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Maamme (Finnish: , "our land”) or Vårt land (Swedish: ) is the title of Finland's de facto national anthem. There is no law regarding an official national anthem in Finland, but Maamme is firmly established by convention as it is played at sporting events, such as the Olympics, and played at political functions across Finland.
The music was composed by the German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with (original Swedish) words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, and was performed for the first time on 13 May 1848. The original poem, written in 1846 but not printed until 1848, had 11 stanzas and formed the prologue to the great verse cycle The Tales of Ensign Stål ("Fänrik Ståhls Sägner"), a masterpiece of Romantic nationalism. The current Finnish text is usually attributed to the 1889 translation of Ensign Stål by Paavo Cajander, but in fact originates from the 1867 translation by Julius Krohn.[1][2]
The Tales of Ensign Stål were much appreciated throughout all of Scandinavia. Up until the time of Finland's independence in 1917–18, when the song began to be recognized as specifically applying to Finland, Pacius's tune and Runeberg's text were often also sung in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Note that in the original Swedish text there is no reference to Finland (except for in verses 4 and 10, which are rarely sung), only to a country in the north, but the Finnish text explicitly refers to Finland. The poem's theme is, furthermore, remarkably similar to that of the national anthems of Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria) and Norway (Ja, vi elsker dette landet).
Some Finns have proposed that the Finnish national anthem be changed to Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, with lyrics by V.A. Koskenniemi (Finnish) and Joel Rundt (Swedish). There are also those who simply prefer Finlandia as a musical piece, although critics claim that it is difficult to sing.
It is said that Pacius composed the tune in a mere fifteen minutes, with no idea that it would become so important to the people of Finland that they would eventually make it their national anthem.
The tune of Maamme has similarities with the German drinking song Papst und Sultan. Many believe that Fredrik Pacius intentionally or unintentionally copied parts of the tune. Another Finnish patriotic song, Sotilaspoika, composed by Pacius, also includes similarities with Papst und Sultan.
The melody of Maamme is also used for the national anthem of Estonia with a similarly themed text, Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm, My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy (1869). It is also considered to be the national anthem for Livonians with text Min izāmō, min sindimō, My Fatherland, my native land.
(Finnish version)
(the original, by Johan Ludvig Runeberg)
(translation from the Finnish version)
(translation from the Swedish version)
The original lyrics consisted of eleven verses but for the national anthem, the poem was shortened to the first verse and the last verse. Unless the people gathered are supposed to be either Finnish or Swedish speaking three verses are sung: the first in Finnish, the first in Swedish and the last in Finnish.
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