Christmas Songs from Finland

Christmas is here again, and given I haven’t posted anything for most of 2015 (alas….), it seems like a good time to put up a few Christmas Songs from Finland. Most traditional Christmas Songs from Finland are quite melancholy – upbeat Christmas Songs seem to be rare in Finland. But do enjoy….the singers are ALWAYS good. There’s just something about Finnish singers….

Maa on niin kaunis – virsi 30 (The country is so beautiful – Hymn 30)

Ave Maria, sung by Finland’s one and only Tarja Turunen

And another version of Maa on niin kaunis – virsi 30, this one sung by Lumen Valo

Pyhä Lucia – sung by Kari Tapio

Rajaton – Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä

Jouluyö, Juhlayö – Silent Night, holy Night, sung by Tarja Turunen – One of the best versions of Silent Night that you’ll ever hear sung in any language. Tarja’s voice is just beautiful

Kodin kynttilät (Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley) – sung by Kari Tapio

Konsta Jylhän joululaulu (Konsta Jylhä’s Christmas carol) – A song about a young boy who walks alone in the cemetary to lay a candle to his mother’s grave. The boy wonders if he’ll be ever able to celebrate Christmas with laughter like others do as his home feels like it’s not blessed at all. He hears a voice of the child of the Christmas who takes him back in time to witness the first Christmas ever.

En etsi valtaa, loistoa (“Give Me No Splendour, Gold, or Pomp”) sung by Jorma Hynninen, lyrics by Zachrias Topelius (1887; Finnish translation by Martti Korpilahti, 1909); music by Jean Sibelius (1895)