Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1848
Maamme
Buy Maamme now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'" (; , ; both meaning "Our Land") is an unofficial national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with original Swedish words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, and with this music it was performed for the first time on 13 May 1848. Originally, it was written for the 500th anniversary of Porvoo, and for that occasion it was Runeberg himself who wrote the music.
The melody of "Maamme" is also used for the national anthem of Estonia with a similarly themed text, "Mu isamaa, mu nn ja rm" ("My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy", 1869). It is also considered to be the ethnic anthem for the Livonians as "Min izm" ("My Fatherland").
History
.
The original poem, written in 1846 but not printed until 1848, had 11 stanzas and formed the prologue to the verse cycle 'The Tales of Ensign Stl' ("Fnrik Sthls sgner"), a classic example of Romantic nationalism. The current Finnish language text is usually attributed to the 1889 translation of 'Ensign Stl' by Paavo Cajander, but in fact originates from the 1867 translation by Julius Krohn.[http://www.runeberg.net/fin/b_2_t.html Knnkset (Translations)] - Runeberg Museum site (in Finnish)[http://www.finlit.fi/oppimateriaali/kielijaidentiteetti/main.php?target=jlruneberg J. L. Runeberg] - Finnish Literature Society site (in Finnish)
There is no law regarding an official national anthem in Finland, in the way the coat of arms and flag of Finland are legally defined. Instead its position has been established gradually by convention over the years.
Children learn it in school; in formal occasions it is sung both in Finnish and in Swedish. It is played at sporting events, such as the Olympics. In the 1880s and in the 1920s there were more attempts to replace it with a Finnish language version but these ceased by the 1930s. Some Finns have proposed that the Finnish national anthem be set as "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius, with lyrics by V.A. Koskenniemi (Finnish) and Joel Rundt (Swedish).
It is said that Pacius composed the tune in four days. It was popular throughout the 19th century, but established as national anthem only after Pacius' death.
Lyrics
The original lyrics consist of eleven verses, but it is customary to only sing the first verse and the last verse, unless the people gathered are mixed Finnish- and Swedish-speaking. In the latter case, three verses are sung: the first in Finnish, the first in Swedish and the last in Finnish.
See also
* Holidays in Finland
* Finnish national symbols
* "lnningens sng" the regional anthem of land
* "Modersmlets sng" - unofficial anthem of the Swedish-speaking Finns
Notes
References
Buy Maamme now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1848