Several composers had already attempted to set Runeberg’s lofty poem to music before Fredrik Pacius, a German-born composer and music lecturer at the University of Helsinki, but his was the first version to gain widespread popularity. The composer himself conducted the university choir in a slow, majestic first performance, andante maestoso, which moved the crowd to tears. Pacius’s tune was later also adopted for “Mu isamaa” (My Country), the Estonian national anthem from 1918 to 1940 and again since 1990....
Vårt land
Our Land
Vårt land, vårt land, vårt fosterland,
Our land, our land, our fatherland,
ljud högt, o dyra ord!
Sound loud, O name of worth!
Ej lyfts en höjd mot himlens rand,
No mount that meets the heaven’s band.
ej sänks en dal, ej sköljs en strand,
No hidden vale, no wavewashed strand.
mer älskad än vår bygd i nord,
Is loved, as is our native North.
än våra fäders jord!
Our own forefathers’ earth.
Din blomning , sluten än i knopp,
Thy blossom, in the bud laid low,
Skall mogna ur sitt tvång;
Yet ripened shall upspring.
Se, ur vår kärlek skall gå opp
See! From our love once more shall grow
Ditt ljus, din glans, din fröjd, ditt hopp.
Thy light, thy joy, thy hope, thy glow!
Och högre klinga skall en gång
And clearer yet one day shall ring
Vår fosterländska sång.
The song our land shall sing.
Maamme
Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa!
Soi, sana kultainen!
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä rantaa rakkaampaa
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen.
Maa kallis isien.
Soi, sana kultainen!
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä rantaa rakkaampaa
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen.
Maa kallis isien.
Sun kukoistukses kuorestaan
kerrankin puhkeaa;
viel’ lempemme saa nousemaan
sun toivos, riemus loistossaan,
ja kerran laulus, synnyinmaa
korkeemman kaiun saa.
kerrankin puhkeaa;
viel’ lempemme saa nousemaan
sun toivos, riemus loistossaan,
ja kerran laulus, synnyinmaa
korkeemman kaiun saa.
