In order to avoid Russian censorship, Finlandia had to be performed under alternative names at various musical concerts.

Titles under which the piece masqueraded were numerous and often confusing—famous examples include Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring, and A Scandinavian Choral March.

This hymn, with words written in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, is one of the most important national songs of Finland.

[11] Today, during modern performances of the full-length Finlandia, a choir is sometimes involved, singing the Finnish lyrics with the hymn section.

[12] With different words, it is also sung as a Christian hymn (I Sought The Lord, And Afterward I Knew; Be Still, My Soul,[13] When Memory Fades,[14] I Then Shall Live,[15] Hail, Festal Day, in Italian evangelical churches: Veglia al mattino[16]), and was the national anthem of the short-lived African state of Biafra (Land of the Rising Sun).