A Performance Guide To Select A Cappella Works of Jean Sibelius I PDF

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2014-04-21
A Performance Guide to Select A Cappella Works

of Jean Sibelius Including Translations and
Phonetic Transcriptions of Finnish Texts
John Guarente
University of Miami, johnguarente@icloud.com
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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
A PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO SELECT A CAPPELLA WORKS OF

JEAN SIBELIUS INCLUDING TRANSLATIONS AND PHONETIC
TRANSCRIPTIONS OF FINNISH TEXTS
By
John Guarente
A DOCTORAL ESSAY
Submitted to the Faculty

of the University of Miami
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
Coral Gables, Florida
May 2014
©2014
John Guarente
All Rights Reserved
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
A doctoral essay submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts
A PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO SELECT A CAPPELLA WORKS OF

JEAN SIBELIUS INCLUDING TRANSLATIONS AND PHONETIC
TRANSCRIPTIONS OF FINNISH TEXTS
John Guarente
Approved:
__________________ __________________
Donald Oglesby, D.M. Karen Kennedy, D.M.A.
Professor, Choral Studies Associate Professor of
Choral Studies
__________________ __________________
Esther Jane Hardenbergh, Ed.D. M. Brian Blake, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Dean of the Graduate School
Vocal Performance
__________________
Dorothy Hindman, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor, Theory
and Composition
GUARENTE, JOHN (D.M.A. Choral Conducting)
A Performance Guide to Select A Cappella Works (May 2014)
of Jean Sibelius Including Translations and
Phonetic Transcriptions of Finnish Texts
Abstract of a doctoral essay at the University of Miami.
Doctoral essay supervised by Professor Donald Oglesby.

No. of pages in text. (141)
This essay is a performance guide to select a cappella choral works of Jean
Sibelius that is geared towards choral musicians whose primary language is English. The
introduction begins with an overview of Sibelius's early career as a composer and the
socio-political climate in which he lived. This provides context for the discussion of
Sibelius's Finnish language a cappella choral repertoire. The performance guide itself
first gives a thorough explanation of Finnish choral diction. Rather than enumerate every
single Finnish choral work by Sibelius, the author has narrowed the scope of the essay to
a select group of pieces based on popularity and stylistic distinctiveness within the
composer's overall choral output. Using Ron Jeffers's Translations and Annotations series
as a model, each selected piece is then presented in terms of musico-poetic information,
harmonic language and performance considerations, and literal translations and phonetic
transcriptions of Finnish texts. Alternate editions for three of the pieces are included in
the Appendix.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have been fortunate in my life to know a number of wonderful people of Finnish
descent. When it was decided that I would be researching the choral works of Jean
Sibelius, I contacted Finnish soprano Taina Kataja—who has been a professor at Rutgers
University since I was an undergraduate student—to see if she would be willing to be a
language consultant for this project. Her response and enthusiasm in this regard has been
better than I could have ever hoped. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Ms. Kataja,
whose corrections and suggestions for the translations of these complex poems has
helped make the transcriptions contained herein as accurate as possible.
There are a few important people who helped me conduct research in Finland in
the year before the publication of this essay. I must first thank Dr. Sakari Ylivuori, not
only for his exhaustive research on the geneses of Sibelius's a cappella choral works, but
for taking the time to show me around the National Library of Finland, quickly and
cordially responding to all of my email inquiries, and for helping me to secure publishing
permissions for the editions contained in the Appendix from WSOY and Breitkopf &
Härtel. I would like to thank Jaakko Kortesharju at the Sibelius Academy for setting aside
many volumes of Sibelius-related materials so that they would be waiting for me upon
my arrival in Helsinki. A special thanks also goes out to Dr. Andrew Bentley of the
Sibelius Academy for granting me permission to quote his own poetic translations of
Sibelius's a cappella works when necessary.
Dr. Matti Hyökki is the first Finnish choral director with whose recordings I
became familiar. This eventually led to my fascination with the choral works of Jean
iii
Sibelius. I would like to thank Dr. Hyökki for inspiring me to study and perform the
music of Sibelius, and for taking the time out of his busy schedule to meet me at the
Savonlinna Opera Festival to discuss the details of performing these important pieces of
choral literature.
I would not be a choral musician today if not for my experience and education at
Rutgers University. The man solely responsible for this is Dr. Patrick Gardner, Director
of Choral Activities at Rutgers. In the fifteen years I have known Dr. Gardner, he has
shown me as much as any person can of what is great and compelling about choral music,
and he has made me into the conductor I am today. For this I am forever grateful.
I would like to thank the members of my doctoral committee: Dr. Donald
Oglesby, Dr. Karen Kennedy, Dr. Esther Jane Hardenbergh, and Dr. Dorothy Hindman.
Each one of these professors has provided me with invaluable insight, constructive
criticism, and an excellent example of what it means to be a true scholarly musician. A
special thanks goes out to Drs. Kennedy and Oglesby for their steadfast guidance and
council through all three years of my doctoral degree.
I am extremely grateful to my family and friends for their faithfulness and love,
and for remaining in my life even when I am far away. I would like to thank my father
Anthony Guarente and my brother Gabriel Guarente for their unwavering love and
support in all of my aspirations and ventures. Above all, I thank my amazing wife Neha
Guarente. The amount of self-sacrifice and understanding she has shown me in the years
of my graduate studies is more than any one person deserves, and the depth of her love is
far greater than I could have ever imagined.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I Introduction .................................................................................................. 1!
CHAPTER II Literature Review ........................................................................................ 6
Finnish History and Musical Style .......................................................................... 6
Sibelius's Life and Choral Music ............................................................................ 8
Finnish Language and Diction .............................................................................. 12!
Editions ................................................................................................................. 15!
CHAPTER III Method ..................................................................................................... 16
Musico-poetic Information and Historical Context .............................................. 17!
Harmonic Language and Performance Considerations......................................... 18!
Translations and Phonetic Transcriptions of Finnish Texts .................................. 19
CHAPTER IV Performance Guide .................................................................................. 22
Overview of Finnish Diction and Linguistic Anomalies ...................................... 22
Vowels ...................................................................................................... 22
Consonants ................................................................................................ 25
Diphthongs ................................................................................................ 27
Vowel Harmony ........................................................................................ 30
Consonant Gradation ................................................................................ 31
Select A Cappella Works of Jean Sibelius ............................................................ 32
Rakastava, JS 160c.................................................................................... 32
Venematka, Op. 18, No. 3......................................................................... 45
Saarella palaa, Op. 18, No. 4 .................................................................... 50
Sydämeni laulu, Op. 18, No. 6 .................................................................. 53
Min rastas raataa, JS 129 .......................................................................... 58
v
Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promootiokantaatista, Op. 23 ............ 64
Koulutie, JS 112 ...................................................................................... 107
Finlandia-hymni, from Op. 26 ................................................................ 117
CHAPTER V Conclusions ............................................................................................. 122
Additional Resources .......................................................................................... 122
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 124!
APPENDIX Alternate Editions of Select Works ........................................................... 127
Tuuli tuudittele, Op. 23, No. 2 ............................................................................ 128!
Oi Lempi, sun valtas ääretön on, Op. 23, No. 7 .................................................. 132!
Koulutie, JS 112 .................................................................................................. 137
vi
CHAPTER I
Introduction
The music of Jean Sibelius is synonymous with the national image of Finland. At
a time when the country was wrestling for independence from Russia and defining its
own national identity, Sibelius was enjoying his most productive years, creating rustic,
programmatic music influenced by Finnish rune singing. His impressive orchestral
output—including seven symphonies—has helped place him in the company of the most
recognized composers of all time, a status that has not been enjoyed by any other Finnish
composer thus far.
As a young man, Sibelius was heavily influenced by the operas of Richard
Wagner. His early orchestral works were an extension of German Romanticism with a
slight Russian character.1 Consequently, Sibelius searched for ways to assert his own
independent voice. The answers came when he read and reread the Finnish folk-epic the
Kalevala,2 and decided to set the poetry of his people to music. Perhaps the first
important work that resulted from this decision is his symphonic poem Kullervo, for male
chorus, soli, and orchestra. With this piece, Sibelius made the firm choice to incorporate
1
De Gorog, Lisa S., and Ralph Paul De Gorog. From Sibelius to Sallinen: Finnish Nationalism
and the Music of Finland (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 71-78.
2
Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, which consists of chanted mythological and folkloristic
poetry transmitted orally over several centuries until it was transcribed in the mid-nineteenth century. It
contains almost 23,000 lines of trochaic verse divided into 50 runes.
1
2
Finnish folk elements into his musical idiom and began to gain notoriety as the first true
Finnish nationalist composer.3
Although he is not primarily known as a choral composer, Sibelius wrote a great
deal of choral music for Finnish song festivals and collegiate groups throughout his
compositional career. Drawing on texts from the Kalevala and its companion the
Kanteletar, Sibelius promoted singing in the Finnish vernacular as a way of fostering a
sense of national pride. It also gave his music its own unique character as people began to
associate his harmonic language and musical style with the Nordic regions from which he
hailed.4 This tradition of choral settings of Finnish folk poetry would continue in the
works of composers such as Selim Palmgren, Toivo Kuula, and Leevi Madetoja.5
The fact that Sibelius was writing music in Finnish was no small detail. Finland
was originally owned by Sweden, and for centuries Swedish was the official language. In
the early nineteenth century, the Finnish unsuccessfully helped the Swedish in fending
off Russia during the Napoleanic Wars, resulting in the Russian annexation of Finland.
Although still generally suppressed in comparison to Swedish, the proliferation of the
Finnish language became an important aspect of the country's long push for
independence from Russia.6 The new translations of the Karelian poetry that were
published in 1849 and the resultant Finnish language music by Jean Sibelius were natural
offshoots of this grassroots movement.
3
De Gorog, 84.
4
Smith, Frederick Key. Nordic Art Music: from the Middle Ages to the Third Millenium
(Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002), 61.
5
Ibid., 71-75.
6
Habermann, Joshua Cramer. "Finnish Music and the A Cappella Choral Works of Einojuhani
Rautavaara." (DMA diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1997), 1-5.
3
Choral singing had enjoyed a long tradition well before Sibelius was working in
the medium, but virtually none of the standard repertoire in Finland was actually in the
vernacular. In 1838, Frederick Pacius established the Akademiska Sångföreningen, an
all-male student choir at Helsinki University. As its name suggests, their primary
language was Swedish. Later, after almost fifty years of brewing Finnish nationalism,
some of the students from this group broke off to form Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat, known
simply as "YL." The members of this male vocal ensemble—established in 1883—
committed themselves to singing high standards of choral repertoire in the Finnish
language.7 The young Jean Sibelius happened to be seeking employment at Helsinki
University at the same time with a similar agenda, ready to supply them with dense
choral literature in their native tongue. Thus, Sibelius was able to achieve success with
his Finnish choral works because he had dedicated young singers to perform them.
The institution of Finnish song festivals was another medium through which
Sibelius forged his national identity and received performances of his choral works. This
tradition had grown in popularity by the time of the Sibelius's first compositional
maturity. Large consortiums of singers and instrumentalists would get together and
perform music of national character as a brazen display of patriotism in the face of
Russian occupation. In this way—even outside the realm of academia—choral singing in
the Finnish language became a part of the national fabric of Finland, and the quasi-
Romantic music of Jean Sibelius lay at the very heart of it.8
7
Mäkinen, Timo and Seppo Nummi. Musica Fennica (Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava,
1965), 109-113.
8
4
Since the time of Sibelius, choral singing has flourished in Finland, and groups
such as Akademiska Sångföreningen and Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat are alive and well
today. Generations of Finnish composers have worked in the choral medium, but none
have surpassed Sibelius in international status and name recognition. Despite this rich
choral tradition, Finnish language music—including the choral literature of Sibelius—has
remained relatively sequestered in Scandinavia and its surrounding countries. The reason
for this is two-fold: 1.) Much of the music of the major Finnish composers is published
by one company—Fennica Gehrman—and the cost of importing this music to the United
States is significant.9 Furthermore, some of Sibelius's most famous pieces are only sold in
Finland due to copyright law. 2.) Compounding the former problem is the perceived
difficulty of teaching Finnish diction to English-speaking singers.10 Considering the
overall wealth of choral literature from which to choose, when faced with such
challenges, it seems that most American choral directors would just as soon let the
orchestral world have Sibelius.
The purpose of this study is to provide a practical guide that will help render the
a cappella works of Jean Sibelius more approachable for choral directors and singers.
Since textual meaning and clarity are of paramount interest in choral music, and the
Finnish language represents a significant stumbling block to choral musicians, much of
the content of this essay is based around literal translations and phonetic transcriptions of
the Finnish texts. Specifically, this study addresses the following issues: musico-poetic
9
Fennica Gehrman, http://www.fennicagehrman.fi/home/ (accessed November 12, 2012).
10
Thompson, Jon, "The Choral Music of Jean Sibelius: An Introduction," The Choral Journal 47,
no. 8 (February 2007): 8-15.
5
information and historical context, harmonic language and performance considerations,
and challenges of the Finnish language.
This document focuses primarily on Sibelius's a cappella works for mixed chorus,
many of which he previously or subsequently set for male chorus. This serves to narrow
the scope of the study and to highlight the repertoire that would be most widely
accessible to choral societies in the United States. Presumably, the methods discussed in
this essay would also be applicable to Sibelius's works for a cappella male chorus, as well
as the few works for a cappella female chorus.

CHAPTER II
Literature Review
For the purposes of this study, the literature and materials related to the study of
the life and works of Jean Sibelius are divided into three main sections. The first section
is a review of materials that deal with the musical history of Finland and the influence
that Sibelius's music has imbued on subsequent generations of Finnish composers. The
second part discusses biographical works and studies of Sibelius's music itself. Although
most available studies focus on his instrumental repertoire, there are some notable
exceptions. The third section addresses the few current sources that focus on the Finnish
language with regard to choral and vocal diction. Much of this information comes from
appendices, articles, and English translations of Finnish poetry. Together, these groups of
materials help form the basis of a three-fold method for approaching the a cappella music
of Jean Sibelius.
Finnish History and Musical Style
Finland is a relatively young country in terms of art music. However, it has
enjoyed a long history of church singing and folk music, which has contributed to the
development of a Finnish national style. The forging of this style has been well
documented by numerous Scandinavian music scholars. Each of these scholars
6
7
recognizes Sibelius as being the genesis of the major nationalist movement that emerged
from Finland over the first half of the twentieth century.
The most detailed account of this movement can be found in Lisa de Gorog's
From Sibelius to Sallinen: Finnish Nationalism and the Music of Finland. In the first
chapters, she gives a summary of the geo-political climate in nineteenth-century Finland
and explains various aspects of the Finnish language in terms of its use in song. The next
four chapters are devoted to Sibelius. Although choral music is not the largest portion of
his output, Gorog does show that his choral works represent an important part of his
Finnish nationalist oeuvre.11 12
Musica Fennica by Timo Mäkinen and Seppo Nummi is a slightly more dated
account of Finnish music history, written in 1965. It offers a short historical survey up to
the 1900s, discussing church music, scholastic singing, folk music, and the formation of a
rich choral tradition in the eighteenth century. Chapter two deals mainly with Sibelius's
orchestral literature, after which it leads into a discussion of the music of Selim Palmgren
and Toivo Kuula. The last chapter discusses Finnish choral music in further detail, and
mentions Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat along with other famous choirs.13
Joshua Habermann's dissertation on the music of Einojuhani Rautavaara contains
a concise but thorough history of Finland and Finnish music. His chapter entitled "The
Nordic Choral Tradition" offers valuable insight into the development of a lasting choral
11
and the Music of Finland (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 1-58.
12
oeu·vre (ˈœvr!) n. the works of a painter, composer, or author regarded collectively.
13
Mäkinen, Timo and Seppo Nummi. Musica Fennica (Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava,
1965), 1-54, 109-139.
8
tradition in Finland throughout the twentieth century. In his brief treatment of Sibelius,
Habermann mentions how the composer's music is not as nationalist as others in
comparison because he does not quote Finnish folk melodies directly, a sentiment that is
shared with all of the Finnish music scholars mentioned hereinbelow.14
A number of other sources may be used as supplementary materials for Finnish
music history, including John Horton's Scandinavian Music: A Short History,15 Anthony
Hodgson's Scandinavian Music,16 and Frederick Key Smith's Nordic Art Music: From the
Middle Ages to the Third Millennium.17 These texts all give similar accounts of Finnish
music, from its medieval roots, to the initial publication of the Kalevala in 1835, to the
first great Finnish composer-conductors in Robert Kajanus and Martin Wegelius. Smith
spends significantly less time on Sibelius, but gives greater details as to the Nordic
musical scene in the Baroque and Classical Periods.
Sibelius's Life and Choral Music
All modern Sibelius biographers are in some ways indebted to the work of Erik
Tawaststjerna. He was a personal friend of Sibelius, and his multiple-volume work Jean
Sibelius incorporated many private letters and journal entries that were previously
unavailable to the musicological world. It was first published serially in five Finnish
14
15
Horton, John. Scandinavian Music: A Short History (London: Faber and Faber, 1963), 1-98,
129-135.
16
Hodgson, Antony. Scandinavian Music: Finland & Sweden (Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson
University Press, 1984) 25-81.
17
Smith, Frederick Key. Nordic Art Music: from the Middle Ages to the Third Millenium
(Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2002), 1-84.
9
volumes, starting in 1965. The English language version, translated by Robert Layton, is
abridged to just three volumes. Even in its abridgement, it offers a thorough, almost day-
to-day chronicle of the composer's life and work, and provides the foundation upon
which modern Sibelius scholars have built.18
One of the foremost English-language Sibelius scholars is Glenda Dawn Goss.
She has edited The Sibelius Companion as well as Jean Sibelius: A Guide to Research.19
Her major textbook entitled Sibelius: A Composer's Life and the Awakening of Finland
represents one of the most comprehensive accounts of the composer's life and the
musico-political climate under which he worked. Although many of his choral works are
mentioned, this text only discusses them in terms of how each composition relates to the
composer's career at large. That being said, all relevant biographical information on Jean
Sibelius can be found in this volume.20
In The Sibelius Companion, Goss brings together various studies of Sibelius's
music in an attempt to give an overarching perspective on his compositional output.
Daniel Politoske is the author of the chapter devoted to Sibelius's choral music. He makes
some generalizations about the composer's a cappella writing style, and there are a few
musical examples to help illustrate certain points. Although Politoske discusses some
musical details along the way, this chapter is basically a survey of Sibelius's choral
18
Tawaststjerna, Erik. Sibelius: Volume 1 (Berkley: University of California Press, 1976), 1-294.
19
Goss, Glenda Dawn. Jean Sibelius: A Guide to Research (New York: Garland Pub, 1998).
20
Goss, Glenda Dawn. Sibelius: A Composer's Life and the Awakening of Finland (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2009), 1-317.
10
works. Notable a cappella works mentioned include Rakastava, Till Therese Hahl,
Saarella palaa, and Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promotiooni kantaatista.21
Two other substantial Sibelius biographies available in English are Sibelius by
Andrew Barnett and Jean Sibelius by Tomi Mäkelä. Compared to the work by Goss,
these volumes are slightly more concerned with specific musical information as they
trace their paths through the life of Jean Sibelius. Barnett in particular takes special care
in touching on every single composition as he traces the composer's output throughout his
lifetime, and he incorporates previously unknown correspondences that were only
recently made available by the Sibelius family.22 Mäkelä takes significantly more time in
discussing the reception and influence of Sibelius's music, which helps to define the
composer's place in modern music history.23
Andrew Barnett also wrote the album liner notes to the choral volume of the
complete works of Jean Sibelius, published on the BIS record label. In this insert, he
explains the origins of many of the a cappella works, including Koulutie, Rakastava, Min
rastas raataa, Aamusumussa, Uusmaalaisten laulu, and the songs from Op. 18. This
recording features a special performance of the "lost" promotion cantata of 1897 with
mixed chorus and piano, the piece from which Sibelius arranged the nine movements of
Op. 23. The insert also includes full English translations of all choral works by Sibelius.24
21
Politoske, Daniel, "Choral Music," In The Sibelius Companion, edited by Glenda Dawn Goss
(Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1996), 201-219.
22
Barnett, Andrew. Sibelius (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), 22-180.
23
Mäkelä, Tomi, and Steven Lindberg. Jean Sibelius (Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2011),
217-423.
24
Barnett, Andrew. Untitled Notes. In The Sibelius Edition: Choral Music, by Jean Sibelius.
Åkersberga, Sweden: BIS CD-825, 2010, 32-49.
11
Vesa Sirén is one of the editors of an online publication called Finnish Music
Quarterly and one of the main contributors to the Sibelius Project, an organization
devoted to the preservation and promotion of Sibelius's music. On the Sibelius Project
website, he provides an annotated list of all of Sibelius's non-orchestrated choral music.
Sirén divides the composer's choral output into various stylistic time periods including
Early choral works, Choral works after Kullervo, and The first years at Ainola. He
provides background information and comments on the musical idioms of many of
Sibelius's most significant compositions.25
In February of 2007, The Choral Journal devoted an entire issue to the choral
music of Jean Sibelius. Jon Thompson's article "The Choral Music of Jean Sibelius: An
Introduction" contains a brief discussion of Sibelius's life and his impetus for writing
choral music. He provides certain details about specific works such as Sandels, Snöfrid,
Min rastas raataa, Rakastava, and Oma maa. In his conclusion, Thompson calls attention
the paucity of performances of Sibelius's choral music by English-speaking choirs due to
language difficulties and the lack of available performing editions.26 The remaining
articles in this issue deal with Sibelius's choral masterwork Kullervo.
In his introduction to the complete Sibelius edition Works for Mixed Choir A
Cappella, Sakari Ylivuori surveys the genesis of each opus or collection of works as
concisely as possible. The main focus is on the specifics of Sibelius's commissions and
dates of original performances or publications. For some pieces, the descriptions in these
25
Sirén, Vesa. "Choral works (without orchestra)." The Sibelius Project.
http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/kuoroteokset.htm (accessed October 18, 2012).
26
no. 8 (February 2007): 8-15.
12
pages remain somewhat brief, but the introduction as a whole can still be counted as one
of the more thorough accounts of the circumstances surrounding the composition of
Sibelius's a cappella mixed choral works.27
Ylivuori works at The National Library of Finland as the sole researcher for the
choral works of Jean Sibelius. He is about to publish his complete dissertation entitled
Jean Sibelius's Works for Mixed Choir: A Source Study through the Ph.D. program at the
Sibelius Academy. The present author has received an advance copy of this document
from Ylivuori electronically. This dissertation will likely become the most
musicologically significant study of Sibelius's choral works to date. The study traces the
chain of extant sources for every SATB choral work Sibelius wrote, creating a complete
picture of the evolution of these pieces. It is essentially an exhaustive expansion of his
introduction that appears in the complete Sibelius edition. For the purposes of the present
study, this source provides invaluable information on Sibelius's compositional process
and his collaborations with certain Finnish poets.28
Finnish Language and Diction
There are not many sources currently that deal with Finnish diction as it pertains
to vocal and choral music. The most thorough treatment appears in a guide called Singing
In Finnish by Eugene Holman, which is currently available only in European markets.
This book provides a highly nuanced approach to Finnish lyric diction, intended
27
Sibelius, Jean, et al, Works for mixed choir a cappella = Werke für gemischten Chor a cappella
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012).
28
Ylivuori, Sakari. "Jean Sibelius's Works for Mixed Chorus: A Source Study." (PhD diss.,
University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy, 2013), 1-187.
13
exclusively for the solo singer. Holman assumes the reader's familiarity and fluency in
IPA, and assigns highly specialized IPA symbols to sounds that could otherwise be read
phonetically. The most useful feature of this text is the 75 Finnish art songs contained
therein, which are transcribed with word-by-word translations and IPA transcriptions of
each poem.29
A more concise, but perhaps more practical survey of Finnish diction rules comes
from the Fall 2010 issue of the Journal of Singing. In her article "Finnish Lyric Diction,"
Tellervo Kähärä describes the structures and peculiarities of the Finnish language in some
detail. Her suggestions for the pronunciation of diphthongs are well informed and useful.
Due to the limitations of the journal article format, she does not provide IPA
transcriptions for any Finnish art songs, but she does enumerate what she finds to be
some of the most common pronunciation problems for English-speaking singers.30
Two other musical sources of information on Finnish diction are Scott Lawrence
Tuomi's dissertation "Finnish Art Song for the American Singer," and the aforementioned
dissertation by Joshua Habermann "Finnish Music and the A Cappella Choral Works of
Einojuhani Rautavaara." Tuomi's document offers a brief, but helpful history and outline
of Finno-Ugric languages. He also discusses Finnish music history in a treatment similar
to Mäkinen and Habermann, which includes a section on Sibelius. His pronunciation
guide is not long, and shows certain inconsistencies with other sources. Surprisingly, he
29
Holman, Eugene, Gustav Djupsjöbacka and Donald Adamson. Singing in Finnish: A Manual for
Singers and Vocal Coaches: 75 Finnish Songs Phonetically Transcribed with Translations (Porvoo,
Finland: The Academy of Finnish Art Song, 2005), 9-28.
30
Kähärä, Tellervo, "Finnish Lyric Diction," Journal of Singing 67, no. 1 (September/October
2010): 53-59.
14
does not provide IPA transcriptions of any Finnish art songs as a part of his appendix.31
Habermann's essay also contains a short pronunciation guide for the Finnish language,
but does not include IPA transcriptions of any works by Rautavaara.32
As mentioned, there are two major collections of Finnish rune poetry from which
Sibelius draws a number of texts in his a cappella literature. The Kalevala is an epic
poem with a cohesive narrative based on the major characters of Finnish folklore,
originally transcribed by Elias Lönnrot. J.R.R. Tolkien cited this work as a major
inspiration for some of the characters and situations in his The Lord of the Rings trilogy.33
The Kanteletar is a collection of lyrics and ballads, also transmitted through oral
tradition, and partially transcribed by Lönnrot. Both works have been translated into
English, although the Kanteletar is largely incomplete in its only translated version. The
English editions by Keith Bosley stand up to dictionary translation, and provide useful
references in deciphering the meaning of the traditional Finnish verse.34
In addition to dictionaries and other Finnish linguistic sources, the translations of
Sibelius's a cappella works by Andrew Bentley—which appear in the CD inserts for the
Ondine recording of Sibelius's complete works for mixed chorus35 (1993), as well as the
31
Tuomi, Scott Lawrence, "Finnish Art Song for the American Singer" (DMA diss., The
University of Arizona, 2001), 13-44, 122.
32
Rautavaara." (DMA diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1997).
33
Lönnrot, Elias, and Keith Bosley. The Kalevala: An Epic Poem After Oral Tradition (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1989), xii-liii.
34
Lönnrot, Elias, and Keith Bosley. The Kanteletar: Lyrics and Ballads After Oral Tradition
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), xi-xxxii.
35
Bentley, Andrew. Untitled Translations. In Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a cappella, by
Jean Sibelius. Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993, 21-42.
15
complete Sibelius Edition on BIS records36 (2007)— serve as helpful guides in the
process of attaining literal translations of these Finnish texts. Whenever possible, the
syntactical translations that appear in this essay have been transcribed to show
consistencies with Bentley's translations.
Editions
The only separate edition of a cappella choral works used in this study is a
scanned copy of the Fazer & Westerlund edition of Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden
promotiooni kantaatista (Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotion Cantata).
This is one of the few choral compositions by Sibelius not restricted to European or
Finnish publication by current copyright law.37
Breitkopf and Härtel have been publishing the first complete critical edition of
Sibelius's music serially since 1996. The full volume of Sibelius's mixed choral works
was released in 2012, edited by Sakari Ylivuori. Every piece discussed in this essay
appears in this volume. For many of the works, there are no extant scores in Sibelius's
hand, but Ylivuori's extensive source research has led to the most reliable modern
editions of these pieces available today.38
36
Bentley, Andrew. Untitled Translations. In The Sibelius Edition: Choral Music, by Jean
Sibelius. Åkersberga, Sweden: BIS CD-825, 2010, 185-251.
37
Sibelius, Jean. 9 Songs for Chorus, op. 23. In IMSLP,
http://imslp.org/wiki/9_Songs_for_Chorus,_Op.23_(Sibelius,_Jean) (accessed October 18, 2012).
38
CHAPTER III
Method
The objective of this essay is to provide a performance guide that will give singers
and choral directors a process for approaching the a cappella works of Jean Sibelius. The
three major areas of focus are musico-poetic information and historical context, harmonic
language and performance considerations, and challenges of the Finnish language. This
tripartite approach will afford choral directors and singers a better perspective on the a
cappella music of Sibelius by treating it in the same manner as more standard choral
repertory.
The model for this essay's treatment of Sibelius's a cappella works is drawn from
the series of reference books edited by Ron Jeffers entitled Translations and Annotations
of Choral Repertoire. The four volumes of this series have become the standard sources
for choral directors to obtain literal translations of sacred and secular texts for the most
prevalent choral literature in Latin, German, French, Italian, and Hebrew. The books also
provide historical context and musico-poetic information for each piece.39 Because
Finnish is a living language, the volumes featuring other living languages—such as
German or Italian—are most useful as models.
39
Jeffers, Ron, and Gordon Paine. Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire Volume II:
German Texts (Corvallis, OR: Earthsongs, 2000), 2-5.
16
17
Given Sibelius's status as the preeminent Finnish nationalist composer of the
Modern Era, this essay deals only with pieces in the Finnish language. The works to be
examined are: Rakastava (The Lover), Venematka (The Boat Journey), Saarella palaa
(Fire on the Island), Sydämeni laulu (Song of my Heart), Min rastas raataa (What the
Thrush Toils For), Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promotiooni kantaatista (Songs for
Mixed Choir from the 1897 Promotion Cantata), Koulutie (School Road), and Finlandia-
hymni (Finlandia Hymn). These pieces are selected based on prevalence in recordings,
scholarly writings, and reprinted editions—which suggests a certain level of popularity—
as well as stylistic diversity, and their significance to Sibelius's overall output of Finnish
language compositions. Although some of these works were also arranged for male
chorus, this study features only examples from the mixed choral arrangements.
Musico-Poetic Information and Historical Context
Most choral directors desire a base knowledge of the composer and the poetry he
or she sets before approaching a piece of music. For the pieces mentioned above, this
study provides relevant literary information about the texts at hand, and establishes the
historical context in which Sibelius set these texts to music. The majority of this
information comes from the previously mentioned work of leading Sibelius scholars such
as Andrew Barnett and Sakari Ylivuori. Although Sibelius continued to write choral
music throughout his entire career,40 most of the significant Finnish language works were
written by the turn of the twentieth century. These annotations explain how Sibelius's
symphonic repertoire took the place of his Finnish choral music and how his shifting
40
http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/kuoroteokset.htm (accessed October 18, 2012).
18
personal politics impelled him to write more Swedish choral music in the later stages of
his career.
Much of Sibelius's choral literature uses texts drawn from either the two Finnish
folk anthologies the Kalevala and the Kanteletar, or from various nineteenth-century
Finnish nationalist poets. For the pieces that draw texts from these two folk anthologies, a
brief summary of some of the folklore provides context for the given runes (see pages 31
– 32, 44, 48 – 49, 57).
Harmonic Language and Performance Considerations
From his first few experiments in the genre of a cappella choral music, Sibelius
learned the limitations of Finnish student groups and festival choirs. He developed a style
that was largely homophonic and fully grounded in tonality. Sibelius's harmonic language
has been compared to some of his immediate predecessors: Wagner, Bruckner, and
Tchaikovsky.41 Although tonal, Sibelius's overall level of chromaticism is not without its
challenges. For certain pieces, this study will use harmonic analysis to explore some of
the difficulties that a cappella choirs face in reading these works. In some of the simpler
pieces—such as the Finlandia Hymn—only a few brief performance considerations are
discussed in detail.
Sibelius relies heavily on mode mixture, mediant relationships, and augmented 6th
inflections as trademarks of his choral compositions. These elements combine with his
predominantly homophonic textures to form a style that has come to be associated with
41
Hepokoski, James and Fabian Dahlström. "Sibelius, Jean." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music
Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43725
(accessed October 30, 2012).
19
the country of Finland. The musical examples provided herein help to highlight these
idioms.
Many of Sibelius's a cappella choral works show a preference for flat keys, or
sharp keys that are enharmonically equivalent. This is possibly due to his success in
writing for brass instruments, or perhaps it is simply because flat keys tend to tune better
in a cappella situations. Whatever the reason, Sibelius's harmonic progressions in these
keys have a tendency to lead towards enharmonic spellings that can prove difficult for
amateur choristers to read. The annotations in Chapter 4 provide possible solutions to
specific cases, and show suggestions for alternate transcriptions in the form of musical
examples. Fully realized transpositions of Op. 23, Nos. 2 and 7 appear in the Appendix.
Translations and Phonetic Transcriptions of Finnish Texts
Finnish diction is by far the biggest challenge faced by English-speaking choral
directors and singers in performing the a cappella works of Jean Sibelius. As such, a full
explanation of Finnish diction for English-speaking choruses is provided before the
collection of translations and annotations. On the surface, Finnish ought to be relatively
simple to pronounce because it is largely phonetic in nature, and unlike English, each
letter receives its own sound. At first sight, the language appears cumbersome with its
long words and double vowels. This preliminary challenge eventually gives way to the
underlying problems of text stress and diphthongs. This pronunciation guide discusses the
Finnish language in terms of languages that choral singers deal with on a regular basis,
specifically English and German. In this way, choral directors and singers can approach
Finnish using a set of sounds with which they are already familiar.
20
An understanding of the concepts of Finnish vowel harmony and consonant
gradation is not crucial in order for a singer to be successful with Finnish diction.
However, it does help choral directors gain a better perspective on the prosody of the
language, and it gives singers a better sense of what to expect when sight-reading music
in Finnish. This language guide contains concise definitions of these linguistic
phenomena, and briefly discusses their effects on vowel placement and text declamation.
It has been noted by scholars that Sibelius was one of the first to set Finnish texts
with careful consideration given to the natural prosody of the language.42 Even his
programmatic orchestral music is intended to reflect the essential qualities of Finnish folk
music and poetry. His success in this area can be at least partly attributed to his flexibility
with regard to meter. The discussions of Venematka, Op. 18, No. 3 and Laulaja 1897, Op.
23 provide examples of how Sibelius used rhythm and meter to bring out some of the
unique characteristics of Finnish poetry.
Finnish contains a greater number of diphthongs than English or any of the other
major languages found in most choral literature (e.g. German, French, Latin, Italian).
These diphthongs—some of which contain one or two mixed vowels—can be
troublesome for English-speaking singers. Additionally, they are often ambiguously set
under one held note in Sibelius's music, leaving singers to wonder as to the length of each
vowel. The discussion of Koulutie, JS 112 includes suggestions for the delineation of
Finnish diphthongs as they are set to typical note values. The application of these
methods results in some implied alternate rhythms in certain cases. Musical examples are
42
and the Music of Finland (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 55.
21
provided as well as suggestions for alternate transcriptions of these rhythms. A new
transcription of Koulutie with a fully realized text underlay is included in the Appendix.
In the Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire series, Ron Jeffers
provides a word-by-word translation of each line of text, as well as a syntactical
translation that reveals the literal meaning of each phrase.43 Since Finnish is such an
unfamiliar language to most singers, a phonetic transcription of the text using the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is added to this model. The format for these
transcriptions is this:
["”NlAntilAi8n”n "t”ksti "nœy8t.tœ… "tœltœ]
Englantilainen teksti näyttää tältä. The English text looks like this.
English text looks like this
The original Finnish text appears in the middle left-hand side with a word-by-word
translation underneath and a syntactical translation across from it. The IPA transcription
is shown on the top left-hand side above the original Finnish text. An explanation of the
IPA symbols is provided in the pronunciation guide.
43
Jeffers, Ron, and Gordon Paine. Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire Volume II:
German Texts (Corvallis, OR: Earthsongs, 2000), 4-5.
CHAPTER IV
Performance Guide
This performance guide begins with an overview of Finnish diction and linguistic
anomalies. Each piece is then presented using the three aforementioned categories:
musico-poetic information and historical context, harmonic language and performance
considerations, and translations and phonetic transcriptions of Finnish texts. With this
information at hand, it is the hope that American choral directors will find these works by
Jean Sibelius more programmable.
Overview of Finnish Diction and Linguistic Anomalies
The Finnish language is largely phonetic, so much so that an IPA transcription of
a given text closely resembles the actual spelling of the words. There are no silent letters
in Finnish; each letter receives its own sound in each word. There are only 21 letters in
the Finnish alphabet: eight vowels and thirteen consonants. From these letters, all of the
generated sounds can be understood in terms of equivalent phonemes in English or
German.44 It is only the combinations of these sounds—which are unique to Finnish—
that causes problems for English-speaking singers.
Vowels. The eight Finnish vowels can be divided into two categories: basic
vowels and complex vowels. The five basic vowels are as follows:
44
Risko, Agi. Beginner's Finnish (New York, NY: Hippocrene Books, 2012), 3-6.
22
23
Basics vowels Finnish examples
a [A] as in "father" or "spa" rastas, aamu, maa
e [”] as in "bet" or "set" lempi, sen, onneen
i [i] as in "meet" or "see" rinta, min, itse
o [o] as in "fold" or "boat" josta, onneton, takoo
u [u] as in "food" or "truth" unessa, tuuli, Suomi
It is important to note that all vowels retain the same sound when they are doubled. The
double letter only serves to lengthen the given vowel sound. English-speaking singers
may naturally sing [i] when they see the spelling ee, or [u] when confronted with the
spelling oo. Choral directors should remain vigilant of this and correct this tendency early
in the rehearsal process.
In Finnish, the letter e is spoken somewhat brighter than the American [”] sound,
but not so much as to use the closed [e] phoneme.45 The pure [”] sound will suffice, but
choral directors may instruct singers to brighten the sound of this vowel slightly. While
there is no IPA sound that lies in between the two phonemes, one could use [e§] to indicate
a lowered version of the closed vowel, or [”6] to indicate a raised version of the open
vowel.46 The transcriptions below will simply use [”] for ease of use by American choral
musicians.
45
Korpela, Jukka. "Pronunciation of Finnish in a nutshell (for linguists)." IT and Communication:
Human Languages. http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/suomi/fon.html (accessed November 6, 2013).
46
Handbook of the International Phonetic Association (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2012), 163-173.
24
A similar issue occurs with the letter o. The phoneme [o] is used almost
exclusively in Finnish linguistic sources. However, this sound is not as rounded and
closed as the German [o] sound. It is much closer to the spoken English [o] sound, but
without any false diphthong. English-speaking singers may read this vowel as a basically
closed [o], allowing the vowel to open slightly according to the subsequent letter in the
word. A more specific IPA representation of this phoneme would be [o§], a lowered
version of closed [o].47 The transcriptions below will use [o] for ease of use as previously
stated.
The three complex vowels in Finnish are as follows:
Complex vowels Finnish examples
y [y] as in the German word "Brüder" syys, lyhyt, pyytää
ä [œ] as in "cat" or "sad" päiväs, tään, säätää
ö [„] as in the German word "schön" köyhä, menkö, löi
The letter ä is listed as a complex vowel for two reasons: 1.) Singers who are accustomed
to singing in German will tend to read this vowel as [”] rather than [œ]. 2.) This vowel
often appears in the diphthongs äi and äy, which can be uncomfortable for English-
speaking singers to handle. In general, singers find it awkward to use a true [œ] sound,
47
Korpela, Jukka. "Pronunciation of Finnish in a nutshell (for linguists)." IT and Communication:
Human Languages. http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/suomi/fon.html (accessed November 6, 2013).
25
and will modify the phoneme to [”] or even [A].48 This kind of vowel modification is
undesirable for singing in Finnish because [”] and [A] represent two of the other seven
distinct vowel sounds of the language. Choral directors may design vocal warm-ups that
include the [œ] sound in order to practice achieving blend and resonance on this vowel.
Consonants. There are thirteen consonants in the Finnish alphabet, which are
pronounced as follows:
Consonants Finnish examples
d [d] as in "dove" hohdan, lahden
g [g] as in "green" greippi, grilli
ng [N] as in "singer" kuningas, kaupungin
h [h] as in "help"; always sounded hohdan, hiipi, uhka
j [j] as in "yes" juuri, kirja, jää
k [k] as in "kite"; unaspirated kissa, kukka, korkea
l [l] as in "listen" laulu, lempi, tuuli
m [m] as in "music" missä, mimmoinen
n [n] as in "never" nuori, nyt, Ranska
nk [Nk] as in "sink" kuinka, pinkki, henki
p [p] as in "pop"; unaspirated pieni, puhut, lapsi
r [|] no English equivalent; rolled r Ranska, portti, rakkaus
s [s] as in "sister" sisko, Suomi, sinä
48
Marshall, Madeleine. The Singer's Manual of English Diction (New York, NY: G. Schirmer,
1953), 133-135.
26
t [t] as in the Italian word "tutti"; dentalized tuuli, tuolla, toimi
v [v] as in "vessel" vesi, vanha, kivi
The consonants b, c, f, q, w, x, and z are only used in foreign words. They are either
pronounced according to the language of origin, or they are often modified to match the
thirteen Finnish consonants listed above (e.g. zebra becomes seepra).49
Double consonants in Finnish are either stopped or lengthened depending on the
nature of the consonant. For example, the double m in the word mimmoinen ('whatever
kind') should receive more length than the initial m. The double t in the word kattaa
('cover') should have a medial stop. The presence or absence of a double letter can have
significant effects on word meaning in Finnish. As an example, kukka is the word for
"flower," while the word kuka is a pronoun meaning "who" or "which." It is therefore
imperative for singers to articulate double letters with either length or stoppage in order
to clarify the meaning of the text.
The letter h in Finnish must receive a fricative sound in all positions. Some
Finnish linguistic guides go so far as to recommend the German ich laut and ach laut
sounds—[C] and [x] respectively—as a way of facilitating this. This is somewhat of an
exaggeration of the degree of friction involved in the Finnish h sound. However, singers
may use the tongue position for [C] to start the [h] sound when h falls between a front
49
27
vowel and a consonant, and the tongue position for [x] to start the [h] sound when h falls
between a back vowel and a consonant.50
The letter r in Finnish is to be rolled in all positions. This may take some getting
used to for singers who are accustomed to the merely flipped [|] that appears in English
or Latin. The following transcriptions will use only a single [|] to indicate the rolled r
sound in order to differentiate between words that contain a double r.
As the consonant chart above indicates, the letter n will assimilate to the [N] sound
when paired with g or k, as it would in English. Unlike English, there is never a hard [g]
sound after the [N] in words that contain ng.51 In cases involving this consonant
combination, an extra [N] will appear in the IPA transcription for ng to account for both
consonants and to show the syllabic border. For example, kuningas ('king') is transcribed
as ["kuniN.NAs].
Diphthongs. Finnish has a relatively high vowel frequency as compared with
other languages. Naturally, it follows that the language also has a high concentration of
diphthongs. In spoken Finnish, both vowel sounds in any diphthong will receive equal
length. Much like in English and German, singing in Finnish often requires that one
vowel of a given diphthong receive more length the other. There are sixteen common
diphthongs in the Finnish language, which can be divided into three categories: basic
closing diphthongs, complex closing diphthongs, and opening diphthongs. Closing
diphthongs are vowel combinations in which the initial vowel is lengthened before
50
Finland: The Academy of Finnish Art Song, 2005), 18.
51
Ibid.
28
closing to the subsequent, shorter vowel sound.52 The five basic closing diphthongs are as
follows:
Basic closing diphthongs Finnish examples
ai [A…i] as in "light" mainen, kaiken, vaivan
ei [”…i] as in "weigh" meidät, seisoo, neito
oi [o…i] as in "boy" soittaa, loistaa, poika
au [A…u] as in "house" rauhan, laulu, rakkaus
ou [o…u] as in "stove" koulun, nouse, soutaa
These closing diphthongs are "basic" in that they closely resemble the five
common diphthongs of the English language. The major difference in Finnish is that
these diphthongs are always spelled in the same phonetic manner. American singers may
at first read certain words with the au diphthong as [O], or the ou diphthong as [u] due to
trends in English spelling. With practice, the singers should grow accustomed the
phonetic nature of these basic diphthongs.
The eight complex closing diphthongs are as follows:
Complex closing diphthongs Finnish examples
ui [u…i] lengthened u; must not sound like [wi] muisto, luista, puisto
yi [y…i] lengthened y; lips recede to [i] synnyinmaa, pölyinen
äi [œ…i] lengthened ä; must not revert to [A…i] päivä, väikkyy, räiskyvi

52
2010): 55.
29
öi [„…i] lengthened ö; must not revert to [o…i] löi, söiden, vöin
eu [”…u] lengthened e; must not change to [o…i] valkeus, kaikkeuden
iu [i…u] lengthened i; must not confuse with [i8”…] kiuru, viulu, hius
äy [œ…y] lengthened ä; similar to äi näytit, käy, täynnä
öy [„…y] lengthened ö; similar to öi köyhä, löyly, löydä
These complex closing diphthongs have no English equivalent. American singers will
find them more challenging because they either involve one or two complex vowels, or
they feature vowel sequences that do not occur in English. Despite their cumbersome
appearance, singers may treat these diphthongs as they would the five basic closing
diphthongs: by lengthening the initial vowel sound before closing to the second sound at
the very end of the syllable. Again, this guideline applies only to sung Finnish, as both
vowel sounds are technically short in spoken Finnish. If a closing diphthong falls on a
note that is of quarter-note value or shorter, both vowels may receive equal length.53
Opening diphthongs are vowel combinations in which the initial vowel sound is
stressed, but the second vowel sound is lengthened. The three opening diphthongs in
Finnish are as follows:
Opening diphthongs Finnish examples
ie [i8”…] opens from i; must not sound like [j”] tie, mielin, vie
uo [u8o…] opens from u; must not sound like [wo] Suomi, tuolta, suojan
yö [y8„…] opens from y; must not sound like [j„] yön, myös, lyö
53
2010): 55.
30
For English-speaking singers, a properly sung opening diphthong will sound as though it
contains two syllables. While the initial vowel should proceed to the second vowel in a
quick, smooth manner, it is crucial that the first vowel receive clear articulation and stress
so that it does not sound like a glide. This important principle will result in implied short
note values for the initial vowels of opening diphthongs. Some suggestions for
transcription are made in the discussion of Koulutie, JS 112. As with closing diphthongs,
the vowels of opening diphthongs may also be divided evenly when set to note values of
quarter-note length or shorter.54
In order to differentiate between closing and opening diphthongs in the phonetic
transcriptions of Sibelius's choral works, a subscript arch [ 8] will be placed under the
shorter, non-syllabic vowel in a given diphthong. This model for transcribing diphthongs
is used in Eugene Holman's Singing in Finnish: A Manual for Singers and Vocal
Coaches. As Holman notes, this usage does not comply with International Phonetic
Association rules for transcribing Finnish diphthongs, which places the subscript arch on
the second vowel for both types.55 The length mark […] will not be used for diphthongs in
the following transcriptions because both vowels are technically short, according to the
rules of spoken Finnish. This symbol will only be used to indicate length for double
vowels.
Vowel Harmony. The Finnish language follows a system of orthography known
as vowel harmony, wherein the vowels in a given word must all belong to the same
54
2010): 55.
55
Finland: The Academy of Finnish Art Song, 2005), 19.
31
group. The two groups are back vowels (a, o, u), and front vowels (ä, ö, y), so named for
their place of articulation in the vocal tract. The vowels e and i are considered neutral,
and can appear in words with either group.56 This ought to prove advantageous for
singers, being that vowel placement within words can remain consistent. However,
successive words quite often contain vowels from opposing groups, and the singer must
adjust his or her placement accordingly.
Consonant Gradation. In the English language, short prepositions are added to
sentences in order to govern the grammatical meanings of phrases (e.g. 'in the room,'
'from the country,' 'on the street,' etc.). In Finnish, special case suffixes are added to the
ends of words instead. Frequently, when conjugating a word into these different forms—
as well as plural and possessive forms—, the consonant structure of the word will
undergo a process known as consonant gradation. The root form of the word is usually in
the strong grade, while the other forms of the word most often appear in the weak
grade.57 In some cases, this can significantly alter the pronunciation of a word. Below are
just a few examples, with IPA transcriptions underneath each word for clarification:
Strong grade Weak grade Examples
lt ll silta (bridge) sillalle (onto the bridge)
[l.t] [l.l] ["siltA] ["sil.lAl.l”]
56
57
Risko, Agi. Beginner's Finnish (New York, NY: Hippocrene Books, 2012), 8-9, 26-27.
32
t d katu (street) kadulla (on the street)
[t] [d] ["kAtu] ["kAdul.lA]
nk ng Helsinki Helsingissä (in Helsinki)
[N.k] [N.N] ["h”lsiNki] ["h”lsiN.Nis.sœ]
As is the case with vowel harmony, it is not imperative that singers understand consonant
gradation in order to properly pronounce Finnish texts. However, choral directors should
remain cognizant of the fact that words with cognates in successive lines of text may be
subject to consonant gradation, and should not allow their singers to get into the habit of
pronouncing the different graded forms of these words in the same manner.
Select A Cappella Works of Jean Sibelius
Rakastava, JS 160c. Rakastava is Sibelius's most substantial a cappella choral
work from the period after the success of Kullervo, Op. 7 for men's chorus and orchestra.
It originally appeared as an entry in a composition contest organized by YL (Helsinki
University's men's chorus) in 1894, in which the piece took only second prize. Sibelius
later reworked the piece several times, producing such versions as the present
arrangement for SATB chorus, mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists (1898), and a
chamber version for strings, timpani, and triangle (1909-1911).58 Apart from Lauluja
sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promootiokantaatista, it is the longest a cappella work the
composer ever wrote.
58
no. 8 (February 2007): 8.
33
The piece is cast in three continuous movements, using three separate verses from
the Kanteletar. Interestingly, the text for the third movement appears earlier in the
Kanteletar than those of the first and second movements. The poems of the first two
movements are successive verses, listed under "Herding Songs" in the Keith Bosley
translation of the Kanteletar. They tell of a man searching for his loved one in the fields,
imagining how her presence would brighten the scenery. The third movement can then be
interpreted in two ways; the narrator is either reminiscing about a passionate encounter
with his loved one, or he has found her and is subsequently caught in the throes of
passion. The appearance of the third verse earlier in the Kanteletar would seem to
suggest the former.59
Its relative harmonic difficulty and the somewhat sexualized subject matter make
Rakastava the province of advanced adult choirs. The range of the soprano part stretches
to an uncomfortable A# numerous times in the third movement. The repeated eilaa/eila
figures in the second movement must be sung with some delicacy in order for the text
declamation in the tenor part to be clearly heard. It is important to note that eilaa/eila is a
nonsense syllable, possibly meant to represent the sound of birds; the narrator does use
lintuseni ('my little bird') as a term of endearment in the third movement.
Possibly the most difficult task for the chorus is the sustaining of a Ger+6 chord at
ppp for eleven slow measures at the end of the third movement (Example 1).
59
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), 31, 37.
34
Example 1. Sibelius, Rakastava, JS 160c, mm. 137 – 143
In the complete works edition, editor Sakari Ylivuori allows for a possible A# in brackets
in the baritone and mezzo-soprano lines based on the first male choir edition,60 which is
doubtful given the A♮ in the tenor part representing the root of the Ger+6 chord. At the
end of this passage, the chord resolves unconventionally to a G#7 chord with the soprano
splitting into a major second. It is at this moment that Sibelius gives the instruction
Tuskin kuuluvasti ('Hardly audible'), making this an extremely sensitive passage at the
end of this long a cappella piece.
60
35
Rakastava
The Lover61
from The Kanteletar
I.
["mis.s • on "kus.sA "minun "hyvœni]
Miss' on kussa minun hyväni, Where, O where is my good one,
where is where is my good one
["mis.s • "Asuvi "A|mAhAni]
miss' asuvi armahani, where dwells my dear one,
where dwells my dear one
["mis.sœ "istuvi "iloni]
missä istuvi iloni, where does she sit, my joy,
where sits my joy,
["kul.lA "mA…l.lA "mA|jAs”ni]
kulla maalla marjaseni? in what land, my little berry?
in which country my little berry
61
rakastava- literally "one who loves."
36
[”i8 "ku…lu "œ…ntœvœn "Ahoi8l.lA]
Ei kuulu ääntävän ahoilla, Not a sound is heard in the meadows,
not is-heard sounding in the meadows
["ly8„vœn "l”i8k.ki.œ "l”hoi8s.sA]
lyövän leikkiä lehoissa, nor playing in the grove,
striking play in the groves
[”i8 "ku…lu "sAlo.iltA "soi8t.to]
ei kuulu saloilta soitto no ringing is heard
not is-heard from the backwoods a ringing from the backwoods,
["kukuntA ”i8 "kun.nAhiltA]
kukunta ei kunnahilta. no cuckooing from the hills.
cuckooing not from the hills
["oi8sko "A|mAs "AstumAs.sA]
Oisko armas astumassa If my darling were stepping,
might the darling be-stepping
["mA|jAni "mAt”l”mAs.sA]
marjani matelemassa my berry creeping
my berry be-creeping
37
["omA "kultA "kulk”mAs.sA]
oma kulta kulkemassa my own precious walking
my own precious be-walking
["vAlki.A "vA.”ltAmAs.sA]
valkia vaeltamassa my white one wandering,
white one be-wandering
["toi8sin "to|v”ni "puhui8si]
toisin torveni puhuisi My horn would sound differently,
differently my horn would speak
["vA…|An "|in.nAt "vAsto.Ai8si]
vaaran rinnat vastoaisi, the hill's slopes would echo,
the hill's slopes would echo
["sAi8si "sAlot "sAn”l”mistA]
saisi salot sanelemista the backwoods would have
would-get the backwoods something-to-say something to say,
["jokA "kumpu "kuk.kumistA]
joka kumpu kukkumista, every mound something
every mound something-to-cuckoo to cuckoo,

38
["l”hot "l”i8k.kiœ "pitœi8si]
lehot leikkiä pitäisi the groves would be playful,
groves playing would-keep
["Ahot "Ai8nAi8stA "ilo.A]
ahot ainaista iloa. and the meadows would be
the meadows eternal joy ever joyful.
II.
[tœst on "kultA "kulk”nu…nA]
Täst' on kulta kulkenuuna, This way my precious has passed,
from here has the precious passed
[tœst on "m”n.nyt "mi8”liti8”t.ty]
täst' on mennyt mielitietty, from here my sweetheart has gone,
from here has gone the sweetheart
["tœstœ "A|mAs "Astunu…nA]
tästä armas astunuuna, here my truelove has stepped,
from here the truelove has stepped
["vAlki.A "vA.”ltAnu…nA]
valkia vaeltanuuna, my white one has wandered,
the white-one has wandered

39
["tœs.s • on "Astunut "Ahol.lA]
täss' on astunut aholla, here she has stepped in the clearing,
here has (she) stepped in the clearing
["tu8os.s • on "istunut "kiv”l.lœ]
tuoss' on istunut kivellä. there she has sat on a rock.
there has (she) sat on a rock
["kivi on "pAljon "ki|k.kAhAmpi]
Kivi on paljon kirkkahampi, The rock is now much brighter,
the rock is much brighter,
["pA…si "toi8stAnsA "pA|”mpi]
paasi toistansa parempi its appearance better than the others,
the flagstone over-another better
["kAN.NAs "kAhtA "kAunihimpi]
kangas kahta kaunihimpi, the heath twice as fair,
the heath two more beautiful
["l”hto "vi…t.tœ "l”mp”.œmpi]
lehto viittä lempeämpi, the grove five times gentler,
the grove five gentler

40
["ko|pi "ku…t.tA "kuk.kAhAmpi]
korpi kuutta kukkahampi, the wilderness six times more
the wilderness six more flowery flowery,
["koko "m”tsœ "mi8”lui8sAmpi]
koko metsä mieluisampi, the entire forest more pleasant,
the entire forest more pleasing
["tu8on on "kultAni "kulustA]
tuon on kultani kulusta, from my precious one's
of that my precious passing passing through,
["A|mAhAni "Astun.nAstA]
armahani astunnasta. my dear one's stepping there.
(of) my dear one's stepping.
III.
["hyvœ… "iltA… "lintus”ni]
Hyvää iltaa, lintuseni, Good evening, my little bird,
good evening my little bird
["hyvœ… "iltA… "kultAs”ni]
hyvää iltaa, kultaseni, good evening, my precious,
good evening my precious

41
["hyvœ… "iltA… nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
hyvää iltaa nyt, minun oma armahani! good evening now,
good evening now my own dear one my own dear one!
["tAns.si "tAns.si "lintus”ni]
Tanssi, tanssi, lintuseni, Dance, dance, my little bird,
dance dance my little bird
["tAns.si "tAns.si "kultAs”ni]
tanssi, tanssi, kultaseni, dance, dance, my precious
dance dance my precious
["tAns.si "tAns.si nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
tanssi, tanssi nyt, minun oma armahani! dance, dance now, my own dear one!
dance, dance now my own dear one
["s”i8so "s”i8so "lintus”ni]
Seiso, seiso, lintuseni, Stand still, stand still, my little bird,
stand62 stand my little bird
62
seiso- either "stand" or "stop." In this context, both are possible.
42
["s”i8so "s”i8so "kultAs”ni]
seiso, seiso, kultaseni, stop, stop, my precious,
stop stop my precious
["s”i8so "s”i8so nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
seiso, seiso nyt, minun oma armahani! stand still, stand still now,
stand stand now my own dear one my own dear one!
["An.nA "kœt.tœ "lintus”ni]
Anna kättä, lintuseni, Give me your hand, my little bird,
give your hand my little bird
["An.nA "kœt.tœ "kultAs”ni]
anna kättä, kultaseni, give me your hand, my precious,
give your hand my precious
["An.nA "kœt.tœ nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
anna kättä, nyt, minun oma armahani! give me your hand now,
give your hand now my own dear one my own dear one!
["kœsi "kAu8lA…n "lintus”ni]
Käsi kaulaan, lintuseni, Put your arms around my neck,
hand on my neck my little bird my little bird,

43
["kœsi "kAu8lA…n "kultAs”ni]
käsi kaulaan, kultaseni, your arms around my neck,
hand on my neck my precious my precious,
["hAlAu8stA "kultAs”ni]
halausta, kultaseni, hug me, my precious,
hug my precious
["hAlAu8stA nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
halausta nyt, minun oma armahani! hug me now, my own dear one!
hug now my own dear one
["su…tA "su…tA "lintus”ni]
Suuta, suuta, lintuseni, Kiss me, kiss me, my little bird,
kiss63 kiss my little bird
["su…tA "su…tA "kultAs”ni]
suuta, suuta, kultaseni, kiss me, kiss me, my precious,
kiss kiss my precious
63
suuta- This can simply mean "mouth," but more likely "kiss" in this context.
44
["hAlAu8stA "lintus”ni]
halausta, lintuseni, hug me, little bird,
hug my little bird
["hAlAu8stA nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
halausta nyt, minun oma armahani! hug me now, my own dear one!
hug now my own dear one
["su…tA "su…tA "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
Suuta, suuta, minun oma armahani! kiss me, kiss me, my own dear one!
kiss kiss my own dear one
[jœ… "hyvœsti "lintus”ni]
Jää hyvästi lintuseni, Farewell, my little bird,
farewell my little bird
[jœ… "hyvœsti "kultAs”ni]
jää hyvästi kultaseni farewell, my precious,
farewell my precious
[jœ… "hyvœsti "lintus”ni]
Jää hyvästi lintuseni, Farewell, my little bird,
farewell my little bird

45
[jœ… "hyvœsti nyt "minun "omA "A|mAhAni]
jää hyvästi nyt minun oma armahani! farewell now, my own dear one!
farewell now my own dear one
Venematka, Op. 18, No. 3. It is difficult to consider the partsongs of Op. 18 as
one cohesive collection given the number of times the opus was revised and reworked by
Sibelius. There were two versions containing nine songs, which were eventually cut
down to six. Most of the songs were arranged for male choir and mixed choir on various
occasions, and Sibelius used the same opus number and label "for male choir" even when
cataloguing the mixed choral versions.64 Venematka is one of the six to appear in all three
versions, and is possibly the most popular Finnish partsong ever published.65
The SATB version of Venematka was not published until 1914, twenty-one years
after the original male choir edition. There was a group named Suomen Laulu who
performed its own mixed choral arrangement of the piece on tour in the previous year,
with which Sibelius was unimpressed. The present mixed version would seemed to have
permanently supplanted the Suomen Laulu arrangement, which does not survive in any
archives.66
Venematka derives its lyrics from one small section of the Kalevala, the Finnish
epic poem of oral tradition. Väinämöinen is the central and ever-present character of the
64
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), ix.
65
no. 8 (February 2007): 11.
66
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), x.
46
Kalevala. This particular passage does not so much tell a complete story, but rather
creates a tableau of Väinämöinen setting off on one of his many voyages, maidens
watching from the shore. At this point in the story, Väinämöinen is sailing to the mythical
city of Pohjola in an effort to steal the Sampo, a precious object that brought prosperity to
the people of this region. The "miserable village"—referred to in the first few lines—is
not specifically identified in the story.67
The major characteristic of Venematka that makes it a quintessential setting of
Finnish folk poetry is its 5/4 time signature. The Kalevalan meter is form of trochaic
tetrameter, consisting of four long and short syllables. Traditional Finnish rune singers
would recite either two or four lines of poetry over five beats, the last two beats being
longer than the opening three.68 Sibelius accomplishes this at the very outset of the piece,
and the meter immediately sounds quite natural when paired with the text: VA-ka VAN-ha
VÄI-nä-MÖI-nen.
There are no unusual difficulties regarding the performance of this piece apart
from range and voicing. The original male choir version is in E major, so the bass line
only stretches as low as a C#, rather than the nearly impossible B below the bass staff in
the SATB arrangement. Only the lowest of low basses should add the octave doubling in
near vocal fry. The voicing becomes necessarily wider in the mixed choral version, which
tends to rob the piece of its sense of groundedness, even in the measures with a pedal
bass. The male voices should remain strong and full in the forte sections as the soprano
melody will ring out in its high tessitura.
67
Lönnrot, Elias, and Keith Bosley. The Kalevala: An Epic Poem After Oral Tradition (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1989), 523-528.
68
ibid, xxi-xxii.
47
Venematka
The Boat Journey
from The Kalevala
["vAkA "vAnhA "vœi8nœm„i8n”n]
Vaka vanha Väinämöinen Steady, old Väinäimöinen
steady old Väinämöinen
["lAsk”.A "kA|”ht”l”vi]
laskea karehtelevi set off on the rippling waters,
sets off rippling
["tu8on on "pitkœn "ni8”m”n "pœ…stœ]
tuon on pitkän niemen päästä, from that long peninsula,
from that long peninsula's tip
["kylœn "ku|jAn "ku…luviltA]
kylän kurjan kuuluvilta. far beyond the miserable
from the miserable village's69 reach village's reach.
69
kylän kurjan- In Finnish, the word order is "village's from the miserable."
48
["lAski "lAu8l”l.l”n "v”si.œ]
Laski laulellen vesiä, He set off singing in the waters,
went down singing along the waters
["ilon "ly8„.”n "lAi8n”hi.A]
ilon lyöen lainehia. hitting the waves with joy.
with joy hitting the waves
["n”i8”t "ni8”m”i8n "n”nis.sœ]
Neiet niemein nenissä The maidens came down
maidens at the peninsula's shores to the shores of the peninsula
["kAts”l”vAt "ku…nt”l”vAt]
katselevat, kuuntelevat: and watched and listened:
watch listen
[mi "li8”n”… "ilo "m”|”l.lœ]
"Mi lienee ilo merellä, "What is this joy that comes
what might be the joy on the sea off the sea,
["mikœ "lAu8lu "lAi8n”hil.lA]
mikä laulu lainehilla, what song is this on the waves,
what song on the waves

49
["ilo "”ntistœ "pA|”mpi]
ilo entistä parempi, a joy greater than ever before,
a joy the preceding (one)70 better
["lAu8lu "mui8tA "lA…tui8sAmpi]
laulu muita laatuisampi a song unlike any other?"
a song over other's quality
["lAski "vAnhA "vœi8nœm„i8n”n]
Laski vanha Väinämöinen, Thus went old Väinäimöinen
went down old Väinämöinen
["lAski "pœi8vœn "mA…Æv”si.œ]
laski päivän maavesiä, one day down inland waters,
went down one day on inland waters
["pœi8vœn "toi8s”n "su8oÆv”si.œ]
päivän toisen suovesiä, the second day through
day the second on swamp waters swamp waters,
70
entistä- referring to the "former."
50
["kolmAn.n”n "kos”n "v”si.œ]
kolmannen kosen vesiä. the third through rushing rapids.
the third one on rapids waters
Saarella palaa, Op. 18, No. 4. In Saarella palaa, Sibelius turned once again to
the poetry of the Kanteletar. Unlike the Kalevala whose fifty runes form a cohesive
narrative dealing with mythological and supernatural entities, the Kanteletar is a varied
compendium of folk poetry, which describes the everyday lives of the Finnish people.
Furthermore, the Kanteletar remains an incomplete collection, as its transcriber Elias
Lönnrot had intended on adding more than 75 additional poems to the original edition
before his death.71 The verses of Saarella palaa appear under the heading of "Herding
Songs," just twelve poems after the text of the first two movements of Rakastava.
It is the simplicity of Finnish rustic life that Sibelius sought to capture in this
economical setting. In the introductions to each verse, the upper voices move in parallel
triads on the neutral syllable "a" under a pedal bass. There is only one accidental in the
entire piece. The poem describes a bride and groom getting ready for marriage, both sides
preparing for the festivities in their respective ways. This is represented in an antiphonal
exchange between the tenor and soprano parts. The SATB version would seem to serve
this dichotomy better simply because of the opposing genders.
It is worth noting that the complete works edition of the SATB arrangement does
not specify a tempo marking in the urtext score. The male choir version from 1895 gives
the indication Commodo, or "Leasurely" in Italian, but this tempo marking is left out in
71
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), xi-xix.
51
the mixed choir arrangement.72 This leaves the tempo open to some interpretation, and no
performing tradition seems to have prevailed. As one might expect, recordings of the
TTBB version tend to be slower and more relaxed (e.g. Matti Hyökki, YL Male Voice
Choir, 2008),73 and recordings by mixed choirs take a quicker, more energetic tempo (e.g.
Astrid Riska, Jubilate Choir, 1993).74 Even at the slower pace, the time signature C
assimilates into more of a cut-time feel, the flowing lines of the upper voices leading the
overall rhythmic push of the piece.
Saarella palaa
Fire on the Island
from The Kanteletar
["sA…|”l.lA "pAlA…]
Saarella palaa On the island there is a fire.
on the island it burns
["tuli "sA…|”l.lA "pAlAvi]
Tuli saarella palavi. A fire burns on the island.
fire on the island burns
72
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), 6.
73
The Voice of Sibelius, dir. Matti Hyökki, YL Male Voice Choir, BIS CD 1433, 2008.
74
Jean Sibelius, Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a cappella, dir. Astrid Riska, Jubilate Choir,
Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993.
52
["k”npœ "tu8ol.lA "tultA "polt.ti]
Kenpä tuolla tulta poltti? Who might have lit the fire there?
who over there the fire kindled
["sulho "tu8ol.lA "tultA "polt.ti]
Sulho tuolla tulta poltti. The groom lit the fire there.
the groom over there the fire kindled
["mitœ "sulho "|A…t”l”vi]
Mitä sulho raatelevi? Why is the groom toiling?
what is the groom's toiling
["ko|jo.AnsA "ki|jot.tAvi]
Korjoansa kirjottavi. He is decorating his carriage.
his carriage he's decorating
["mitœ "tu8ol.lA "ko|jAs”l.lA]
Mitä tuolla korjasella? What will he do with that carriage?
what with that carriage
["n”i8t.tœ "tu8ol.lA "ko|jAs”l.lA]
Neittä tuolla korjasella. He will bring a maiden with
a maiden with that carriage that carriage.

53
["mitœ "n”i8to "|A…t”l”vi]
Mitä neito raatelevi? Why is the maiden toiling?
what is the maiden toiling
["n”i8to "kultAÆkAN.NAstA "kuto…]
Neito kultakangasta kutoo, The maiden is weaving a
The maiden a gold-cloth weaves, golden cloth,
["hop”.Ai8stA "h”lkyt.tœ…]
hopeaista helkyttää. her loom jingling like silver.
silver-like she (makes it) jingle75
Sydämeni laulu, Op. 18, No. 6. Sydämeni laulu is one of the two pieces of Op.
18 to derive its text from the poetry of Aleksis Kivi, Finland's preeminent national writer.
The poem originally appeared in his only novel Seitsemän Veljestä (Seven Brothers),
written in 1870, and was subsequently published in collections of his poetry. Numerous
other Scandinavian composers have set Sydämeni laulu to music, including Einojuhani
Rautavaara and Ilkka Kuusisto.76 Along with Venematka and Soi kiitokseksi Luojan from
Op. 23, it is numbered among Sibelius's most beloved and frequently performed a
cappella choral works.
75
helkyttää- literally "jingles."
76
Finland: The Academy of Finnish Art Song, 2005), 188, 212.
54
Sibelius wrote the original male choir version of the piece in 1898, curiously
enough, at a time when his wife Aino was pregnant with their third daughter. Being that it
is essentially a lullaby for a dead child, the genesis of Sydämeni laulu has thus been
compared to Gustav Mahler working on Kindertotenlieder during the time when he and
Alma had two small children of their own.77 Kirsti—the daughter born to Aino and Jean
Sibelius in 1898—did in fact die of typhoid fever two years later, and the composer
played Sydämeni laulu on the piano at her funeral.
As with Saarella palaa, the original tempo marking of Lento assai is omitted in
the mixed choir arrangement, first printed in 1904. The fermatas over the barlines and
ritenuto in the first few measures have the feeling of choral chant. It is important to note
that Sibelius himself crossed out the fermata over the barline between mm. 1 – 2 in the
second verse due to text enjambment.78
Example 2. Sibelius, Sydämeni laulu, Op. 18, No. 6, mm. 7 – 10
First verse:
77
Tawastsjerna, Erik. Sibelius: Volume 1 (Berkley: University of California Press, 1976), 206-
207.
78
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), 8, 148.
55
Second verse:
The rhythm in m. 10 in the second verse originally appeared as straight quarter notes in
the male choir version. This would make sense with the Finnish, so that the chorus could
lengthen both of the double ls in the word kellahdella ('lie-down') in the same manner.
For this reason, choral directors can consider this a possibility for performance despite its
omission from the urtext edition (Example 2).
Sydämeni laulu
Song of My Heart79
Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872)
["tu8on”n "l”hto "„i8n”n "l”hto]
Tuonen80 lehto, öinen lehto! Grove of Tuoni (Death),
of-death grove nocturnal grove nocturnal grove!
79
sydämeni laulu- literally "my heart's song."
80
Tuonen- Tuoni is the lord of the underworld (Tuonela) in Finnish folklore.
56
["si8”l.l • on "hi8”no "hi8”tAÆk”hto]
Siell' on hieno hietakehto, There is a fine, sandy cradle,
there is a splendid sand-cradle
["sin.n”pœ "lAps”ni "sA…tAn]
sinnepä lapseni saatan. there will I bring my child at last.
to-there my child I-accompany
["si8”l.l • on "lAps”n "lysti "ol.lA]
Siell' on lapsen lysti olla, There the child can be care-free,
there is for-child fun to be
["tu8on”n "h”|.|An "vAi8ni.ol.lA]
Tuonen herran vainiolla, in the fields of Tuoni's (death's)
on death's master's field Lord,
["kAts”.A "tu8on”lAn "kA|jA…]
katsea Tuonelan karjaa. shepherding the cattle of Tuonela.
to-shepherd of-death-realm cattle

57
["si8”l.l • on "lAps”n "lysti "ol.lA]
Siell' on lapsen lysti olla, There the child can be care-free,
there is for-child fun to be
["il.lAn "tul.l”n "tu…dit”l.lA]
illan tullen tuuditella and by evening be cradled
at evening's coming to-be-cradled
["h”lmAs.sA "tu8on”lAn "im.m”n]
helmassa Tuonelan immen. in the lap of the maiden of Tuonela.
in the lap of-death-realm maiden
["onpA "kul.lAn "lysti "ol.lA]
Onpa kullan lysti olla, It is indeed a care-free place for
is-indeed for-darling fun to be my dear one to be,
["kultAÆkehdos "k”l.lAhd”l.lA]
kultakehdoss' kellahdella, to lie down in a golden cradle,
in-golden cradle to lie-down

58
["kuul.l”l.lA "k”hrœ…jœÆlintu…]
kuullella kehrääjälintuu. listening to the song of the nightjar.
to listen to a spinning-bird81
["tu8on”n "vi…tA "|Au8hAn vi…tA]
Tuonen viita, rauhan viita! Forest of Tuoni, forest of peace!
of-death forest of-peace forest
["kAukAnA on "vAi8no |i…tA]
kaukana on vaino, riita, Far away is persecution and dispute,
far away is persecution dispute
["kAukAnA "kAvAlA "mA…ilmA]
kaukana kavala maailma. far away the treacherous world.
far away treacherous world
Min rastas raataa, JS 129. Written in 1898, Min rastas raataa was included in
the first two versions of Op. 18 as compiled by Sibelius, but was later removed from the
final collection. It is listed under "Works Related to Opus 18" in the preface to the
complete works edition. In the early 1900s, when Sibelius was cataloguing these small a
cappella works, he continually placed Min rastas raataa amongst the other songs of Op.
81
kehrääjälintuu- "Spinning-bird" refers to the European nightjar.
59
18, which bore the tag "for male choir," even though there was never a male choir
arrangement of the piece. This would cause confusion for musicologists and choral
directors alike. The conductor of YL Male Choir once wrote to Sibelius to tell him that he
"could not find" the male choir arrangement of Min rastas raataa. The original mixed
choir setting first appeared in the Sävelistö choral series in 1898.82
The rune Min rastas raataa is listed as a "Children's Song" in the Keith Bosley
translation of the Kanteletar. The rhyming scheme is wrought with playful alliteration,
and the last stanza develops into a counting pattern. The text also makes several allusions
to poverty, which adds a sense of bleakness to this otherwise blithe poem. Sibelius's
oscillation between the parallel major and minor modes in this setting does well to
capture this dichotomy.
Min rastas raataa
What the Thrush Toils For
from The Kanteletar
[min "ɾɑstɑs "ɾɑːtɑ…]
Min83 rastas raataa What the thrush toils for
what the thrush toils (for)
82
83
min- abbreviated version of minkä, meaning "what," as in sen minkä ('that which').
60
[sɛn "pyːhyt "pyːtœ…]
sen84 pyyhyt pyytää. the partridge asks (for it),
(for) it the partridge asks,
["on.nɛton "ot.tɑ…]
onneton ottaa, the hapless takes (it),
the hapless takes
["vɑi8vɑi8nɛn "vɑrɑstɑ…]
vaivainen varastaa, the wretched steals (it),
the wretched steals,
["lɑpi.ol.lɛ "lɑi8tɑ…]
lapiolle laitaa puts it onto a spade,
onto a spade puts
["t”likœl.l” "ty8„ntœ…]
telikälle työntää shoves it onto a cart,
onto a cart pushes
84
sen- The pronoun meaning "it" or "that" refers to the earlier "that which."
61
["ovɛn "ɑl.lɛ!!! "pɛi8t.tœ…]
oven alle peittää hides it under the door,
under the door85 hides
["vɑstɑl.lɑ "kɑt.tɑ…]
vastalla kattaa. covers it with a birch-whisk.
with a birch-whisk covers
["tɑlonÆpoi8kɑ "tɑko…]
Talonpoika takoo The peasant forges
the peasant forges
["k”i8hœi8tœ "h”i8t.tœ…]
keihäitä heittää (and) throws spears,
spears throws
["poi8kɑ "oːt.tɑ…]
poika oottaa, a lad waits,
lad waits
85
oven alle- In Finnish, the word order is "door's to-under."
62
["tyt.t„jœ "tu8ol.lA]
tyttöjä tuolla, for the girls in the distance,
for girls over there
[sɑvisis.sɑ sɑːp.pɑhis.sɑ]
savisissa saappahissa, wearing clay-covered boots,
in clay-covered boots86
["kiɾjɑvis.sɑ "kintɑhis.sɑ]
kirjavissa kintahissa. (and) multicolored mittens.
in multicolored mittens
["m”|”n "|omA "|„Nky…]
Meren roma rönkyy, The sea's rumble is resounding,
the sea's rumble resounds
["tuːlonɛn "tuːlɛ…]
tuulonen tuulee, a breeze blows,
a breeze blows
86
savisissa saappahissa- The suffix –ssa, which is the inessive case meaning "in," is added to the
words for "clay" and "boots."
63
["kuniN.NAs "ku…l”…]
kuningas kuulee, the king hears it,
the king hears
["vi….”ltœ "vi|stAltA]
viieltä virstalta, from five miles away,
from five miles
["ku….”ltA "kulmAltA]
kuuelta kulmalta, from six corners of the Earth,
from six corners of the Earth ! ! !
["s”i8ts”mœltœ "s”lkos”ltA]!
seitsemältä selkoselta from seven wildernesses,
from seven wildernesses! ! ! ! !
["kAh”ksAltA "kANkAhAltA]!
kaheksalta kankahalta from eight moors away,
from eight moors ! ! ! ! !
["kuniN.NAs "ku…l”…]
kuningas kuulee, the king hears it,
the king hears

64
Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promotiooni kantaatista, Op. 23. Sibelius
wrote three secular cantatas during the 1890s, all of which featured chorus and orchestra.
The last of these cantatas was written for the doctoral and master's degree ceremony of
Helsinki University in 1897. It originally consisted of fourteen movements, with soprano
and tenor soloists; the full orchestration remains unknown. Although most of the
orchestra parts and full score were lost, almost all of the choral score, with Sibelius's own
piano reduction, remains intact at the National Library of Finland. Kalevi Aho and Timi
Hongisto used this and various other sources to construct a composite piano arrangement
of the cantata, which appears in The Sibelius Edition on BIS Records, performed by
Seppo Murto and the Dominante Choir.87
Sibelius must have seen more potential for this cantata—apart from its usage at
the degree ceremony of 1897—for, in 1899, he sold the rights to a new, nine-movement
a cappella song cycle to Fazer and Westerlund entitled Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden
promotiooni kantaatista (Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotion Cantata),
Op. 23. Both versions of the cantata are the result of a years-long collaboration with poet
August Valdemar Koskimies, then known by his family name, Forsman.88 Sibelius
modified much of the poetry to fit his musical schemes, resulting in a highly stylized
libretto with words and sentence structures that do not conform to modern Finnish
linguistic practice. Unlike the original cantata, the male soloist appears only in the second
movement of Op. 23, with a vocal range that would be well suited for a baritone.
87
Barnett, Andrew. Untitled Notes. In The Sibelius Edition: Choral Music, by Jean Sibelius.
Åkersberga, Sweden: BIS CD-825, 2010, 47-48.
88
65
Whereas the soloists in the original cantata were personified as Väinämöinen (central
character in the Kalevala) and Suometar (the Maiden of Finland), the solo vocal parts in
Op. 23 are unnamed.89
In his exhaustive dissertation on Sibelius source chains, Sakari Ylivuori offers his
theory on Op. 23 as being a more cyclic and interconnected work than the original
cantata. With five of the original movements omitted, Sibelius was able to order the
remaining songs in such a way as to fit a logical, overarching key structure. Each
movement leads into the next so that the a cappella singers can find their pitches using
relative pitch, and the entire cantata could be performed without a break. Furthermore,
the subject matter of each successive poem creates a more cohesive storyline than the
original cantata, which is underscored by the congruent key relationships of Op. 23 to be
discussed below.90
Op. 23 begins with Me nuoriso Suomen, a collegiate march depicting the youths
of Finland setting off to sail on the "sea of life." It is set in the key of A major, and
while it features a fair amount of mode mixture towards the end of the movement, it
remains relatively stable throughout. The transition to the second movement is an
interesting one for the gentlemen of the choir, as they must find their pitches for a
diminished triad in second inversion from the minor iv chord in the penultimate measure
of the first movement. The E ♮ in the bass line is drawn from the F in the tenor line of
the previous movement, and the C# in the tenor matches the D in the alto part of the
same chord (Example 3).
89
University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy, 2013), 135.
90
Ibid, 131-135.
66
Example 3. Sibelius, Lauluja 1897, Op. 23, I, mm. 66 – 68; II, mm. 1 – 2
The second movement begins a period of instability in the cantata, wherein the
youths are marooned on the perilous sea of life with no certainty that they will ever reach
land safely. The soloists appear for the first time, warning the young people not to
wander too far off into the sea without first possessing knowledge and skills. Although
the soloists are not personified, Sibelius calls to mind the Kalevalan meter of Venematka
with repeated text declamation in 5/2 time. The song uses diminished sonorities to
vacillate between the key areas of C# and G# minor, resolving to a G# major chord only
at the very end, the enharmonic equivalent of the tonic of the first movement.
The beginning of the third movement presents another peculiar transition for the a
cappella singers. The altos enter by themselves on a low G#, which they can easily catch
from the root of the G# major chord at the end of the second movement. This then
67
becomes the root of iiø7 chord in F# minor, which the rest of the female voices must fill in
with only the G# as a reference pitch (Example 4).
Example 4. Sibelius, Lauluja 1897, Op. 23, III, mm. 1 – 3
The movement continues as a simple strophic song, which begins and ends in F# minor.
The N6 chord that sets up the ending cadence adds a sense of despair to the piece as the
young travelers plead with hope not to fly away from them.
As Sakari Ylivuori points out, movements IV and V are the only ones in the
cantata that could not stand on their own as separate works. They are brief, chant-like
pieces that perform the traditional recitative task of transitioning to a new and important
key area, in this case F minor.91 Montapa elos merellä begins on a D major chord,
which can be heard as the dominant of F# minor from the previous movement. Although
it ends on the same D major chord, the middle portion of the movement firmly
declaims the text on an F minor chord in first inversion. Sammuva sainio maan continues
in the same style, beginning on the same augmented triad that was used throughout
91
University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy, 2013), 132.
68
movement IV. Although the young persons remain trapped on the sea of life in these
movements, the subject matter turns towards God, thus setting up the culminating hymn
of praise in the first half of movement VI.
Soi kiitokseksi Luojan is the most popular and widely published piece to come out
of Op. 23, but it is not universally known by this title. Ilta Koskimies—the wife of A.V.
Koskimies (Forsman), with whom Sibelius collaborated on Op. 23—made significant
alterations to the lyrics, and in 1938, the work was published in the Finnish Lutheran
hymnal under the name Soi kunniaksi Luojan (Ring in honor of the Creator). It is this
version of the hymn that is heard most often in churches throughout Finland.92 In the
context of Op. 23, the hymn acts as the central chorale of the cantata. It is also a turning
point for the young travelers in the story, who come to realize that God will always
protect them on their journey through life.
The second part of movement VI offers a more solemn hymn of prayer for the
poor. The choir is completely divided, with the four-part female chorus leading the
7
strophic song in F minor. As the second verse ends, the men enter on an unexpected B
chord, underpinning the mezzo-soprano soloist, who adds a short coda to the women's
chorale melody. Although this chord would read as a V7/VII in F minor, Sibelius
temporarily averts all manner of resolution as the men shift to a viio7 chord by means of a
common tone in the bass. The diminished chord then resolves to a first inversion F minor
chord, leaving the sonority somewhat open-ended for the beginning of the third and final
verse (Example 5).
92
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), x, xvi.
69
Example 5. Sibelius, Lauluja 1897, Op. 23, VI(b), mm. 19 – 26
The solemnity of the hymns in movement VI is contrasted in Oi Lempi, sun valtas
ääretön on, a jovial, dance-like piece celebrating the power of familial love and the
beauty of the motherland. It is set in a true ABA form, the B section of which features the
four-part female chorus by themselves once again. The men enter halfway through the B
section, leading to a tumultuous, climactic moment before the recapitulation.
The enharmonic spellings in this movement are of particular concern for the
choral musician. The previous movement ended firmly in F minor. Instead of proceeding
through flat key areas, Sibelius reintroduces the key signature of G# minor as in
movement II. The composer even recognizes the confusing nature of this enharmonic
shift by offering E s in parentheses beside the unison D# at the outset of the movement.
Rather than continuing down this rabbit hole of sharp key areas, Sibelius abruptly
switches to A major at the start of the B section (m. 18). This forces the singers to
70
visually process the relationship between G# minor/B major and A major, which might
not be completely apparent at first glance.
One could alleviate this issue by transposing the entire movement up a minor
second (Example 6). With this solution, the chorus need only see A major as the parallel
major key to A minor.
Example 6. Sibelius, Lauluja 1897, Op. 23, VII, mm. 16 – 19
Original key:
Transposed:
The movement must still be performed in the original key in order to preserve the
harmonic relationships of the cantata, but sight singing should prove easier without all of
the double sharps that arise in G# minor. This same principle could be applied to
71
movement II, should the key signature of G# minor prove prohibitively difficult in
rehearsal. Transposed editions of both these movements are included in the Appendix.
In Kuin virta vuolas, Sibelius introduces a small percussion battery featuring
triangle, cymbals, and bass drum, whose parts can be easily managed by members of the
chorus. After seven movements of a cappella singing—the last of which ends quite
softly—the effect of the forte percussion entrance on the downbeat is rather jarring, as
though the composer were calling the listeners to action. It is relevant to note that at the
time of this composition, the Russian government had begun a program of
"Russification," designed to divest Finland of its political autonomy and suppress its
national activism by denying the rights of free speech and press.93 In this context, A.V.
Forsman's poem reads as being extremely subversive, describing freedom as an
unrelenting flood that shatters the bonds of oppression. Thus Sibelius underscores this
text with martial drum rhythms and dactylic text declamation to stir up resentment and
shift the tone of the cantata towards Finnish patriotism.
The final chorale, Oi kallis Suomi, äiti verraton continues this sentiment of
patriotism, concluding the cantata in the key of E major. After traversing the dark key
areas of G# minor and F minor, movements VIII and XI have settled in the work's first
major sharp key, representing the "new day dawning" for Finland. The final phrase opens
into a wide, seven-part voicing as the chorus exclaims Loista, loista Suomenmaa! ('Shine,
shine, land of Finland!'). At the end of this rousing chord, Sibelius curiously writes a
diminuendo over the fermata (Example 7). This would seem like a near-impossible task
93
(accessed January 28, 2014).
72
at the tail end of such a sustained, intense passage as the last system. However, it is
consistent with Sibelius's notational practices in the 1890s, and choral directors should at
least consider experimenting with the diminuendo as a matter of performance practice.94
Example 7. Sibelius, Lauluja 1897, Op. 23, IX, mm. 26 – 33
94
73
Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promotiooni kantaatista
Songs for Mixed Chorus from the 1897 Promotion Cantata
August Valdemar Forsman (1856-1929)
1. Me nuoriso Suomen
1. We the Youth of Finland
[m” "nu8o|iso "su8om”n]
Me nuoriso Suomen, We the youth of Finland
we the youth of Finland
[m” "|i8”n.nœm.m” nyt]
me riennämme nyt are now hastening
we are hastening now
[m”|t "uhmomAhAn "”lœmœm.m”]
mert' uhmomahan elämämme, to face the sea of our lives valiantly,
the sea to face valiantly of our lives
[jo "pœi8v„n”n "A|mAs on "s”lk”.ynyt]
jo päivönen armas on selkeynyt: already the beloved day has dawned:
already the day beloved has dawned

74
[h”i8 "sou8tAmAhAn "v”n”t.tœmm”]
Hei soutamahan venettämme! Say, let's go row our boat!
say to row our boat
[kœy8 "v”i8k.koni "ki…n.ni jo "Ai8|ohon kœy8]
käy, veikkoni, kiinni jo airohon, käy Come, my fellow, grab an oar,
come my fellow to grab an oar come
[jA "siskoni "kultA sA "Au8tA]
ja siskoni kulta, sa auta. and darling sister, help us the same.
and my sister darling you help
[”i8 "vAlkAÆmo|Anto.A "si…ntœvœn nœy8]
Ei valkamorantoa siintävän näy, The opposite shore cannot be seen
not can the opposite shore looming be seen looming,
["sitœ "kotvAhAn "”m.m” m” "sAu8tA]
sitä kotvahan emme me sauta. it will be a long while before we
it for a while shall we not reach arrive.
[nyt "li…t.tohon va…n]
Nyt liittohon vaan: Now let's unite:
now let's unite

75
[”i8 "syntymœÆmA…n sA… "on.n”.A "unhota "koskA…n]
Ei syntymämaan saa onnea unhota koskaan, We must never forget the happiness
not of-birthland must happiness forget never of our native land,
[jos "mim.moi8n”n li8”]
jos mimmoinen lie whatever falls to our lot
if whatever kind95 may be
["”lon "ki|jAvA ti8”]
elon kirjava tie on the varied road of life,
life's varied road
[jos "on.n”h”n "tAi8k.kA "tu|mAhAn vi8”]
jos onnehen taikka turmahan vie! whether it leads to happiness or
if (it) to happiness or death leads death!
[nyt oi8s "opAs "oi8k”.A "tA|p”h”s”n]
Nyt ois opas oikea tarpehesen, Now we need a proper guide,
now would a guide proper be needed
95
mimmoinen- old-fashioned word, possibly still used in some dialects.
76
["opAs "tAi8tAvA "tAi8k”i8l.lA "t”i8l.lœ]
opas taitava taikeilla teillä. a guide with skill on difficult roads.
a guide skilled on difficult roads
[k”n "mœ…|œhœn "vi8”pA on "mAtku.”h”n]
Ken määrähän viepä on matkuehen? Who will lead the caravan to its
who to the destination will lead the caravan destination?
["mikœ "vi…t.tAnA "nu8o|il.lA "mi8”l.lœ]
Mikä viittana nuorilla miellä? What will serve as a signpost
what as a signpost of young people's thinking for the youth?
["jAlon "kAnsAm.m” "ko|k”.A "h”Nki s” on]
Jalon kansamme korkea henki se on, It is the noble, lofty spirit of
of our noble people high spirit it is our people,
["vAkA "vœi8nœm„n "kAnt”lo "soi8pA]
Vaka Väinämön kantelo soipa The sound of steady
steady Väinämöinen's96 kantele97 sounding Väinämöinen's kantele,
96
Väinämöinen- a central character in the Kalevala.
97
kantele- a plucked string instrument similar to a zither.
77
[s”n "vi…sAu8s "vAnhA jA "vANk.kumAton]
sen viisaus vanha ja vankkumaton, its wisdom is old and steadfast,
its wisdom old and steadfast
[s”n "ti8”tœmys "”…l.l”h”n "voi8pA]
sen tietämys eellehen voipa. its knowledge is still valid.
its knowledge still valid
[m” "|Au8hA… "tAhdom.m” "A|mAstA…]
Me rauhaa tahdomme armastaa: We want to embrace peace:
we peace want to embrace
[on "v”lj”sÆ|Au8hA "mu…|i]
on veljesrauha muuri, peace between brothers is
is brother-peace a stone wall like a stone wall,
[mi "su8omi "œi8tim.m” "su8ojo.A…]
mi Suomi-äitimme suojoaa, which protects our mother, Finland,
which our Finland-mother protects
[kun "vA…ni… "vA…|a "su…|i]
kun vaanii vaara suuri. when a grave danger is lurking.
when lurks a danger great

78
[miks "lAps”t "ki…stœi8si "k”sk”nœ…n]
Miks' lapset kiistäisi keskenään, Why would children quarrel with
why would children quarrel among each other one another
[k”n "pA|hAi8n "l”mpivi "œi8ti.œ…n]
ken parhain lempivi äitiään? about who loves their mother
who the best loves his mother the most?
[kui8Nk "oNkin "|”tk”m.m” "|i8”mui8n”n]
Kuink' onkin retkemme riemuinen, How triumphant our journey
how is our journey triumphant will be,
[jos "|Au8hA on "|Ak.kA…nAm.m”]
jos rauha on rakkaanamme! if peace is what we hold dear!
if peace is our beloved
[m” "vi8”|”m.m” "mA…hAn "vi8”|A…s”n]
Me vieremme maahan vieraasen, We arrive in a foreign country,
we arrive in a country foreign
["jokA "vœi8k.kyvi "vAstAs.sAm.m”]
joka väikkyvi vastassamme: which shines radiantly before us:
which is glimmering in front of us

79
[s”n "|At.to on "|an.nal.la "vi8”|A…n mA…n]
Sen ratto on rannalla vieraan maan, He will enjoy living on the
his pleasure on the shore of a foreign country shores of a foreign country,
[k”l.l • "ystœvœ "onpi "matkassaan]
kell' ystävä onpi matkassaan. who has a friend as a travel
who a friend has on his journey companion.
2. Tuuli tuudittele
2. Rock, O Wind
["tu…li "tu…dit.t”l”]
Tuuli tuudittele O wind, rock
wind rock
["v”no "kupliksi "v”sil.l”]
veno kupliksi vesille the boat onto the bubbling waters,
the boat into bubbles onto the waters
["lump”hiksi "lAi8n”hil.l”]
lumpehiksi lainehille! like a water lily on the waves!
a water lily on the waves

80
["tu…li "pu|t.tA "tu…dit.t”l”]
Tuuli, purtta tuudittele O wind, rock our
wind the vessel rock
["AhAvA "AjA "AlustA]
ahava, aja alusta weather-beaten boat
beating wind drive the boat
["sil.l” "mA…l.l” "mAi8|”h”l.l”]
sille maalle mairehelle, to the shores of the sweet land,
to that land sweet
["ni8”m”l.l” "nim”t.t„mœl.l”]
niemelle nimettömälle, to the unnamed peninsula,
to the peninsula nameless
["jostA "sA…lis "sA…tAn”h”]
josta saalis saatanehe, where our game can be caught,
from which the prey is expected
["on.ni "ot”t.tAn”h”]
onni otettanehe. and happiness had.
happiness is taken
81
["m”|i on "su…|i "sou8d”t.tAvA]
Meri on suuri soudettava, The sea is vast to row,
the sea is great to row
["tAi8vAl "pitkœ "tAi8t”t.tAvA]
taival pitkä taitettava! the journey long to travel!
a journey long to travel
["tui8mAt on "”lœmœt "tu…l”t]
Tuimat on elämät98 tuulet, The winds of life are bitter,
bitter are life's winds
["ANkA|At "”lœmœn "A…lot]
ankarat elämän aallot. the waves of life are harsh.
harsh life's waves
["”l.l„s "vAi8n”n "polvi "nu8o|i]
Ellös vainen, polvi nuori, O do not, you young generation,
just do not99 generation young
98
elämät- The plural form elämät ('lives') is used incorrectly here; possible editor's mistake.
99
ellös vainen- In Finnish, the word order is "do not just."
82
["kAl”vAi8s”n "kAnsAn "ponsi]
Kalevaisen kansan ponsi, strength of Kaleva's people,
Kaleva's100 people's strength
["AjAn "A…l.loi8l.l” "AjAko]
ajan aalloille ajako, ride onto the waves of time,
of-time to the waves do not drive
["m”|”l.l” "”lœmœn "m”Nk„]
merelle elämän menkö, do not set off on the sea of life
onto the sea of-life do not go
["ilmAn "ti8”don "ti8”t”mœt.tœ]
ilman tiedon tietemättä, without having knowledge,
without of-knowledge knowing,
["ilmAn "tAi8don "tAi8tAmAt.tA]
ilman taidon taitamatta without possessing skills,
without of-skills being-able-to-do
100
Kaleva- a powerful, mythological king of Kainuu, a central region of Finland.
83
["ti8”to on "mi8”k.kojA "t”|œvin]
Tieto on miekkoja terävin, Knowledge is sharper than
knowledge is (of) swords the sharpest any sword,
["totu…s on "kAi8k”n "ti8”don "j…u|i]
totuus on kaiken tiedon juuri. truth is the root of all knowledge.
truth is of all knowledge root
3. Oi toivo, toivo, sä lietomieli
3. Oh hope, hope, you carefree mind
[oi8 "toi8vo "toi8vo sœ "li8”toÆmi8”li]
Oi toivo, toivo, sä101 lietomieli Oh hope, hope you carefree mind,
oh hope hope you mild mind
[oi8 "œl.l„s "lu8otAni "l”n.nœ poi8s]
oi ällös luotani lennä pois! do not fly away from me!
oh do-not from-me fly away
[jos "o…tkin "li8”huvA "liu8kAsÆki8”li]
Jos ootkin liehuva, liukaskieli, Even if you were a aflare
if even you're fluttering slippery tongue and glib-tongued,
101
sä- abbreviated form of sinä, meaning "you."
84
[”n "sit.t”nÆkœ…n "sinun "m”n.nœ soi8s]
en sittenkään sinun mennä sois. even then I would not want
I-not even-then you to go would-want you to go.
[oi8 "p”|ho "p”|ho sœ "kultAÆsi…pi]
Oi perho, perho, sä kultasiipi, Oh butterfly, butterfly with
oh butterfly butterfly you gold-wing golden wings,
[sA "luoks”i8n "Ai8ni.Aks jœ… oi8 jœ…]
sa luoksein' ainiaks' jää, oi jää! stay, oh stay with me forever!
you with-me forever remain oh remain
[kun "konsA "mi8”l”…ni "mu|h” "hi…pi]
Kun konsa mieleeni murhe hiipi, Whenever sorrow would creep
when ever into-my-mind sorrow crept into my mind,
[s”n "kuviÆtAntAsi "poi8sti tœ…]
sen kuvitantasi poisti tää. imagining you would remove it.
its you-imagining removed it

85
4. Montapa elon merellä
4. Many on the Sea of Life
["montApA "”lon "m”|”l.lœ]
Montapa elon merellä Many on the sea of life
so many of-life on-the-sea
["sAt.tuvi "polo.A "su…|tA]
sattuvi poloa suurta, are met with great misfortune,
happen to-the-poor great
[vA…n sA "nu8o|iso "vAkAi8n”n]
vaan sa nuoriso vakainen but you steadfast young people
but you youth steady
["sil.loi8n "lu8otA "lu8ojAhAsi]
silloin luota Luojahasi: thereto trust in your Creator:
thereto trust in-your-Creator
["lu8ojal.l • on "on.n”n "ohjAt]
Luojall' on onnen ohjat; The Creator controls happiness;
The Creator has of-the-happiness reins

86
["jumAlAs.s • on "ju8oksun "mœ…|œ]
Jumalass' on juoksun määrä, God decides the length
in God is of-the-running degree102 of our lives,
["lu8ojAs.s • on "lopun "As”tus]
Luojass' on lopun asetus. the Creator determines its end.
in-the-Creator is of-the-end setting
5. Sammuva sainio maan
5. The Fading Smoke103 of the Earth
["jAlo "toi8mi jA "ko|k”.A "ti8”to on vA…n]
Jalo toimi ja korkea tieto on vaan Noble deeds and distinguished
noble work and high knowledge are but knowledge are but
["Avun "Au8.”| jA "sAm.muvA "sAi8ni.o mA…n]
avun auer ja sammuva sainio maan: a haze of succor and the fading
aid's haze and fading smoke of the Earth smoke of the Earth:
102
määrä- literally "amount."
103
sainio- This word, meaning "smoke" or "torch" has fallen out of usage in modern Finnish, but
is still found in surnames. Sammuva sainio can alternately be translated as "extinguishing torch."
87
["kuvA vA…n "utui8n”n]
kuva vaan utuinen just a hazy image
an image only hazy
["vAlon "tAi8vAhis”n]
valon taivahisen! of the light of Heaven!
of the light heavenly!
["yli mAn "vi|iœ…pi "sulo "tœhti8”n "vy8„]
Yli maan viriääpi sulo tähtien vyö; Above the earth shines the
over the earth lights-up delightful stellar belt dazzling belt of stars;
["s”pœ "v”|hovi mA…n]
sepä verhovi maan, it drapes over the land,
it drapes-over the land
["mis.s • ”i8 "yl.lœtœ y8„]
miss' ei yllätä yö, where the night does
where does not surprise the night not come by surprise;
[s” on "Au8tu.A…n "AsunmA… "jumAlAn]
se on autuaan asunmaa Jumalan it is the Holy
it is of the blessed dwelling-place (of) God God's dwelling place.

88
6a. Soi kiitokseksi Luojan
6a. Ring praise to the Creator
[soi8 "ki…toks”ksi "lu8ojAn]
Soi kiitokseksi Luojan, Ring praise to the Creator,
ring to the praise of the Creator
[sA "lAu8lu "h”ntoi8n”n]
sa104 laulu hentoinen, thou delicate song,
thou song delicate
[tœ…n "kAi8k.k”.ud”n "tu8ojAn]
tään kaikkeuden tuojan the provider of everything
of this everything deliverer
[jA "su8ojAn "Ai8nAi8s”n]
ja suojan ainaisen! and the eternal protector!
and of the protector eternal
[hœn "tAi8tAvAsti "toi8mi…]
Hän taitavasti toimii, He works skillfully,
he skillfully works
104
sa- abbreviated form of sinä, meaning "thou" or "you."
89
[jA "vA…li… "lu8onto.A…n]
ja vaalii luontoaan, and safeguards his creation,
and tends to his nature
[jA "h”l.lœÆmi8”lin "hoi8mi…]
ja hellämielin hoimii and gently cares for
and with gentle mind cares for
["mA…ilmA… "tu8oltA "tAi8vA…stA…n]
maailmaa tuolta taivaastaan. the world from up in his heaven.
the world from there his heaven.
[hœn sœ…t jA "ilmAn "sœ…tœ…]
Hän säät ja ilman säätää He controls the weather
He the weather and air regulates and the winds
[jA "A…l.lot "tAi8n.nut.tA…]
ja aallot tainnuttaa, and calms the waves,
and the waves calms
[jA "hyi8s”n "hAl.lAn "hœ…tœ…]
ja hyisen hallan häätää and chases away the icy frost
and the icy frost drives away

90
[jA "viljAn "vA|tut.tA…]
ja viljan vartuttaa. and makes the grains grow.
and the grains matures
[hœn "on.n”…n "m”i8dœt "ohjA…]
Hän onneen meidät ohjaa, He guides us to happiness,
He to happiness us leads
[jos "jou8tu… "johdAntA…n]
jos joutuu johdantaan, if we are in need of help,
if we need help
[tu8on "l”m.m”n "œ…|tœ "pohjA…]
tuon lemmen äärtä, pohjaa, the vastness and depth of that love,
that love's limit bottom
[k”n "pysty… "tu8otA "tutkimA…n]
ken pystyy tuota tutkimaan. who will ever be able to explore?
who is able that to explore

91
6b. Tuule, tuuli leppeämmin
6b. Blow, wind, more gently
["tu…l” "tu…li "l”p.p”.œm.min]
Tuule, tuuli leppeämmin, Blow, wind, more gently,
blow wind more gently
["mis.sœ "k„y8hœ "|A…tA…]
missä köyhä raataa, where the poor man toils,
where the poor105 toils
["vilui8s.sA…n tAi8 "pAlAvis.sA…n]
viluissaan, tai palavissaan in the cold or in the burning heat,
shivering or overheated
["kotApui8tA "kA…tA…]
kotapuita kaataa cutting down trees to make his hut.
hut-trees cuts down
["tu…l”n "l”y8hœt "vi|sin "vi8”noi8n]
Tuulen leyhät, virsin vienoin Gentle breaths of air, with
wind's gentle breezes with hymns lovely lovely hymns,
105
köyhä- singular, in this case.
92
["k„y8hœ… "tu…dit”lkA…]
köyhää tuuditelkaa: cradle this poor man:
the poor cradle106
["k„y8hœ "ty8„st on "u…punut]
köyhä työst' on uupunut, the poor man is exhausted
the poor from labor is exhausted from work,
[”i8 "si8”dœ "univ”lkA…]
ei siedä univelkaa. and cannot tolerate this lack of sleep.
cannot tolerate a lack of sleep.
["lAu8lAkA… t” "pi8”n”t "lin.nut]
Laulakaa, te pienet linnut, Sing, ye little birds,
sing ye little birds
["k„y8hœn "pihAÆpui8s.sA]
köyhän pihapuissa: in the poor man's yard trees:
in the poor man's yard trees
106
tuuditelkaa- verb, not noun.
93
["ilo "k„y8hœ…n "ilm”n”i8si]
ilo köyhään ilmeneisi, bring joy to the poor man,
(so that) a joy to the poor man would appear
["tuntui8s "|intAÆlui8s.sA]
tuntuis107 rintaluissa. a feeling in his breast.
would feel it in the breastbones
["h”l.lyt”lkœ… "k„y8hœn "mi8”li]
Hellytelkää köyhän mieli, Soften the poor man's spirit,
soften the poor man's spirit
["sitœ "k„y8hœ "soi8si]
sitä köyhä soisi: the poor man would like to see that:
it the poor man would like to see
["k„y8hœ on "lu8otu "lAu8lAjAksi]
köyhä on luotu laulajaksi The poor man is born a singer,
the poor man is created a singer
107
tuntuis- short for tuntuisi, meaning "would feel."
94
["k„y8hœ "lAu8lun "loi8si]
köyhä laulun loisi the poor man would compose a song.
the poor man a song would create
["soi8tA "sAlo "kAn.n”ltAsi]
Soita, salo, kanneltasi, Strum your kantele, backwoods,
strum backwoods your kantele
["vi…hdœ "k„y8hœn "mi8”ltœ]
viihdä köyhän mieltä entertain the poor man's soul,
entertain the poor man's soul
["hA|voi8n "k„y8hœ "l”m.m”n sA…]
harvoin köyhä lemmen saa, seldom does the poor man
seldom the poor man love receives receive love,
[vA…n "us”i8n "lui8stA "ki8”ltœ]
vaan usein luista kieltä. but often only cold words.
but often bony language

95
["l”m.mit”lkœ… "kukAt "pi8”n”t]
Lemmitelkää, kukat pienet, Little flowers, caress
caress flowers little
["k„y8hœn "lAstA "kAi8tA…]
köyhän lasta kaitaa, the poor man's skinny child,
the poor man's child skinny
["k„y8hœn "lAps kun "mA|joÆti8”l.lœ]
köyhän laps' kun marjotiellä the poor child while picking berries
poor man's child while picking berries
["Astu… "Ahon "lAi8tA…]
astuu ahon laitaa. walks alongside the meadow.
steps on meadow's edge
["lœi8k.ky.”lkœ… "lAhd”n "lAi8n”…t]
Läikkyelkää, lahden laineet, Waves of the bay, splash
splash the bay's waves
["k„y8hœn "kotA…n "Asti]
köyhän kotaan asti: all the way up to the poor man's hut:
the poor man's hut up to

96
["k„y8hœn "sydœn "lœi8k”htisi]
köyhän sydän läikehtisi the poor man's heart would glisten
the poor man's heart would glisten
["si…tœ "sulom.mAsti]
siitä sulommasti. more sweetly then.
thence more sweetly
["hohdA "vi8”lœ "hop”.Am.mAl.l”]
Hohda vielä hopeammalle, Shine even more like silver,
shine more silver-like
["vi|.|An "vœlk.kyÆpintA]
virran välkkypinta: bright-sparkling surface
stream's bright-sparkling-surface of the stream:
["hop”.Al.l” "si…tœ "hohtui8s]
hopealle siitä hohtuis like silver would then glow
like silver from it would glow
["k„y8hœ "|Au8kAn "|intA]
köyhä-raukan rinta. the heart of the poor wretch.
poor wretch's breast.

97
7. Oi Lempi, sun valtas ääretön on
7. Oh love, your realm is limitless
[Oi8 "l”mpi sun "vAltAs "œ…|”t„n on]
Oi Lempi, sun valtas ääretön on, Oh love, your realm is limitless,
oh love, your power limitless is
[sA "lu8ojAn "l”p.posA "lApsi]
sa Luojan lepposa108 lapsi! you genial child of the Creator!
you Creator's genial child
[kun "mi8”li on "s”i8jas ja "sAAstumAton]
Kun mieli on seijas ja saastumaton While our minds are clear
when the mind is clear and unsullied and unsullied
[jA vi8”l ”i8 "hA|m”n.nut "hApsi]
ja viel' ei harmennut hapsi, and our hair has not yet turned grey,
and yet not (has) turned grey the hair
[sœ "syt.ty8„s "sy8„m.m”h”n "m”i8dœNkin]
sä syttyös syömmehen meidänkin may you also ignite a fire
you ignite into the heart (of) also ours in our hearts
108
lepposa- alternately spelled "leppoisa" in modern Finnish.
98
[jA "Au8vo.A "|intAhAn "An.nA]
ja auvoa rintahan anna and give bliss to our breasts
and bliss into our breasts give
[jA "m”i8dœt "on.n”lAn "sA…|osihin]
ja meidät onnelan saarosihin and carry us to islands
and us to (of) happiness isles of happiness
["sinœ "si…vin "silk.kisin "kan.na]
sinä siivin silkkisin kanna on your silken wings.
you with wings silken carry
["tu8ol.lA "vœi8k.ky… "koi8vuj”n "Al.lA]
Tuolla väikkyy koivujen alla There, under the birch trees
there shimmers birch trees under
["|An.nAl.lA "A…ltoj”n "su…t”l”mAl.lA]
rannalla aaltojen suutelemalla on the shore, kissed by the waves
on the beach by the waves having-been-kissed
["syntyÆsu8ojAni tu8o "kultAi8n”n]
syntysuojani tuo kultainen. shimmers my precious birthplace.
my birth-shelter that precious

99
["si8”l.lœ "Au8k”s "silmœni "”nsin]
Siellä aukes' silmäni ensin, There my eyes first opened,
there opened my eyes first time
["si8”ltœ "poi8”s "mA….ilmA…n "l”nsin]
sieltä poies maailmaan lensin, from there I flew out into the world,
from there away into the world I flew
["sAl.li.”s.sA "si…pi.”n]
salliessa siipien.109 as my wings would allow me.
allowed (by) my wings
[oi8 mi "l”mpi on "l”p.poi8sÆ”mpi]
Oi, mi lempi on leppoisempi, Oh, what love is sweeter
oh what love is more genial
[kui8n "”mon "A|mAhAn "Altis "l”mpi]
kuin emon armahan altis lempi, than a dear mother's freely-given
than a mother's dearest generous love love,
109
salliessa siipien- Sibelius repeats the text in this section, using the phrases niiden sallien ('their
allowing') and niin siipien ('yes, of the wings') for emphasis.
100
["lœm.min.nœ "k”stœvi "l”mpi "moi8n”n]
lämminnä kestävi lempi moinen – such a warm love endures –
(always) warm endures love such
["li”8huvi "|œi8skyvi "l”mpi "toin”n]
Liehuvi, räiskyvi lempi toinen, Other kinds of love may burn with
flames sparks love another higher flames,
["us”i8n "s”u8|A…pi "p”t.tymys]
usein seuraapi pettymys. but often end in disappointment.
often follows a disappointment
[Oi8 "l”mpi sun "vAltAs "œ…|”t„n on]
Oi Lempi, sun valtas ääretön on, Oh love, your realm is limitless,
oh love, your power limitless is
[sA "lu8ojAn "l”mp”.œn "lApsi]
sa Luojan lempeän lapsi! you, child of the genial Creator!
you of-Creator gentle child
[kun "mi8”li on "s”i8jas ja "sAAstumAton]
Kun mieli on seijas ja saastumaton While our minds are clear
when the mind is clear and unsullied and unsullied

101
[jA vi8”l ”i8 "hA|m”n.nut "hApsi]
ja viel' ei harmennut hapsi, and our hair has not yet turned grey,
and yet not (has) turned grey the hair
[sœ "syt.ty8„s "sy8œm.m”h”n "m”i8dœNkin]
sä syttyös syämmehen110 meidänkin may you also ignite a fire
you ignite into the heart (of) also ours in our hearts
[jA "Au8vo.A "|intAhAn "An.nA]
ja auvoa rintahan anna and give bliss to our breasts
and bliss into our breasts give
[jA "m”i8dœt "on.n”lAn "sA…|osihin]
ja meidät onnelan saarosihin and carry us to islands
and us to (of) happiness isles of happiness
["sinœ "si…vin "silk.kisin "kan.na]
sinä siivin silkkisin kanna on your silken wings.
you with wings silken carry
110
syämmehen- This spelling differs from the previous iteration; possible editor's mistake.
102
8. Kuin virta vuolas
8. Like a Swift Current
["kui8n "vi|tA vu8olAs ni…n "vApAu8d”n "vu8o]
Kuin virta vuolas, niin vapauden vuo Like a swift current,
like a current swift so freedom's flow so the flow of freedom
[kœy8 "hAlki "hAi8t.tAi8n "”i8kœpœ "”sty vA…n]
käy halki haittain, eikäpä esty vaan, passes through all hindrances
passes through hindrances and is-not impeded at all and is not be impeded,
[jos "kui8NkA "vAltA "vi8”k.kAu8skin]
jos kuinka valta, viekkauskin no matter how power
if the power even-cunning and even cunning
["|i8”nto.A "koi8t.tA… "|i…stœ… "siltœ]
rientoa koittaa riistää siltä. try to wrest it from
its passage tries to wrest it its progress.
["nu8o "v”t.t”n "o|hit "vANkAmot "vA…htosu…t]
Nuo vetten orhit, vankamot vaahtosuut Those stallions of water,
those waters' stallions sturdy foam-mouths sturdy with foaming mouths,

103
[kun "ni…tœ "kosk”n "t”lkim”t "kAhlits”…]
kun niitä kosken telkimet kahlitsee, when the shackles of the
when them the rapids' locks bind rapids bind them,
[n” "hi|nAkoi8d”n "hy|sky.”l.l”n]
ne hirnakoiden, hyrskyellen neighing, foaming
they neighing foaming
["ko|skinA "ku8ohuvAt "poi8k.ki "pA…t.t”n]
korskina kuohuvat poikki paatten. they haughtily surge
haughtily surge across the stones across the stones.
[jA "voi8tok.kAi8nA "vy8„|yvœt "”…l.l”h”n]
Ja voitokkaina vyöryvät eellehen And victoriously,
and victoriously roll onward they roll onward
["tu8on.n” poi8s pœi8n "ty8„ntyvœt "ty…n”lœ…n]
tuonne pois päin työntyvät tyynelään, pushing their way into
out-there away from-us pushing into calm distant calm waters,
["mis.s • "A|mAhAi8s”t "|Au8hAÆ|An.nAt]
miss' armahaiset rauharannat where beloved,
where beloved peace-beaches peaceful shores

104
["pœi8lyvœt "ki|k.kA…n "vi|.|An "kAlvo…n
päilyvät kirkkaan virran kalvoon. are reflected in the
shimmer (in) the bright stream's surface surface of the bright stream.
[ni…n "h”tk”ks "hilty… my8„s "vApAu8d”n vu8o]
Niin hetkeks hiltyy myös vapauden vuo, So for a moment, even the
so for a moment halts also freedom's flow flow of freedom holds back,
[jos "siltœ "pAk.koÆpystyhyn "tAi8t.tA… "ti8”n]
jos siltä pakkopystyhyn taittaa tien, if its way is blocked by force,
if from it to-a-forced-stop is-cut-off the way
[mut "kohtA "voi8min "kAhtAÆmoi8dui8n]
mutt' kohta voimin kahtamoiduin but soon, with
but soon with-powers doubled doubled powers
["ko|skAnA "kAtkovi "so|.|on "sAlvAt]
korskana katkovi sorron salvat. it proudly cuts the bonds of
haughtily it cuts oppression's latches oppression in half.
[s”n ly… on "ty…n”h”n "lAhd”lmA…n]
Sen lyy on tyynehen lahdelmaan, Its goal is to reach
its goal is to-a-calm inlet a protected inlet,

105
["mis.s • "oi8si "tu|vA "tA…t.tunA "sou8tAjAi8n]
miss' oisi turva taattuna soutajain; where its oarsmen's safety
where there-would-be safety guaranteed of-the-oarsmen would be guaranteed;
["mis.s • "ihmisÆkun.nAn "|Au8hA "vœi8k.ky…]
miss' ihmiskunnan rauha väikkyy where the peace of mankind
where mankind's peace shimmers shimmers
["kAu8kAnA kui8n "k”sœÆpilv”n "|usko]
kaukana kuin kesäpilven rusko far away, like the glow of
far away like summer cloud's glow a summer cloud.
9. Oi kallis Suomi, äiti verraton
9. Oh Precious Finland, Incomparable Mother
[oi8 "kAllis "su8omi "œi8ti "v”|.|Aton]
Oi kallis Suomi, äiti verraton Oh precious Finland,
oh precious Finland mother incomparable incomparable mother
[sun "on.n”s "on.ni "m”i8dœn "olkohon]
sun onnes onni meidän olkohon! let your happiness be ours as well!
your happiness's happiness ours let it be

106
[tœ… "vAlA "v”i8kot "siskot "vAn.nokA…m.m”]
Tää vala veikot, siskot vannokaamme: Brothers, sisters,
this oath brothers sisters let us swear let us swear this oath:
[sA "pA|hA…n "l”mp”m.m” sA…t "syntyÆmA…]
sa parhaan lempemme saat syntymaa! You will get the best of our love,
you our best love will get birth-land native land!
[jos "lAps”s k”n "su.A "inhA "iskui8n ly8„]
Jos lapses ken sua inha iskuin lyö, If one of your sons should strike
if your child who you (with) wicked blows strike wicked blows against you,
[s”n "kui8luhunsA "ni8”lk„…n "ho|nAn y8„]
sen kuiluhunsa nielköön hornan yö! may the abyss swallow him
him (into) his chasm may swallow abyss111 night into its depths!
[vA…n "sinœ "su8omi "pohjAn "tœhti "ki|kAs]
vaan Sinä Suomi, Pohjan tähti kirkas, but you Finland, bright star of
but you Finland, north's star bright the North,
111
hornan- alternately translated as "of the abyss."
107
[kœy8 "”…spœi8n "loi8stA "vAlk”u8s on "vi|kAs]
käy eespäin, loista: valkeus on virkas! march on, shine: brightness is
go forth shine brightness is your office112 your function!
["loi8stA "loi8stA "su8om”nÆmA…]
Loista, loista Suomenmaa! Shine, shine, land of Finland!
shine shine Finland's country
Koulutie, JS 112. The turn of the twentieth century saw the success of Sibelius's
First and Second Symphonies. Although Finnish nationalist elements were still very
much to the forefront in his Second Symphony, there was a movement amongst Finnish
intellectuals to pursue more worldly interests. Specifically, a Swedish-speaking group
called the Euterpists helped steer Sibelius towards more international ventures and
concerns.113 This shift in the composer's ethos is manifest in his remaining a cappella
choral output. From 1902 on, the majority of the choral works are in the Swedish
language and do not incorporate the sort of Karelian idioms that made his early choral
works distinctly Finnish.
As Sibelius neared the end of his compositional career, he wrote a number of a
cappella works for children's choirs and secondary schools. Koulutie is a representative
example of this later style in a Finnish-language piece. The poem, by V.A. Koskenniemi,
112
virkas- an abbreviated form of virkasi, meaning "your office."
113
(accessed January 28, 2014).
108
was originally composed in 1924 for the 50th anniversary of the Lyceum school in Oulu,
Finland. The headmaster at Lyceum rejected the poem because of certain "inappropriate"
imagery regarding a young boy's infatuation with a blue-eyed girl. Ironically, Sibelius's
setting of the poem was published the following year in a choral series geared towards
young students.114
Koulutie is an intentionally simple song, devoid of any of the modal elements or
rhythmic variety of his earlier works. Instead, secondary dominants and leading tone
chords prevail, making the work sound as though it could have been written in the
eighteenth century. The main challenge for English-speaking choirs in approaching this
piece is language. Of the five verses, only the first verse has ever been underlain beneath
the choral parts in any edition, as in a hymnbook. The reason for this is that Finnish
choirs would have little trouble realizing the text underlay of the subsequent verses once
the notes were learned. Those not familiar with the Finnish language would find the
syllabification of the subsequent verses rather confusing, even given the small cue notes
printed in some editions. Choral directors wishing to perform the later verses would do
well to have the lyrics transcribed below the choral parts on separate pages.
As mentioned in the Overview of Finnish Diction and Linguistic Anomalies
(pgs. 21-28), the Finnish language features three "opening" diphthongs, which may sound
as two syllabic vowels to English-speaking singers. There is a confluence of these
diphthongs in Koulutie, and the manner in which Sibelius sets the text leads to some
rhythmic ambiguities in certain spots. For example, a few of the sentences in the poem
end in words that rhyme with Koulutie, which Sibelius continually sets to a dotted quarter
114
(Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012) xiii.
109
note. In order to properly perform this diphthong, the singers must pronounce the [i]
vowel of the letter i clearly and with stress on the downbeat, but move immediately to the
[”] sound of the letter e. This results in an implied eighth or sixteenth note rhythm within
each dotted quarter note featuring the ie diphthong (Example 8). Singers also must be
careful not to allow the [i] sound to regress into a [j] glide, or worse, pronounce the ie
diagraph using only the [i] vowel as in German. Included in the Appendix is a
transcription of all five verses of Koulutie, with a fully realized text underlay.
Example 8. Sibelius, Koulutie, JS 112, mm. 7 – 8
Original transcription:
Transcription with implied rhythms:

110
Koulutie
School Road115
Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (1886-1962)
["ol”n "un”s.sA "us”.Asti]
Olen unessa useasti I often dream of being on
I have in a dream often
["sinun "kAdui8l.lAs "kou8luÆti8”]
sinun kaduillas, koulutie. your streets that lead to school.
on your streets school road
["kotiÆpo|tiltA "kou8lu…n "Asti]
Kotiportilta kouluun asti From home's door to school
from home-gate up to the school116
["minun "Ask”l”…ni vi8”]
minun askeleeni vie. my footsteps take me.
my steps will take
115
koulutie- usually, but more loosely translated as "the way to school."
116
kouluun asti- In Finnish, the word order is "the school up to."
111
["sy…sA…mu "ki|p”.œ "koi8t.tA…]
Syysaamu kirpeä koittaa A brisk autumn's dawn breaks
autumn morning brisk dawns
["yli "h”|œ…vœn "kAu8puN.Nin]
yli heräävän kaupungin over the town as it awakens
over the awakening town
[jA s”n "lAi8dAs.sA "koski "soi8t.tA]
ja sen laidassa koski soittaa and on its outskirts the rapids play
and on its edge the rapids play
["tutun "sœv”l”n "ilmoi8hin]
tutun sävelen ilmoihin. a familiar tune in the air.
a familiar tune into the air
["tAlot "mAtAlAt "kAhtA "pu8oltA]
Talot matalat kahta puolta– Low-roofed houses on either side–
houses low on two sides

112
["mit”n "tun.n”n n” "tA|kAl.l”…n]
miten tunnen ne tarkalleen! I know them all so well!
how I know117 them precisely
["yli "ni…d”n "mœ.”ltœ "tu8oltA]
Yli niiden mäeltä tuolta Above them from the hill beyond
above them from the hill over there
["koho… "ki|k.ko "to|n”i8n”…n]
kohoo kirkko torneineen. the church steeples loom.
rises the church with its towers
[jA mun "mAtkAni "k”skiti8”l.lœ]
Ja mun matkani keskitiellä And half-way down the road
and at my journey's midpoint
["nœky "ihAnA "A…mui8n”n]
näky ihana, aamuinen: a wonderful sight, fresh like
a sight wonderful morning (fresh) the dawn:
117
tunnen- alternately translated as "I recognize."
113
["tyt„n "sinis”n "kohtA…n "si8”l.lœ]
tytön sinisen kohtaan siellä I meet a girl dressed in blue
a girl (in) blue I meet there on the road
[jA "kAts”…n "sinis”n]
ja katseen sinisen and her blue gaze.
and a gaze blue
[vi8” "jAlAt kui8n "kA|k”los.sA]
Vie jalat kuin karkelossa My feet run lightly as if in play
it takes the feet as in a frolic
["lœpi "pi8”n”n "pui8stikon]
läpi pienen puistikon. through a small park.
through a small park
[s”n "p”Nkil.lœ "ku…tAmos.sA]
Sen penkillä kuutamossa There, on its bench in the moonlight
on its bench in the moonlight
[”ns "|unoni "t”hty on]
ens runoni tehty on. my first poems came to be.
my first poems have been created

114
[jA "pui8ston "pui8d”n "tAkA…]
Ja puiston puiden takaa And from behind the trees
and of the park's trees behind in the park
["mit”n "l”mp”i8n” "silmin”…n]
miten lempeine silmineen how with gentle eyes
how with his gentle eyes
["mu.A "kAtso… "kAu8nis "vAkA…]
mua katsoo kaunis, vakaa looks upon me a fine, steady
at me gazes a beautiful,118 steady119
["|unoÆ|uhtinAs "pi…spA "frAntsen]
runoruhtinas piispa Franzén120 bard, Bishop Franzén.
poetry-prince Bishop Franzén
[jA "kou8lun "Ai8tA… "vAstA…n]
Ja koulun aitaa vastaan And against the school's fence
and the school's fence against
118
kaunis- In this context, it could also be translated as "handsome."
119
vakaa- "steady" meaning "calm and collected."
120
piispa Franzén- refers to Frans Michael Franzén, a Finnish poet born in Oulu.
115
[jo "vAnhAn "|”hto|in nœ…n]
jo vanhan rehtorin nään. the old headmaster can be seen.
already the old headmaster I see
["mit”n "tut.tu "Astun.nAstA…n]
Miten tuttu astunnastaan How I recognize his familiar gait
how recognizable from his gait
[jA "|yhdistœ "mi8”his”n pœ…n]
ja ryhdistä miehisen pään! and from his stance a head held high!
and from his posture a manly head
["sy…sA…mu "ki|p”.œ "koi8t.tA…]
Syysaamu kirpeä koittaa A brisk autumn's dawn breaks
autumn morning brisk dawns
["yli "h”|œ…vœn "kAu8puN.Nin]
yli heräävän kaupungin over the town as it awakens
over the awakening town
[jA s”n "lAi8dAs.sA "koski "soi8t.tA]
ja sen laidassa koski soittaa and on its outskirts the rapids play
and on its edge the rapids play

116
["tutun "sœv”l”n "ilmoi8hin]
tutun sävelen ilmoihin. a familiar tune in the air.
a familiar tune into the air
[jA mA "unhotAn "lœksyni "vAi8vAn]
Ja ma unhotan läksyni vaivan And I forget my homework efforts
and I forget my homework's bother
[jA "kAi8k.ki ni…n "kAu8nihiks sA…]
ja kaikki niin kaunihiks saa. as everything becomes so beautiful.
and everything so beautiful becomes
["mu.A "jos.sAi8n "kAu8kAnA "Ai8vAn]
Mua jossain kaukana aivan, Somewhere very far away,
me somewhere far away very
["”lo "ihAnA "odot.tA…]
elo ihana odottaa. a wonderful life awaits me.
life wonderful awaits
["ol”n "un”s.sA "us”.Asti]
Olen unessa useasti I often dream of being on
I have in a dream often

117
["sinun "kAdui8l.lAs "kou8luÆti8”]
sinun kaduillas, koulutie. your streets that lead to school.
on your streets school road
[Ah "”Nk„ mA "hAu8tAhAn "Asti]
Ah, enkö ma hautahan asti Ah, until I lie in my grave,
ah, am I not until my grave121 I might well
[my8„s "kou8luÆlAi8n”n li8”]
myös koululainen lie. always be a schoolboy.
the schoolboy be
Finlandia-hymni, from Op. 26. Sibelius's famous tone poem Finlandia was
premiered in 1899 under the title Suomi herää ('Finland Awakens') as the seventh and
final movement of his Music from the Press Celebration Days, JS 137. It was revised the
following year with the moniker Finlandia, and became the vanguard piece for the
country's defiance of the aforementioned Russification of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
The hymn portion of the tone poem, which occurs in the final few minutes, gained
popularity and started being arranged for choruses in Europe and the U.S. with various
different lyrics throughout the first few decades of the twentieth century.122
121
ma hauhatan asti- In Finnish, the word order is "my grave until."
122
Dahlström, Fabian. Untitled Notes. In Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a cappella, by Jean
Sibelius. Austria: Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993, 8.
118
As with so many of his a cappella works, Sibelius first arranged Finlandia-hymni
for the YL Male Voice Choir in 1938, with a text written by singer Wäinö Sola. The
composer had not originally intended to write a mixed choral arrangement of the hymn. It
was not until 1948—long after Sibelius had stopped composing altogether—that his
publisher at Fazer informed him that the conductor Arvo Airaksinen had arranged the
work for mixed chorus in what was surely a violation of Finnish copyright law. Rather
than having someone else lay claim to the SATB version of this iconic work, Sibelius
wrote two arrangements of the hymn using a text by V.A. Koskenniemi.123
With regard to key, the choral director has somewhat of a choice to make in
programming a mixed choral arrangement of Finlandia. The F major version—published
by Fazer in 1949—is his only mixed choral setting to be published during Sibelius's
lifetime. The A major arrangement did not appear in print until the release of the
complete works edition of Sibelius's a cappella mixed choral works by Breitkopf in 2012.
As one might expect, the F major version is found far more often in Finnish publication,
and one could argue that this represents the definitive mixed choral arrangement.
However, the tune was cast in A major in the original tone poem, whose voicing bears
much closer resemblance to the unpublished version. Furthermore, F major is one of the
more troublesome keys for SATB choirs in terms of intonation, and Finnish choral
directors—such as the late Astrid Riska—have been known to transpose the Fazer
version to G major to compensate for this.124 Choral directors may consider all three
123
124
Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993.
119
keys as options, perhaps using the adjacent repertoire on the given program as a factor in
making the decision.
Finlandia-hymni
Finlandia Hymn
Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (1886-1962)
[oi8 "su8omi "kAtso "sinun "pœi8vœs "koi8t.tA…]
Oi, Suomi, katso Sinun päiväs koittaa, Oh, Finland, see your day
Oh, Finland, see your day is dawning is dawning,
[y8„n "uhkA "kA|koi8t”t.tu on jo poi8s]
yön uhka karkoitettu on jo pois the threat of night has been
night's threat has been banished already away banished
[jA "A…mun "kiu8|u "ki|kAu8d”s.sA "soi8t.tA…]
ja aamun kiuru kirkaudessa soittaa and the lark sings in
and the morning's lark in brightness calls morning's glory
[kui8n "its” "tAi8vAhAn "kAnsi soi8s]
kuin itse taivahan kansi sois, sounding at Heaven's dome,
as if the very heaven's lid125 were sounding
125
kansi- literally "lid" or "cover."
120
[y8„n "vAl.lAt "A…mun "vAlk”.us jo "voi8t.tA…]
yön vallat aamun valkeus jo voittaa, night's powers are overcome
night's powers morning's light already overcomes, by the light,
[sun "pœi8vœs "koi8t.tA… oi8 "syn.nyi8nÆmA…]
sun päiväs koittaa, oi synnyinmaa. your day has is dawning,
your day is dawning, oh birth-land. oh native land.
[oi8 "nou8s” "su8omi "nostA "ko|k”.Al.l”]
Oi nouse, Suomi nosta korkealle Oh rise, Finland raise
Oh rise, Finland raise high high your head
[pœ…s "s”p.p”l„i8mœ "su…|t”n "mui8stoj”n]
pääs seppelöimä suurten muistojen, crowned with great
your head crowned by great memories, memories,
[oi8 "nou8s” "su8omi "nœy8tit "mA….ilmAl.l”]
oi nouse Suomi, näytit maailmalle oh rise Finland, you showed
oh rise Finland, you showed to the world the world
[sA "”t.tA "kA|koi8tit "o|ju…d”n]
sa että karkoitit orjuuden that you drove out slavery
you that drove out slavery

121
[ja "”t.t”t tAi8punut sA "so|.|on "Al.l”]
ja ettet taipunut sa sorron alle, and that you did not bend
and that you did not bend oppression under, under oppression,
[on "A…mus "AlkAnut "syn.nyi8nÆmA…]
on aamus alkanut, synnyinmaa. your morning has begun,
has your morning begun, birth-land. native land.

CHAPTER V
Conclusions
With the challenges of the Finnish language having been worked out, the a
cappella choral works of Jean Sibelius may be presented as approachable, nuanced
literature for intermediate and advanced choirs. They also provide a context through
which choral musicians may understand the origins of Finnish choral music at large. The
principles of Finnish choral diction provided in this guide may also be applied to the
Estonian language,126 with the addition of just a few sounds. Given the confluence of
Baltic choral repertoire in print today, this helps to open up an entire catalogue of
literature written in these Finno-Ugric languages to Western musicians.
Additional Resources
Those wishing to perform the Swedish language works of Jean Sibelius and his
successors in the choral canon may look to the recent research of Julie Bishop and Anna
Hersey. Bishop's dissertation entitled An American Singer's Guide to Swedish Lyric
Diction provides one of the most extensive overviews of Swedish diction available,127
and Hersey's Swedish Art Song: A Singer's Handbook to Diction and Repertoire gives a
126
2010): 53.
127
Bishop, Julie. "An American Singer's Guide to Swedish Lyric Diction." (DMA diss., Temple
University, 2010), 20-63.
122
123
more concise outline of Swedish diction, and provides transcriptions and annotations for
the vocal literature of many important Swedish language composers, including Jean
Sibelius.128
128
Hersey, Anna. "Swedish Art Song: A Singer's Handbook to Diction and Repertoire." (DMA
diss., University of Miami, 2012), 10-81.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnett, Andrew. Sibelius. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
Barnett, Andrew. Untitled Notes. In The Sibelius Edition: Choral Music, by Jean
Sibelius. Åkersberga, Sweden: BIS CD-825, 2010.
Bentley, Andrew. Untitled Translations. In The Sibelius Edition: Choral Music, by Jean
Sibelius. Åkersberga, Sweden: BIS CD-825, 2010.
Bentley, Andrew. Untitled Translations. In Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a

cappella, by Jean Sibelius. Jubilate Choir. Ondine ODE 805-2. 1993.
Bishop, Julie. "An American Singer's Guide to Swedish Lyric Diction." DMA diss.,
Temple University, 2010.
Dahlström, Fabian. "Sibelius's Works for Mixed Chorus." Fazer Music News 1993, no. 6
(Spring 1993): 1-3.
Dahlström, Fabian. Untitled Notes. In Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a cappella, by
Jean Sibelius. Austria: Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993.
De Gorog, Lisa S., and Ralph Paul De Gorog. From Sibelius to Sallinen: Finnish
Nationalism and the Music of Finland. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
Goss, Glenda Dawn. Jean Sibelius: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland Pub, 1998.
Goss, Glenda Dawn. Sibelius: A Composer's Life and the Awakening of Finland.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Habermann, Joshua Cramer. "Finnish Music and the A Cappella Choral Works of
Einojuhani Rautavaara." DMA diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1997.
Hepokoski, James and Fabian Dahlström. "Sibelius, Jean." Grove Music Online. Oxford
Music Online. Oxford University Press.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/43725
(accessed October 30, 2012).
Hersey, Anna. "Swedish Art Song: A Singer's Handbook to Diction and Repertoire."
DMA diss., University of Miami, 2012.
124
125
Hodgson, Antony. Scandinavian Music: Finland & Sweden. Rutherford: Fairleigh

Dickinson University Press, 1984.
Holman, Eugene, Gustav Djupsjöbacka and Donald Adamson. Singing in Finnish: A

Manual for Singers and Vocal Coaches: 75 Finnish Songs Phonetically
Transcribed with Translations. Porvoo, Finland: The Academy of Finnish Art
Song, 2005.
Horton, John. Scandinavian Music: A Short History. London: Faber and Faber, 1963.
Hyökki, Matti, dir. The Voice of Sibelius. YL Male Voice Choir. BIS CD 1433. 2008.
Jeffers, Ron, and Gordon Paine. Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire
Volume II: German Texts. Corvallis, OR: Earthsongs, 2000.
Jussila, Raimo. Kalevalan Sanakirja. Keuruu, Finland: Otava, 2009.
Kähärä, Tellervo. "Finnish Lyric Diction." Journal of Singing 67, no. 1

(September/October 2010): 53-59.
Karlsson, Fred, and Andrew Chesterman. Finnish: An Essential Grammar. London:

Routledge, 2008.
Kilpiö, Markku. "The Story of the Finnish Choir: Social Institution and Human
Instrument." Finnish Music Quarterly 1987, no. 2 (1987): 2-9.
Korpela, Jukka. "Pronunciation of Finnish in a nutshell (for linguists)." IT and

Communication: Human Languages.
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/suomi/fon.html (accessed November 6, 2013).
Lönnrot, Elias, and Keith Bosley. The Kanteletar: Lyrics and Ballads After Oral
Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Marshall, Madeleine. The Singer's Manual of English Diction. New York, NY: G.
Schirmer, 1953.
Mäkelä, Tomi, and Steven Lindberg. Jean Sibelius. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press,
2011.
Mäkinen, Timo and Seppo Nummi. Musica Fennica. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö

Otava, 1965.
126
Politoske, Daniel. "Choral Music." In The Sibelius Companion, edited by Glenda Dawn
Goss, 201-219. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Riska, Astrid, dir. Complete Works for Mixed Chorus a cappella, by Jean Sibelius.
Jubilate Choir. Ondine ODE 805-2. 1993.
Risko, Agi. Beginner's Finnish. New York, NY: Hippocrene Books, 2012.
Sibelius, Jean. 9 Songs for Chorus, op. 23. In IMSLP,

http://imslp.org/wiki/9_Songs_for_Chorus,_Op.23_(Sibelius,_Jean) (accessed
October 18, 2012).
Sibelius, Jean, et al. Works for mixed choir a cappella = Werke für gemischten Chor a
cappella. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012.

http://www.sibelius.fi/english/musiikki/kuoroteokset.htm (accessed October 18,
2012).
Smith, Frederick Key. Nordic Art Music: from the Middle Ages to the Third Millenium.
Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002.
Tawaststjerna, Erik. Sibelius: Volume 1. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
Tawaststjerna, Erik. Sibelius: Volume 2. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Thompson, Jon. "The Choral Music of Jean Sibelius: An Introduction." The Choral
Journal 47, no. 8 (February 2007): 8-15.
Tuomi, Scott Lawrence. "Finnish Art Song for the American Singer." DMA diss., The
University of Arizona, 2001.
Ylivuori, Sakari. "Jean Sibelius's Works for Mixed Choir." PhD diss., The University of
the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy, 2013.
Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 2012.
APPENDIX
Alternate Editions of Select Works
Movements II and VII of Lauluja sekaköörille 1897 vuoden promotiooni
kantaatista, Op. 23 are included below in transposed editions, in both cases, a minor
second higher than performing pitch. These alternate transcriptions are intended to help
elucidate intervals and key relationships for intermediate choirs (see Chapter IV), making
sightreading more fluent. It is recommended that these pieces still be performed in their
original keys in order to retain the overall key structure of the entire cantata. It is worth
noting that the rhythms shown in m. 3 of Oi Lempi, sun valtas ääretön on are consistent
with the choral parts of the original cantata, and not the first printed edition of Op. 23.129
This allows for the D.S. al fine measure scheme used in this edition.
As mentioned in Chapter IV, of the five verses of Koulutie, JS 112, only the first
verse of text has ever been underlain beneath the choral parts in any edition. The text
underlay offered in the edition below is based on the realization by Astrid Riska and the
Jubilate Choir, recorded in 1993 on the Ondine label.130 For the sake of making
sightsinging even easier for English-speaking choirs, the pervasive ie opening diphthongs
in this piece have either been split under successive eighth notes where appropriate, or
transcribed as "i • e" under longer note values so as to remind singers to pronounce both
vowel sounds.
129
Sibelius, Jean, et al, Works for mixed choir a cappella = Werke für gemischten Chor a
cappella (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 2012), 152-154.
130
Ondine ODE 805-2, 1993.
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141

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University of Miami

A Performance Guide to Select A Cappella Works

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations

A PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO SELECT A CAPPELLA WORKS OF

Submitted to the Faculty

Coral Gables, Florida

A doctoral essay submitted in partial fulfillment of

A PERFORMANCE GUIDE TO SELECT A CAPPELLA WORKS OF

Abstract of a doctoral essay at the University of Miami.

Doctoral essay supervised by Professor Donald Oglesby.

This essay is a performance guide to select a cappella choral works of Jean

as a model, each selected piece is then presented in terms of musico-poetic information,

I have been fortunate in my life to know a number of wonderful people of Finnish

University since I was an undergraduate student—to see if she would be willing to be a

helped make the transcriptions contained herein as accurate as possible.

Sibelius's a cappella works when necessary.

I would like to thank the members of my doctoral committee: Dr. Donald

criticism, and an excellent example of what it means to be a true scholarly musician. A

council through all three years of my doctoral degree.

far greater than I could have ever imagined.

CHAPTER I Introduction .................................................................................................. 1!

CHAPTER II Literature Review ........................................................................................ 6

Finnish History and Musical Style .......................................................................... 6

Sibelius's Life and Choral Music ............................................................................ 8

Finnish Language and Diction .............................................................................. 12!

Editions ................................................................................................................. 15!

CHAPTER III Method ..................................................................................................... 16

Musico-poetic Information and Historical Context .............................................. 17!

Harmonic Language and Performance Considerations......................................... 18!

Translations and Phonetic Transcriptions of Finnish Texts .................................. 19

CHAPTER IV Performance Guide .................................................................................. 22

Overview of Finnish Diction and Linguistic Anomalies ...................................... 22

Vowel Harmony ........................................................................................ 30

Consonant Gradation ................................................................................ 31

Select A Cappella Works of Jean Sibelius ............................................................ 32

Venematka, Op. 18, No. 3......................................................................... 45

Saarella palaa, Op. 18, No. 4 .................................................................... 50

Sydämeni laulu, Op. 18, No. 6 .................................................................. 53

Min rastas raataa, JS 129 .......................................................................... 58

Koulutie, JS 112 ...................................................................................... 107

Finlandia-hymni, from Op. 26 ................................................................ 117

CHAPTER V Conclusions ............................................................................................. 122

Additional Resources .......................................................................................... 122

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 124!

APPENDIX Alternate Editions of Select Works ........................................................... 127

Tuuli tuudittele, Op. 23, No. 2 ............................................................................ 128!

Koulutie, JS 112 .................................................................................................. 137

programmatic music influenced by Finnish rune singing. His impressive orchestral

composer thus far.

As a young man, Sibelius was heavily influenced by the operas of Richard

Finnish nationalist composer.3

Although he is not primarily known as a choral composer, Sibelius wrote a great

Kanteletar, Sibelius promoted singing in the Finnish vernacular as a way of fostering a

Although still generally suppressed in comparison to Swedish, the proliferation of the

offshoots of this grassroots movement.

vernacular. In 1838, Frederick Pacius established the Akademiska Sångföreningen, an

simply as "YL." The members of this male vocal ensemble—established in 1883—

committed themselves to singing high standards of choral repertoire in the Finnish

language.7 The young Jean Sibelius happened to be seeking employment at Helsinki

perform music of national character as a brazen display of patriotism in the face of

Russian occupation. In this way—even outside the realm of academia—choral singing in

Romantic music of Jean Sibelius lay at the very heart of it.8

choral tradition, Finnish language music—including the choral literature of Sibelius—has