Introduction
The FPC Chancel Choir used this song for the anthem on September 11, 2011 – the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist event. The particular arrangement of the anthem we did was arranged by Douglas Wagner (http://www.douglasewagner.com/), who was one of my high school band directors[3]. The tune for this anthem is Finlandia, by Sibelius, and Elizabeth chose Finlandia as the bridal processional for our wedding. The lyrics for the piece are a powerful message about how all of the people in God’s creation are special. Together, this combination of great music, great lyrics, and some personal connections to the music make this one of my favorite pieces. And from what I find in searching to prepare for this lesson, it’s a piece that is special to many people and has been used as part of a lot of different kinds of pushes for peace and reconciliation. Once I learned that the lyrics are older than I thought, I wasn’t surprised to learn that both Joan Baez and Peter, Paul, & Mary (among other peace activists) used this.
In the track of Finlandia above[1], the hymn tune kicks in at the 5:28 mark out of the total 8:06 playing time and runs through about 6:58, with a strain of this near the closing at about 7:45.
Also, in preparing for this, I’ve now read the third and fourth verses from the original poem. The anthem we used, and the renditions I’ve found on various music sources all use verses 1, 2, and 5. I like the third and fourth verses as well, and I wouldn’t mind at all using these in a 5 verse hymn. It would be kind of long, compared to many hymns, but the messages in verses 3 and 4 are also powerful.
History of the Tune
Finlandia, Opus 26 is a symphonic poem written in 1899 and revised in 1900 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)[4]. I find the third sentence of the Wikipedia article on Finlandia particularly interesting in the context of this lesson: “The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire, as the last of seven pieces, each performed as an accompaniment to a tableau depicting episodes from Finnish history.”[5] The sibelius.fi site indicates that the symphonic poem was part of the response to a February 1899 manifesto from Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, to restrict the autonomy of the Grand Duke of Finland[6].
What we know as the Finlandia Hymn Tune is from the end of the larger symphonic poem. It is sometimes attributed to be a traditional Finnish melody, but multiple sources (including wikipedia.org and sibelius.fi) indicate that this hymn melody is original with Sibelius. While I don’t have a specific timeline, it appears that hymns and songs of various sorts were fairly quickly written to go with this piece of music. One (secular) one of note is the 1941 lyrics by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, which is generally referred to as the Finnish national song. It’s not the national anthem of Finland, but it is commonly used, perhaps in a way similar to how we use “America the Beautiful”.
Wikipedia lists six Christian hymns set to Finlandia, with Be Still, My Soul the one that I know best. Others include the subject for today, I Sought the Lord, We Rest on Thee, A Christian Honor, and I Then Shall Live[7]. Note that the lyrics for Be Still, My Soul were translated from the 1752 German version into English in 1855, so this is another case where people have found lyrics and hymns that were quite independent originally, yet work well together. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandia_Hymn for further info about different sets of words that are used to this hymn.
Amazingly enough, the PC USA hymnal doesn’t appear to have any hymns set to Finlandia. Wow. At least not that I could find. I searched in the tune index under Finlandia, in the composer index under Sibelius, and in the metrical index for things of the form 11.10.11.10.11.10 and similar. Nothing.
In the Celebration Hymnal[8], however, there are six hymns that use Finlandia, but these involve three different metrical patterns. To me, in looking at the music, the differences in metrical notation are subtle and perhaps even a bit artificial. Be Still, My Soul is hymn 712, and is marked in the tune index for the hymnal (page 835) as Finlandia (10.10.10.10.10.10). However, at the end of that first stanza, we change pitch in the middle of the word “side”, so one could argue that the first stanza is 11 syllables, and we just use two of them in one word. Besides, southerners are perfectly capable of taking a single syllable word and two or three syllables out of one. Similarly, in hymn 130 (His Glorious Name, based on Isaiah 9:6), the arranger simply removed the slide from G to A at the end of the first stanza and went directly to the A as a whole note.
However you look at it, there are six hymns in the Celebration Hymnal which are set to Finlandia, only one of which is referenced in the Wikipedia article. I
- His Glorious Name, #130 (10.10.11.10.10.11)
- Be Still, My Soul, #712 (10.10.10.10.10.10)
- O Lord, Our Lord #175 (11.10.11.10.11.10)
- A Christian Home #451 (11.10.11.10.11.10)
- I am a Man #455 (11.10.11.10.11.10)[9]
- I Then Shall Live #604 (11.10.11.10.11.10)
OK, enough of that rabbit trail. Back to the topic at hand: This is My Song.
This is My Song, aka A Song of Peace
Lloyd Stone (1912–1993) wrote the basic hymn for this in 1934, with additional verses by Georgia Harkness (1891–1974)[10][11]. The references are a bit unclear, but it appears that stanzas 1 and 2 are by Stone, 5 is by Harkness, with 3 and 4 also by Harness. They are definitely consistent with Dr. Harnkess’ theology, as she was one of the people pushing for ordination of women in the Methodist church.
*Read aloud the five verses below
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine;
this is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine:
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine:
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a prayer that peace transcends in every place;
and yet I pray for my beloved country --
the reassurance of continued grace:
Lord, help us find our one-ness in the Savior,
in spite of differences of age and race.
May truth and freedom come to every nation;
may peace abound where strife has raged so long;
that each may seek to love and build together,
a world united, righting every wrong;
a world united in its love for freedom,
proclaiming peace together in one song.
This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth's kingdoms,
thy kingdom come, on earth, thy will be done;
let Christ be lifted up 'til all shall serve him,
and hearts united, learn to live as one:
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations,
myself I give thee -- let thy will be done.
Play the Indigo Girls version [12] Note this is just verses 1 and 2.
Discussion of the lyrics
Note: I didn’t use it in class, but I also like the a capella version of this by Marc Anderson and Marty Haugen on their In the Days to Come: Songs of Peace album[13].
Hymnary.org[14] has a very interesting graph showing the usage of this song in different hymnals. It first started appearing in the mid 1950’s and currently (2012) is in 29% of hymnals that this site is sampling. They list this using verses 1, 2, and 5, as are the different versions I’ve used in this class.
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Finlandia,Opus 26 Jean Sibelius, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (David Parry, conducting), 2010. Track 55 from the The 100 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music Collection http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/100-most-essential-pieces/id377191246 ↩
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MP3 version purchased from http://alfred-music.com/product_info.php?item_no=26379. Alfred Church Choral (2007). ↩
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Yes, I was incredibly fortunate to have someone like Mr. Wagner as a band director. North Central High School, on the north side of Indy, had and has an incredible music program, and I am grateful to the love of music that people like Sam Rhinesmith, Douglas Wagner, and Dick Dennis helped inspire in me. ↩
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The above Wikipedia article cites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russification_of_Finland as additional information regarding this assertion. ↩
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See http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/ork_finlandia.htm ↩
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The Celebration Hymnal: Songs and Hymns for Worship Integrity Music (1997) http://www.celebrationhymnal.com/ ↩
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I hadn’t seen this hymn before, and I’m not surprised we haven’t sung it, as the lyrics aren’t particularly inclusive, at least the way the word “man” is is often used. See http://www.rubysemporium.org/i_am_a_man.html for the lyrics to this. At some point, we will likely do a session (or six) on inclusive language and perhaps incorporate this as part of that thread. Interestingly enough, I Am a Woman is hymn 452 and has a somewhat different ↩
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Finlandia (live) Track 18 from the Rarities album by the Indigo Girls http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rarities/id217295052 and see http://www.indigogirls.com/home.html for the artists’ site. ↩
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http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/in-days-to-come-songs-peace/id220398232 track 3. ↩
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http://www.hymnary.org/text/this_is_my_song_o_god_of_all_the_nations ↩
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