Finlandia

This tone poem was composed by Jean Sibelius in 1899 as a protest to the increasing censorship being imposed on Finland by the Russian Empire, which at that time considered Finland to be part of Russia. First performed in 1900 it became immediately popular throughout the country, but in order to avoid censorship, it had to be performed under alternative names at various musical concerts. Titles under which the piece masqueraded were numerous; famous examples being Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring, and A Scandinavian Choral March. The familiar and universally popular hymn tune incorporated in the work, though attributed to others, was actually written by Sibelius himself.The original score calls for a large symphony orchestra with full woodwind, brass and percussion sections and a performance time of over 8 minutes. So that young string players could have the thrill of performing this great composition, I have endeavored to encompass the major passages into a 3 minute score that is playable by the intermediate student.