Wednesday, June 11, 2014

A Song of Peace

"This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine; this is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine: but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine... May truth and freedom come to every nation; may peace abound where strife has raged so long; that each may seek to love and build together, a world united, righting every wrong; a world united in its love for freedom, proclaiming peace together in one song." -- complete text here

A bit of history...The Finlandia Hymn refers to a serene hymn-like section of the patriotic symphonic poem Finlandia, written in 1899 and 1900 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was later re-worked by the composer into a stand-alone piece. "This Is My Song"is a 1934 hymn written by Lloyd Stone (1912-1993) using the Finlandia Hymn melody composed by Jean Sibelius. It is sometimes called "A Song of Peace" which is taken from the second line of the song.
There are different versions, we like this performance best ("Song of Peace" by Jean Sibelius, arranged by Gary Fry)

This is truly beautiful.

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