The hymn from the tone poem Finlandia op. 26 for orchestra, one of the best-known works of Jean Sibelius, became the unofficial national anthem of Finland with the text of Veikko Antero Koskenniemi (1906–1962). In a time of great insecurity after the attack of the Soviet Union in 1939, Koskenniemi managed to capture the rising national consciousness and the hope of the Finns for an imminent solution of the conflict.

Sibelius had already written an arrangement of the hymn for male choir on ...