crash, a sudden change in “color”, the moment where a particular instrument enters, etc. These spots will help you form a larger narrative of the piece later on. Remember, if you notice these moments, it’s because the composer wanted you to.
Think of the musical moments you chose as important pillars in the piece - punctuations at the end of a musical sentence, moments of change or climax etc. Now start to build out from those moments. What comes immediately before and after your moment? Is there a long build up before it? Is there a sudden change right after? Now move further and further away from your moments, always using them as your reference points, and always making sure you’re thinking about how one part of the music leads to the next. How many “sections” do you think there are? How do these sections compare musically? What purpose do you think your moments might serve?
All this work is going to lay the foundation for understanding this piece as deeply as we can. We are essentially getting the “lay of the land” so we can map our own interpretation.
Welcome to week two of Score Club!
Let’s put the piece into context!
Finlandia isn’t JUST Finlandia, and in fact isn’t even the real name of the piece! It is part of a larger, seven-part piece that depicts the history of Finland and its people. What we know as Finlandia is the last of these segments, with the original title of: Finland Awakes.
Written for the press celebrations of 1899, it was a covert way of protesting renewed Russian censorship as part of Russification. See the painting by Edvard Isto to the right, painted in the same year that Finlandia was written.
Specifically, 1899 saw the February Manifesto. Given by Nicolas II, it essentially gave Russia the right to rule over Finland in many ways, as well as greatly increased censorship over art and speech.
Edvard Isto's painting Attack (1899) symbolizes the beginning of Finland's Russification. The two-headed eagle of Russia is tearing away the law book from the Finnish Maiden's arms.
