Jean Sibelius - Finlandia *REACTION!!*

[@Hatarkian]

It's a David vs Goliath story. The Finns against Russian oppression. So it's a very emotional song.

[@VesaLehtonen-x2b]

Thank You for Your patience of listening. This song means a lot to us. Love from Finland.

[@jm-holm]

Our history with Russia isn't just WW2, the Russians have invaded us over and over again for nearly a thousand years causing untold suffering, at one point wiping out nearly half the population of Finland in a single conflict. While the slavery in the lyrics probably refer to mid to late 1800s when Finland was an autonomous part of Russia while Russia was trying to force through Russification policy destroying Finnish identity and turning the people into "real Russians", there was actual slavery in the history too. A century earlier or so, the Russians would raid the coastlines, burn down the villages, pillage, murder and take people captive. Tens of thousands of Finns were taken to Russia and used as slave labor, most of them were worked to death, for example in the construction of St Petersburg. Almost none ever returned. Finns have fought because there has been no other choice. Fight, or be erased. Our national hero Mannerheim is quoted as saying "a small nation's greatest strength is unity". There may be few of us, but that makes it much easier to focus on a common goal and feel like you're part of a greater community. A people. A nation.

[@Qsen123]

not a very accurate comment. Youre taking much of the oppression done by the swedes and applying it to russia. Lets not forget who the statue at the senate square commemorates, that could never be a swedish king. Russia allowed us to have our own language, our own senate, and let us finally have our own identity. Something sweden spent a millenia or so trying to destroy. It was the ussr, after germans occupied helsinki and installed a german king our country that attacked finland. Even after russian rule when we got full independence, the swedish aristocrats with the help of german army wanted to make us into a puppet state of germany, and they succeeded until the german defeat in ww1. Its funny how you talk about russian raids to finland, whilst obviously ignoring the fact that sweden spent centuries doing the same, and on top of that caused famine, massive loss of life in their own expansionist wars and also instilled swedish people to govern over us that still remain a large bulk of our elite.

[@kingvii7250]

We have had our differences In the past, but we love you! Greatings from Sweden to Finland! Sweden 🇸🇪 ❤ 🇫🇮 Finland

[@paanikki]

You must be referring to the Russian military occupation in 1713 - 1721, during the "Great northern war". Finns call it "isoviha" (Great Wrath). Of course, the Russian cossacks and common soldiers robbed everyone and everything, but in some regions, they also killed the men and brought the women and children to Russia as as slaves. Combined with the local plague epidemic in some southern coastal cities, Finland lost 40 percent of the population.

[@zami8827]

I think the peasants part go far beyond than russian invasion Finland. That goes all the way of Swedish kingdom where Finland was part of like 500 years and Finnish people was seen like minor, peasants and slaves.

[@butterflies655]

​@@zami8827 Finland was directly a part of Sweden for over 600 years.

[@Spugedelia77]

This song should be our national anthem. It just touches my soul every time I hear it

[@butterflies655]

I agree.

[@finnishculturalchannel]

It was actually Biafra's national anthem in 1967-1970 under the title 'Land of the Rising Sun'. And a Finnish film director Renny Harlin had it played during the end credits of Die Hard 2. With different words, it's also sung as various Christian hymns. You might know it as a hymn 'Be Still, My Soul'. For its size, Finland is a a significant player in Classical, Choir and also in A cappella music. E.g. a Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen just won the Polar Music Prize, which is like the "Nobel of Music". The Helsinki Chamber Choir, Uusinta Ensemble and conductor Nils Schweckendiek won the 2024 Grammy award for Best Choral Performance for their album of recently deceased Kaija Saariaho's choral work, 'Reconnaissance'. Kaija Saariaho herself was multi-awarded and won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Performance in 2011. Finland is also known for its Folk music tradition, from which also Sibelius took influence from: "Sibelius's Roots: An Interview with Pekka Kuusisto & Ilona Korhonen (Philharmonia Orchestra)". Folk music has been a source of influence for Finnish Metal bands also. If I recall right, Sori is familiar with Finland's national epic Kalevala. Sibelius composed music also for Kalevala. E.g. 'The Swan of Tuonela'. Also some of his Christmas songs are among the most favorite ones of the Finnish Christmas songs. Thinking of the most notable Finnish composers since Sibelius, there's Einojuhani Rautavaara: "Einojuhani Rautavaara - Piano Concerto No. 1 (1969)". Speaking of Finlandia hymn, and it's significance to Finns: During the Winter War, a genocide of the Finns was feared, so it was proposed by some US officials that America should save the Finns by evacuating them into Alaska (Operation Alaska). The Soviet Gulag system meant actual slavery. The Gulag system was officially abolished in 1960.

[@mikaellilliestrom]

it was Frederick Forsyth the novelist who suggested it to the Biafras leadership to pick the hymn

[@inarisk]

Pesäpallo "Finnish Baseball" is the national game of Finland. It is a combination of traditional ball-batting team games and American baseball. The game was first developed by Lauri ”Tahko” Pihkala in the 1920.

[@sijaltainen]

Nice! Greetings from Finland. I've been watching you guys for years.

[@Rackelhane]

Tears in my eyes every time guys. For us finns this masterpiece is sacred. I remember my father...grandfather and grand mother...Amazing strong people proud to be arond the finnish nations birth.....

[@CheriTheBery]

Same, especially at the hymn part. The lyrics just hit too deep as a Finn.

[@LohiHarHar]

Kylmät väreet joka kerta ja tippa linssissä.

[@caprifolia1]

Yes, as a Finn I have tears in my eyes. My parents experienced WWII and our family home and land were forced to be given to the Soviet Union. 500.000 Finnish people were evacuated from Carelia. We feel our roots and give credit to those who value us. Thank you for this program.

[@Wezqu]

Funny thing that she says it reminds her of music playing in endings of epic movies, because that is just what happens in Die Hard 2 as Finlandia is played when the planes are landing in the end of the movie.

[@leopartanen8752]

A little bit Finnish history: The Great Famine happened in the late 17th century. The population of Finland at that time was about 500,000 people, of which about 140,000 died in the years of loss, i.e. 28 percent of the country's inhabitants. The Great Wrath happened in the early 18th century in Finland. Mothers and fathers were tortured in front of their children and vice versa. They were painfully hanged by the wrists with their hands behind their backs, frozen in the cold snow, burned with fire or baked in an oven. Finns were widely imprisoned for slave labor in Russia; according to newer sources, even more than 20,000 people were taken to the construction work in St. Petersburg in particular. Recent research also estimates the number of enslaved children and women to have been closer to 30,000.

[@Luontohaahuilija]

This gave me as a finn also a well summarized info about some of the hardships we had in the past history because of the surpression of Russia. Never had it easy with your big eastern neighbour, but we finns did and DO SURVIVE! Sadly AGAIN history is repeating itself: Regime and part of the population in Russia AGAIN feel it is their BIRTHRIGHT to surpress other nations next to them. It is something, a reasoning and behaviour from the long past history, that we all in Europe think, that we human beings should have passed decades ago and already remove totally to the pages of history. Russian leaders REALLY DO LIVE IN PAST! No matter the endless human suffering, destroying peoples homes, families and basic right to LEAVE IN PEACE and freedom!! We REALLY DO FEEL ukrainians' suffering and lost years of peace and happiness! And ALL the LOST fathers, brothers, sons, mothers...lost generations! SLAVA UKRAINI! We finnish people TRULY STAND BY YOU! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@likingraccoons]

Anu Kaipaisen kirja "Poimisin heliät hiekat" kertoo aika hyvin viimeisistä ajoista kun suomalaiset olivat Venäjän orjia. Hiukan itketti paikka paikoin.

[@riittakeskikuru8172]

Thanks for your video and comments. Jean Sibelius was a original composer. And about nationalism. We didnt had any willingness to attack and we did not do it, Stalin started. We just wanted to keep our Independence, without the the price would be. And it was very high. But to think if we hadnt done like this what in which kind of country we would be now? And still have 1340 km common border with it? This could call patriotismin, where all the people of nation combined together like joining NATO. Because we know Russia. And never forgot that why have these kind of Defence Forces. And in this Ukraine is living now, just like we did. If Russia wins the fucking helvetti will be open. We Finns know it.

[@ArchieArpeggio]

You can hear this song in Die Hard 2. Renny Harlin directed that movie and he is from Finland. Renny used always something finnish in his movies. In Clifhanger there is parachute that has finnish flag on it.

[@JukkaPanu]

Renny Harlin directed the movie Die hard 2 and as a proud Finn he often uses something Finnish in his films. In the aforementioned film, Finlandia plays when Bruce Willis sets the bad guys' plane on fire at the end... :)

[@moi-ev3pi]

the singing part gives chills

[@tahhah3449]

This is so beautiful song! Greetings from Finland.

[@digitalspecter]

It's okay to be proud of your country, that's patriotism. If you think your country is and should be above others, that's nationalism.

[@TheApilas]

So true

[@henriikkak2091]

Yes, patriotism is not chauvinistic. It's inclusive.

[@henrikstenlund5385]

You became so serious. Well, many grown-up men start crying when they listen to this

[@JussiKemppainen-es4on]

Hello from finland. Ty on your reaction hope you enjoy it 😊 . I go dry my tears because of the song . Going work tomorrow. No other comments. Could go on and on. But i controlled myself. Everyone have good day tomorrow. Peace and love ❤

[@MilaMan]

What a beautiful reaction of my country Finland. I am patriotic but good way. I explain: I love my country and people here and I defend this home of mine. But I love all people no matter what race or color. Then..I know our history and I thank you getting know who we are. I listen to Jean Sibelius often, Finlandia we all Finns know.

[@TheDerperado]

The line about banishing slavery hits especially hard, since Finland has had to fight several wars and skirmishes against Russia. During these wars, Russian soldiers took countless young Finnish men and women as slaves. These men were usually forced to fight as soldiers and the women were often sold to Middle Eastern slave markets as sex slaves. While many European countries benefited greatly from slave trade, Finland has lost significant amount of it's population to slavery.

[@TheDerperado]

It's possible that during Viking Ages, Finnish tribes took some prisoners during their raids and forced them in servitude, but this practice was the norm pretty much everywhere on the planet at that time. But when talking about systematic slave trade, there is no evidence of such practice ever existing in Finland. Finland was simply too poor and remote location to "benefit" from slave trade.

[@TheDerperado]

Finnish population also suffered from serfdom, which is called "land slavery" in Finnish language. While serfs were not slaves in the full sense, as they were not considered property and had some rights, they were not free to leave the land without the lord's permission and were often bound by obligations to provide labor, services, or payments to the landowner. These landowners were often Swedish or of Swedish decent had strong ties to the Swedish nobility. Even at the beginning of 1900's, Swedish still was the language of the rich and educated Finns, while Finnish was the "language of peasants". In Finlandia hymn, "abolishing slavery" could also refer to abolishing the serfdom system, which was a major improvement to the lives of Finnish population.

[@MarkoHalminen]

Nationalism is loving your country and everything it stands for despite of race or nationality, this is what Finland is all about. Finland are a country of peace and love to everybody. Finlands military task are to keep up the balance between the good and the evil in favour for the good.

[@merjakotisaari9046]

During the war we put the children on the train, and sent them to Sweden to safety, and we all fought for freedom, one way or another

[@garycooper9207]

Sweden didn't treat Finns good either. Finland was used for 500 years by them. Sweden didn't care there was famine in Finland.

[@ArchitectB]

Sori were absolutely right about the proud part. We are proud of the love for our country, and it echoes specially in this song part. The actual compose is more like about the power of the nature, like a rising storm by the sea and wind in the forest, although at the same way a raging storm can be a methaphora of the hunger, disease epidemic, or even the war.

[@mercifuln8]

Plaid this song orchestra. Still play cello. I'm fingering along w this one. Love it

[@Morhgoz]

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism is when hate for people other than your own comes first. -Charles de Gaulle

[@SaudadeCB]

That is ridiculous statement from that surrendered person

[@MsElias64]

Kiitos paljon. ❤

[@johankaewberg8162]

Respect for doing Sibelius! x4 !

[@Morhgoz]

Already tearing before it starts, then hearing the first notes....

[@teijaalanko5165]

Wondeful this my Country Hymnin 💓👍💓🎼🎼🌅👋Thank you this.🍮👍👍👍👍💓💓💓💓💓🇫🇮

[@jarikivimaki8686]

Cold shivers rose as a Finn, like every time you hear this. Really, only a strong sense of nationalism, courage and the desire to defend our independence helped that the Soviet Union did not take over our country and went to war in 1939-1944. Before independence, Russia enslaved with a harsh regime, which was apparently referred to in the song.

[@Aquelll]

Mediawise you can hear Sibelius's Finlandia in Die Hard 2 (Finnish director) and in The Walking Dead. In the latter it is played by the loudspeaker on the car Negan uses to lure the zombies to attack the Hilltop.

[@Latexi_LMX]

The original inhabitants of Jamaica were the indigenous Taíno, an Arawak-speaking people who began arriving on Hispaniola by canoe from the Belize and the Yucatan peninsula sometime before 2000 BCE.

[@bigg2988]

Great choice for a detour into Classical music! With pieces like this, what is Classical but a little more developed Metal without electric instruments? :)) As a non-Finnish speaker, I am more used to the fully-instrumental version of this piece, the main vocal melody given over to the strings is glorious! Of course, I can fully see that the Finns would take the one with THOSE words - so much healthy national pride and closeness to the people's roots in them! Btw, the conductor for this rendition, Leif Segerstam, is a force of nature in and of himself! I thought the video was going to show him and the orchestra in action, you would get even more of a kick in seeing the man drive those tunes. \m/ He is like a Metal Santa, almost. ;)

[@lujalainen1]

this song can heard die hard 2 and one walking dead episode and more many movies. thanx to great reaction and have wonderful weekend.

[@oh2mp]

Greetings from Finland! Nice reaction and very good analysis. Anything isn't just black and white but has also also shades of grey, and you understood eg. well that there are different types of nationalism. Finland was about 600 years under the power of Sweden and after that a little over 100 years under the power of Russia, and finally we got the freedom in 1917. One politician and poet said long time ago: "Swedes we are not, Russians we don't want to become, so let's be Finns!" In some phase you talked about the word slavery in the lyrics. In there it really is a metaphora as you thought, because we were oppressed by Russia at the time, but in reality in the 1700s Russians also stole people from Finland to be sold as real slaves. Blonde haired peope with blue eyes (who are common especially in western Finland) were valuable luxury slaves and they were kept in Russia and also sold to the middle Asia.

[@Kai_kmk]

The Russian oppression towards the Finnish people primarily occurred during the period of Finland's incorporation into the Russian Empire, which began in 1809 after the Finnish War. Under Russian rule, Finland experienced cultural suppression, Russification policies, and restrictions on autonomy. For example, Finnish institutions were undermined, and censorship was enforced. However, Finland did maintain some degree of autonomy within the Russian Empire, especially after the introduction of the Diet of Finland in 1869. The oppression intensified during the late 19th and early 20th centuries with attempts to assimilate Finns into Russian culture and limit their political freedoms. This oppression contributed to the growing nationalist movement in Finland, culminating in the declaration of independence in 1917.

[@cinderellaandstepsisters]

Russian was never an official language in Finland. When Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of Russia's Empire of tsar swedish retained as an official language.

[@Kai_kmk]

@diamondsarenotforever8542 okay I stand corrected, but a "kielimanifesti" was made 1900 by Bobrikov, that Russian language would be "official" administrative language over Swedish and Finnish

[@marja-leenalampinen5135]

Me everytime I am listening Finlandia: No, c’mon tears, I said No. ❤️🥹 🇫🇮❤

[@Songfugel]

Sori: "This sounds like the end credits anthem of those epic movies", well, it might be because it this is in fact the end credits song of Die Hard 2 :D

[@VinAndSori]

😂 FR?

[@KA-jm2cz]

Clue is to look its director...

[@cinderellaandstepsisters]

Russian language was not an official language, when Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of Russia's Empire of tsar. It was Swedish.

[@JanneHeinonen-z5x]

😅There is/has been a small baseball league in Finland, whose "sports association" has been connected with the Helsinki team. No wonder they always win

[@khendricksson]

Fun fact: this song was played in the movie Die Hard 2.

[@bushpocket8619]

Jean was a man and the name is pronounced in French.

[@markoruotsalainen1161]

Tnx this,hello fron Finland

[@timoahola]

hi, guys. i´m finish and you are talking about spirit of the people and i really think a right way. We finish are tought away like never loose a fight, and it is stupid talk. Anyway we have inside our mentality, is like love for the country and moms and dads, the whole thing about beeing a Finn is privilege. i don´t really know what it means but i´ll been rised by it. Nevertheless we are together and ready for... can´t say say too much, UGH

[@kaitsu19709]

Let's stay in Finland and you must hear band called Stone and songs could be Above the gray sky or Emotional playground.

[@KA-jm2cz]

Final cuntdown! It is funny to listen Enter Sandman after Stones Get stoned: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHPXd2yKg7Vkr6s

[@ercsey-ravaszferenc6747]

Guys this might sound a bit like nitpicking or playing with words. But really (I'm a European btw.) I always feel a bit uneasy when people speak of national pride. And that is because as I understand it, pride should be reserved for things that one accomplishes, not an accident of birth. Being happy about your heritage, cherishing it, embracing it is one thing but I don't think this can have anything to do with pride.

[@rapatti007]

In Finland is the highest rate when you ask would you defend your country against invader. It is 74%.

[@TheDerperado]

I have understood that while both nationalism and patriotism are a result of loving your country, they are two very different things. While patriotism aims to improve and protect your country, it also allows to critize your country when it's on the wrong path. Nationalism however is more arrogant, and has a sense of "being superior" to others. Nationalists tend to have a black and white view and it often leads to protectionism, aggression and even oppression. Patrionism has saved Finland countless of times, but since our country has now risen from "rags to riches" and gained some power on the world stage, nationalism is also on the rise. I am very patriotic myself, but I feel like nationalism threatens to undermine those very things that made this country so great in the first place. I am sad to see that patriotism is being hijacked by the far-right, and patriotic liberals like me are considired "traitors" in the eyes of nationalists.

[@rustyspace900]

Nationalism is a pretty neutral concept for me, it can lead to exremely good things as well as absolutely horrific things.

[@Mustanaamio7]

It mostly leads to horrific things because there are no nationalist groups that are tolerant and non-bigoted.

[@joniniiranen2741]

We have FINNISH BASEBALL (REACTION CHANCE 😊). And Finlandia IS unofficial anthem ☺️

[@TheJohnBorrows]

When u said that watching an epic end of a film.. Renny Harlin used this in the Die Hard 2 in the end..well cause He liked to add some Finnish stuff in every movie he made :D

[@Gustavo-ew7om]

Since the movie dune is out you should check out to tame a land by iron maiden

[@karinyman3436]

Song to rise a spirit of nation under constant occupation and slavery by Russia, Sweden, Rome(Europe)..... Beauty is that the anthem is still singing untill we the people finally stand up for good.... Sad it is and whyle time goes by, more and more sad it will be. The song rings in your head while digging your own grave and that's the beauty and shame of this song/anthem😢

[@timowallin8020]

Onko noi häilyvät tekstit tästä raiskatusta esityksetä "kuva googlella".. noin haaleat ettei niit näy, vai oliko tekstit heiltä?

[@Leonidae]

To think that Renny Harlin snuck some of this in his Die Hard movie.. 😏

[@zlovemyscxf-_-7680]

DAY OF ASKING: 1 i HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend u guys the album: A Tunnel To Eden by Alustrium Genre: idk exaclty BUT its progressive, technical and very melodic. Topic: its all about who we are, whats the purpose of life and also about religious beliefs and more. because the whole Album is so good and so interesting to read the lyrics, i would recommend going through the whole thing OR the songs: The Illusion of Choice I: Genesis, or A Tunnel To Eden. insane musicianship and songwriting like i said, i hope u guys check them out some time and i wish u a nice day!

[@jukkakukkonen477]

Read lyryriks , be ware.

[@bub7771]

Been watching for awhile, love the channel. I would love to see you guys check out an old school numetal/skater thrash band called "life of agony". Check out the song "through and through". I feel it's right up your alley. Especially when you learn what the lyrics are about for those times and what the lead singer was going through. Their new stuff is still good as well.

[@j3mixa]

About the Olympics comment. Sports are a safer way for people to express nationalism and feel proud of their country/city/school/whatever. It's like an outlet for the tension that is there due to the history, wheter we want it or not. In Europe you can really see it in football (socker). It's like having tribal wars on a football pitch kicking a ball, instead of fighting on the streets with weapons, which can also happen after game but it's still less than a real war. It's still about the we're better than you thing, but in a more civil way. The fan bases, or the ultras as they're called, of Europian football clubs are not playing around. It's a serious thing to be a fan of a certain club, it's like a religion that goes from father to son. Like you said, it can be hard to understand from an American point of view. Europe is not a united country but a mosaic of bigger and smaller nations that each have long history of violence between their neigbourghs, and among themselves. There're still a lot of tensions between some countries and there're still areas that are really not happy about belonging to the country that they belong to. We all are trying to stay in friendly relations and build togetherness within the continent, but it's not easy because of the brutal history and the variety of languages and cultures. Every culture wants to feel proud of their heritage and often feel that their culture is better than the neighbough's, and yet we need to get along. It's a fine line to walk on and sports is one way to fight, and get small wins, without actually fighting.

[@merjas1270]

During Finnish history Russia took many Finns to Russia to be their slaves.

[@jussikemppainen7904]

Whats Finlandia hymni ! For example m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4iznoasYrl1r5I . Many versions out there . But as a finn i think its our national anthem for real ❤😊

[@mikkosak]

💙

[@rami1406]

🇫🇮 And hey man, I like how you think 🙂

[@Kai_kmk]

♥

[@jaanakivalo7247]

Jean is he, not she, so you can't say it ''jiin''.

[@pekka33]

3 x 125$ delivered as a text comment, OK now please review Finnish mashed potatoes!

[@maritaulmanen8793]

❤❤❤❤minun Suomeni

[@pagantroll2678]

love you guys love that a strong black man can listen to metal do me a favor listen to turmion katilot any song there all great appreciate you god bless

[@kingvii7250]

Are you here for the music or the chat?? In the middle of this music you read and laugh. Don't like it a bit. I'm swedish and I take Finland seriously.

[@jussi-villeleinonen8526]

win war, one will never win peace.

[@nyytti7233]

Sori is THE hottest

[@jussikemppainen7904]

Hello from finland. As finn. I tought it should be our national anthem ❤ . Love you know some history of us . ❤. Are you aliens or humans? Thats normal u care or think smart. In the end human race is stupid atm.I am old . I hope before i go. Something good wonderful will happen. But i am pessimistic. Seeing how my neighbour country is going all in whit war. I just dont get it. I love people. What the fuck is going in their heads? Life is short. Why not just get a long. I dont just get it. Anyways. 1st time here. Take care. I go sleep .❤

[@teecee7475]

We don't have baseball in Finland... we have something better, pesäpallo.

[@henkka21]

1st Alexander was good person but Alex the second aint be so good,,, so Finnish ppl started to behave like we need our own country :)

[@henriikkak2091]

Alexander II is the one whose statue is on Senate Square. He liberated Russian serfs and expanded Finnish autonomy. Alexander III was bad, founded e.g. the secret police. And don't get me started about Nicholases (Nikolai).

[@elementsar9668]

There were no slaves, except finnish people.

[@showmannen99]

Hypocrisy slippin away

[@eav70]

so lame....

[@kallekallenen4346]

The most shitty version of finlandia if ever heard it. Too bad.

[@butterflies655]

Wrong. This is a very beautiful version.

[@Roosa612]

❤