Jean Sibelius lived in Finland at the time ruled by Czarist Russia.

It is during the turn of the century

when Czar Nicholas II issued the February Manifesto of 1899, which restricts the Finnish autonomy.
The same year as the February Manifesto, Sibelius wrote a series of six Tableaux, each depicting
scenes of Finnish history. The last two tableaux eventually became the tone poem Finlandia. Due
to Czarist censorship, this tone poem had been performed in various titles, including Happy
Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring. Finlandia became a hit after its premiere in 1900. It
became so popular that Sibelius grew to be wary of this masterpiece, even requesting a café trio in
Bergen, Norway, to not play it in his presence.

The tone poem describes the Russian oppression of Finland and the rise of Finnish nationalism.
The Brass opens with brutal chords in the first theme signifying the Russian overlords. This
brutality is responded by winds and strings, embodying the suppressed and sorrowful Finnish
subjects. After the strings weep, the strings and the woodwinds exchange in a grave and sorrowful
conversation. The music builds and builds as horns and timpani joins in until it is shattered by the
Russians with a menacing rhythmic motif in the trumpets and trombones and the return of the
brutal first theme in the strings. The first theme in the strings and woodwinds confronts the
menace motif in the brass, and then suddenly the conflict disintegrates into silence.

Out of the silences rises a marching bass line, which brings on the next part of Finlandia. The main
theme of this first section, introduced by the brass and timpani and based on that previous
menacing motif, suggests patriotism and the thirst for freedom, followed by a mini-march in the
strings. Soon after, the conflict from the last section resumes. The middle section of this part
features a touching hymn theme first played by the woodwinds and then repeated by the first
violins and cellos. This hymn is sometimes performed with a choir singing a patriotic text approved
by Sibelius, and it is often known as the Christian hymn “Be still my soul”. The conflict music
transitions the piece back to the first section, and the tone poem marches onward to an epic finish.