My Own Land is scored for the following instruments and voices,[1] organized by family (vocalists, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings): The cantata resulted from a commission by the "Helsinki Youth League",[3][a] a youth choir that eventually became the Finnish National Chorus (Kansallis-Kuoro); the ensemble desired from Sibelius a new work that it could perform in 1918 to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

[5] Sibelius at the time was staying in Helsinki at Lapinlahti (the hospital at which his brother, Christian, was the medical superintendent),[6][7] having abandoned Ainola as a precaution in mid-February due to risks associated with the Finnish Civil War.

(On 28 January, the Soviet-aided Reds had taken the capital and established a socialist state; on 12–13 February, they had searched the home of Sibelius, who was a known White sympathizer.

)[7] Sibelius chose to set the poem Oma maa (1832) by the Finnish poet Kallio (a pseudonym for Samuli Kustaa Bergh), which had become dear to him during the war.

For example, in the first stanza, Kallio writes: Vallan autuas se, jok' ei nuorena sortunu maaltaan, hyljetty onnensa kans' urhoin haudoilta pois!

Kun minä muistan sen yön, jona rakkailta rannoilta luovuin, nousevat silmiini nyt vieläkin viljavat veet.

)[10] The critics gave the cantata mixed reviews: Evert Katila [fi] praised the piece as a "convincing expression for the beauty of Finland", while Leevi Madetoja (Sibelius's former pupil) thought that "the many-faceted orchestral texture could... have been given with greater clarity".

[6] Finally, describing the late cantatas as a whole, Pierre-Yves Lascar argues that they "demonstrate more talent than genuine inspiration... rarely if ever [do they] equal the genius of the symphonies or the symphonic poems"; nevertheless, they "charm the listener" and are "beautiful works".