WHERE SINGING SEEMS BETTER THAN SCRUBBING

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 18, 27 October 1939, Page 19

WHERE SINGING SEEMS BETTER THAN SCRUBBING

A Note On Modern Karelia

"The Rome radio reports that Finland is ready to make concessions provided she is given equal concessions in the Karelian republic." HIS cable news, which appeared a few days ago, was probably the first indication for many people that such a place as Karelia existed. But by a coincidence it was noticed that the radio progranimes for this coming week included a "Karelia" Suite by Sibelius, Finland’s great composer, and subsequent inquiries showed that Karelia is a place of unusual interest. If you look at a map you will see that it is an eastern province of Finland, and you will not be surprised to learn that it was the scene of some fighting against the Bolsheviks by the Finns. After the peace treaty of 1920, East Karelia became a Russian republic, but the western part remained in Finland. The language spoken is Karelian, closely related to Finnish. Bone of Contention | The following extract from a book on Finland published two or ‘three years ago, throws a little more light on this far northern place: "During all the period when Finland was a grand duchy of Sweden, she was buffer and bone of contention between Sweden and the Tsars. The Swedish crusaders, not content with Christianising Finland, tried to force their expeditions still farther east. And these expeditions be-coming-according to the habit of crusades-campaigns of conquest rather than missions of religious enlightenment, were the beginning of six centuries of skirmishing. The ebb and flow of the tides of battle are marked upon the shores of Finnish history and territory, particularly in the province of Karelia on the eastern border, which has been diligently sown with the seeds of conflicting national allegiances bearing a perennially vigorous crop of dissension called the Karelian Question." Whatever their allegiances may be, the people of Karelia seem to

be a happy lot; their country has been described as "that light hearted region which, unlike the rest of Finland, cares more for singing than for scrubbing." From Fort to City The eastern side of Finland has always been most aware of the might of Russia. Lying between the two countries, Karelia has been involved in conflict since early Swedish times. It was in Karelia that the site of a certain strategic fort developed into the present city of Viipuri, or Viborg. Settled a thousand years ago, this fine city grew, with castles and ramparts and surrounding wall, through the Middle Ages, and through the flourishing days of commerce with the Hanseatic League. It received the artistic and religious enlightenment of the Roman Catholic Church; saw the days of Russian occupation, and the fighting of the Liberty War. Now it has a prosperous modernity, and possesses docks and harbours and warehouses, with hospitals, offices, schools, suburbs, and that special characteristic of presentday Finland — well-run municipal institutions. Viborg is the largest timber-exporting centre of all the northern countries. From all over the country the great logs come rolling in, and from all over the world, ships come to the busy waterfront to load their cargoes. The waterfront is always a scene of bustle and movement, as is the town itself, where is found the cheerfulness and vivacity which characterises the entire province of Karelia. A Melting Pot Karelia is, in truth, the northern melting pot. The Finns have thrown off, to a great extent, the influence of Russia; but, in this province, the onion-shaped domes of the Churches of Old Russia rear into the blue Northern sky, and in busy Viborg Russian refugees sell copper samovars, brass kettles, silver spoons, and royal heirlooms. The people of the province are natural lovers of beguty, and although many of the farms are still primitive, the peasants’ existence is made colourful by their own arts of embroidery and the weaving of rugs. Sibelius succeeded in catching the spirit of this countryside in his "Karelia" Suite, which will be heard from 4YA, Dunedin, on Sunday, October 29.