March from Karelia Suite, Op.11, No.3

The Karelia March is one of the two most popular pieces Sibelius ever wrote. The other, Finlandia, dates from a point in Finland’s history when the country needed just such an expression of national sentiment to sustain it in its struggle against Russian domination. Although the Karelia music was composed six years earlier, in 1893, when the political situation was not quite so critical, it is scarcely less stirring. Having spent his honeymoon in the province of Karelia only the previous year and having already started on a series of tone poems inspired by the Kalevala - the great collection of folk legends collected in Karelia by Elias Lönnrot - Sibelius could not have failed to provide music of suitable fervour when asked to contribute to an event organised to raise money for education in Karelia. The best of it (apart from the Overture, which was published separately) he compiled into a suite in three movements - Intermezzo, Ballade and Alla marcia. The last of them alternates a cheerful march tune with a bright fanfare theme and, while avoiding even a hint of pompousness or militaristic aggression, brilliantly conveys an impression of a fresh and growing source of national energy.