Sibelius Finlandia, Op. 26

Finlandia, Op. 26 is a symphonic poem written by Jean Sibelius in 1899, and revised one year later. It was conceived for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest action against censorship from the Russian Empire, and it was performed as an accompaniment to a tableau depicting episodes from Finnish history. Although initially composed for orchestra, in 1900 Sibelius arranged the entire work for piano. In order to avoid censorship, the work had to be performed under alternative names, a famously flippant example being Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring. Most of the piece consists of turbulent music, evoking the struggle of the Finnish. Towards the end, a calm comes over the orchestra, and the Finlandia Hymn is heard. Incorrectly cited as a folk melody, the Hymn section is of Sibelius's creation. A standard performance takes about seven minutes.