Finlandia, tone poem Opus 26

"Finlandia" was written in 1899, and immediately, during its opening night on July 2nd, 1900, caused controversy. Young Finnish people, who at the time demanded independence from the rule of the Russian Tsar, made it their anthem. Sibelius's music is Finnish in its dark, serious character, as winter in Finland, or light and hovering as spring on its lakes. But the melodic and rhythmical characteristics of the Finnish tongue are evident, too, in the composer's writing. The opening sounds of "Finlandia" hits the listener with dark, steep chords played in brass, and then the piece becomes a decisive anthem, Finnish in its character. The struggle against the Tsar concluded with Finland's independence, and Sibelius and his "Finlandia" became the symbols of the new decisive, freedom seeking nation.