I don't know whether to call this morning's selections "upbeat" or just plain "offbeat", but I decided to have a little mixed classical/modern/rock/metal fun, with a few wild cards thrown in.
Jean Sibelius' tone poem "Finlandia" has, since its first performance in 1900, been beloved by Finns. He later reworked its final section into the stand-alone "Finlandia Hymn", which has been performed in many ways on many instruments, used as the melody for a number of hymns and anthems, and has become iconic in its own right.
Let's begin with a performance of the entire piece by the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the 100th anniversary celebration of Finland's independence from Russia in 1917.
Let's continue with a number of different renditions of the "Finlandia Hymn", descending gradually from the musical to the farcical.
Here's a performance of the piece by Jason Carter on a harp guitar, a rather strange instrument combining both of its musical "ancestors" into a unique offspring. I must admit, it sounds attractive.
Want something a little more unusual for a classical piece? Here's Finnish goth/heavy metal group Nightwish with Uillean pipes performer Troy Donockley.
I'm not sure what Sibelius would have thought about the long hair and headbanging!
Next up, here's Finnish symphonic metal group Apocalyptica with Lauri Porra.
There's a one-man band in Finland calling himself "Megaraptor", and classifying his music as "Folk metal - Industrial metal - Melodic death metal - Power metal - Symphonic metal - Technical death metal - Metal". Sounds schizophrenic to me, but still . . . He's produced this version of the Finlandia Hymn.
The Red Army Choir and Orchestra produced this version of the Finlandia Hymn in 1994. This recording isn't a full version, unfortunately, but it's the only one I could find.
Another solo Finnish performer is Sam Zimon. He's produced this techno version of the Finlandia Hymn.
And last, and probably least (!), here's the Finlandia Hymn performed on four electric toothbrushes!
There you go. From the sublime to the ridiculous!
Peter
9 comments:
Red Army chorus does Finlandia?
It's a weird world out there, considering the thrashing the 'Red' army took from Finland.
But a good performance.
Great piece of music, even performed on electric toothbrushes.
I did a little internet search and found out that the lyrics of Be Still My Soul predates the composition of Finlandia, which it is a great one.
I also went huh!? on the Reds singing Finlandia.
I guess if the Reds can perform Finlandia, the Brits can perform The Star Spangled Banner.
They did play the SSB during their 9/11 memorial service. As I recall, Queen Elizabeth sang along with it.
I knew nothing about this song as titled, but I'd heard it as performed by Bill and Gloria Gaither titled "I Then Shall Live". They have done different recordings of it as a trio and as a larger band. An example of a latter band is at https://youtu.be/QgeDwo1Chu0
There are quite a few songs/hymns to the tune of Finlandia.
Great music. Not to be too nit picky but describing Nightwish as
Goth/Heavy Metal is way off. They are usually described as symphonic metal but have wide variety of songs especially with some of the songs from the last 6-7 years. Especially after bringing in the new lead singer in 2012. Check them out you will be surprised.
Try listening to
Last of the wild
Everdream
Elan
Apleglow
Last ride of the day
The Islander
Das ist FUNNY! Ya sure, ya betcha!
JS, how could you leave out God Bless the Child, Edema Ruh or the sublime Ghost Love Score? I've had the pleasure of seeing them live and the lead singer, Floor Jansen, apart from being as sexy as hell, can actually hit the final notes of GLS live.
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