Be Still My Soul

Anthem for Sunday, 09/23/2012

Text: Katharina Von Schlegel

Music: Jean Sibelius

Arranged by Benjamin Harland

MSCL#206

History of Theme

The melody of the anthem, Be Still My Soul is from the symphonic poem, Finlandia, Opus 26 by  Jean Sibelius.  The piece which premiered on July 2, 1900 in Helsinki was written as a protest against censorship in Finland from the Russian Empire.  Reportedly, a recurrent joke within Finland at the time dealt with renaming the piece so it could be inserted covertly in various concerts in an attempt to avoid the Russian censorship.  The structure of the symphony is intended in the opening to depict the struggles of the Finish people against the oppressive empire.  The Finlandia Hymn theme breaks through during a period of calm near the end of the orchestral work.  The theme is often described as a national folk tune of the Finish people, but was actually an original melody created by Sibelius.  Later, Sibleius arranged the melody into the Finlandia Hymn, a stand alone piece with words written in 1941 by Veikko Antgero Koskenniemi.  The hymn has often been suggested for the national anthem of Finland, but has never been officially acknowledged as such. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandia)

History of Text

An English translation from German of the hymn, Be Still My Soul appearing in 1752 is attributed to author, Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (1697-1768) and translated later by Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813-1897).(http://www.hymnary.org/text/be_still_my_soul_the_lord_is_on_thy_side)  The arrangement of this particular anthem was written by Benjamin Harlan the dean of the School of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary since 1995.

Scriptural Basis of the Text

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God.    I will be exalted among the nations,    I will be exalted in the earth!”

1 Cor. 10:13

 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1 Peter 5:7

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

James 5:7

Be patient, therefore, brothers,[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.