Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1905-01-05
SING ALL THE WHILE
the Firms INDULGE IN SONG IN ANo
OUT or SeA6oN.


OUT or SeA6ON.
Kron Noble 10 Peasant and F~on the
Cfty Lady 10 the Woman who Works
In the FtelA tAe People May Ne safe
% Fer. one Vast Choral society.
In the palatial supper room OF the
great hotel In Helsingfors, the capital
Of Fnland-the best hotel in Russia,
for the Films represent all that is most
progressive In the cxar's empire n com.
pany Of ladies and gentlemen seated
ut one Of the tables suddenly began
singing. With trained voices they sang
q four part folk lore song of The north
land. Never heard ] a song 80 deeply
melancholy. 1t was the music OF the
unhappiest Of the enlightened peoples
II the ear.h.
That was ON my first evening la Fin
land. From that time forth through
cut Q stay Of four weeks anon those
sad hearted people l Listened to their
singing morning, non and night al
most continuously. The Germans sing
. great deal. the bwedes sing part Of
the time, the Russians sling most Of the
time. but the Firms ~ a nation actu-
ally sing all the time.
From noble to peasant. the men of
Finland may be said to form IA
mighty male chorus. From the great
lady Of the capital city to the lowry
woman who builds houses with her
own hands on the borders OF I.aplsnd,
the women OF Finland may DO said to
comprise one asst choral society. The
acknowledged finest singing society Ia
Europe 10 indeed the Heisingfors male
chorus. 1t N composed OF 100 mem
bsrs, and from their ranks are recruit
Cd the singing teachers OF the country.
Singing festivals ~ held by the
Firms are ON q scale unequalsd In any
other country. Five thousand singers
gathered one night In the public square
In Helsingfors to serenade a Finnish
artist named Resented. whose picture
had been awarded nrst prize at the 10.
cAl salon. In . city that Ii a surprise
TO all travellers, nea the arctic circle.
many miles from a railroad, the city
u UleaborG, 2,O00 school children gath
sred In the park in front Of tho hotel
and for half nm hour. for the traveller
benefit, nlled the sir with the music
Of the snow wilderness, with songs
that told Of the vast loneliness of the
country beyond the city.
Once In Helsingfors 10000 voices
Joined In chorus to sing the national
anthem. 1t was an improvised chorus,
but the singing was by no means the
harum scarum, go-as-you-please sort.
but thoroughly organized into four
parts and executed with precision.
This incident was described TO me by
the man In whose honor the great Choir
M gathered. Said he:
81 was u Of the first persons ever
exiled from that part Of the czars
domain. My departure from Helsing-
fors war the occasion OF a public dem
onstration of sutpassing solemnity.
Ten Thousand persons gathered at the
railway station TO say go0dby. The
crowd watched the cave taking In alb
solute silence. bnt as the train began
to 10000 heads were uncovered,
and 10000 voices began singing the ns-
tional anthem And this scene was re
peated-with fewer singers. OF courss-
at every railroad station all the way
to the port where I took q stsamer for
America
These singing Firms do not always
sing their folk lore songs or their pa
tSiotic anthems. They are a deeply re-
ligious people. mostly Lutherans, and
zach town has its special choir for
singing nothing but hymns. went to
the largest church in the country tn
hear the singing Of q choir Of nearly a
hundred male voices. The grandest
cathedral organ never produced music
Of such majesty and power as did that
choir. which included the most won
derful bass voices In Russia.
Even the companies OF Finnish
guards. though Differed by Russians.
sang the Finnish anthem as they
marched past the hotel every morning
on the way to relieve the old guard.
The Russian officers once tried to put
q stop to the singing OF the Finnish
national song by the soldiers, but the
discomfort among the men became 50
apparent that singing was again per-
mitted.
Thus wherever the Firms get togeth-
or they burst into song. When they
cannot get together they sing individu-
ally. The housewife preparing the
cabbage soup sings. The farmer plow-
ing his field In summer or ~journeying
long distances on s~nowshoes In the
winter sings at the top of his voice.
Whenever I passed one OF the men I'm
the lonely districts in charge OF a herd
Of reindeer be was singing. In the
posthouses. where the traveller is shell
tered overnight. the servants gather
when their days work is done and join
their voices In the chorus.
This constant singing is regarded by
all students OF Finnish life az an i'm
portant national influence. The effect
of 90 much music In the nations soul
r. seen In the emotional side OF the
peoples nature and has Its concrete