The Land of Dreams – Migration and Music from the 19th Century to the Present
A project on migration in South Ostrobothnia, Ostrobothnia and Central Ostrobothnia, combining music and artistic activities.
Introduction
The Land of Dreams – Migration and Music from the 19th Century to the Present is a project combining academic research and music with performing and visual arts to explore the history of migration in South Ostrobothnia, Ostrobothnia, and Central Ostrobothnia. The project focuses on the music of Finnish immigrants to North America and from there to Soviet Karelia, as well as the social meanings and uses of music from the mid-19th century to the end of the 1930s.
The topical project will generate new research material by collecting memory data on migration-related music and engaging the inhabitants of Ostrobothnia whose lives have been, or continue to be, affected by migration. The project will culminate in a dramatic, scripted concert in which the collected stories and the different stages of the migrants’ lives will be combined with historical songs and compositions as well as music composed for the event.
The concert will take place at Seinäjoki City Theatre, featuring performances by Laitakaupungin Orkesteri and guest soloists. Although the project is set in the past, the concert will also explore the manner in which the stories of today’s migrants or war refugees are conveyed in music and the role of music in dealing with grief and trauma. What are the similarities between the old and the new songs? How have the reasons for leaving changed, what has remained the same? What do the songs tell us about migration, and how can they be used to deal with the experience of migration?
Project background
The great wave of immigration from Finland to the United States and Canada created a wonderful musical legacy. The Finnish immigrants sang gruesome songs reflecting the toil and hardship of their labour and expressed their homesickness through melancholy tunes, but they also broke into defiant battle songs brimming with rebellious spirit. The songs were recorded in both handwritten and numerous published songbooks. Finnish-language newspapers in North America were active in publishing song lyrics as well. During this time, the so-called “Ameriikan laulut” (American songs) became more common in Finnish folk song culture. They saw North America as a wonderland where everything was possible, although the contradiction between dream and reality was often palpable. Many such songs have been found in southern Ostrobothnia, a region particularly affected by the migration.
Although there has been a lot of research on North American migration in Finland, research on migrant music is only starting. This is particularly true for immigrants of Finnish origin from Soviet Karelia. According to current estimates, about 6,500 of the Finnish immigrants who emigrated to the United States or Canada traveled on to Soviet Karelia in search of work and to build the ideal communist society. The Finns who came from North America played a key role in sustaining the musical life of Petrozavodsk, the capital of Soviet Karelia, before Stalin’s persecution began. As part of the project’s memory data collection, we are also promoting the opening and presentation of these immigrant memories.
The multidisciplinary project, which combines research and artistic activities, explores the image of migration through music and its related stories. The diversity of musical activities and the material left behind allows for a grass-roots examination of the lives of those who left. As well as looking in detail at songs and other music, the research project will also explore the meaning of music more broadly. How was music involved in the daily lives of migrants? How was musical life shaped in the new environment? What did music mean for the identity of immigrants with a Finnish background?In addition to cultural and social history, the project will highlight music made and used by migrants never before heard in Finland.
In addition to research publications, the most important result and output of the project is a research-based concert that presents the migrants’ lives and reasons for leaving to a wider audience and contributes to the understanding of contemporary migration.
Implementation
The project’s home, the Seinäjoki Unit of Uniarts Helsinki, acts as a platform and developer of the University of the Arts Helsinki’s social interaction in the region. In line with the strategic goals of the University of the Arts Helsinki, our project will initiate and strengthen the interaction of research activities with the field of art and reinforce the role of art and artistic thinking not only in society at large but also in understanding the changes taking place around us.
Partners and funding
The project is carried out in cooperation with Seinäjoki City Theatre, the Migration Institute of Finland, the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute and the Central Ostrobothnia Migration Project. The project is funded by the South Ostrobothnia Cultural Fund.
Further information
Saijaleena Rantanen
Professor of Cultural Study of Music
Seinäjoki Unit of the Uniarts Helsinki
saijaleena.rantanen@uniarts.fi
+358 40 710 4200
Project name
The Land of Dreams – Migration and Music from the 19th Century to the Present
Time
01/2024-12/2026
Funder
The South Ostrobothnia Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation
Team
DMus, Professor Saijaleena Rantanen, DMus Samuli Korkalainen, Dmus Piia Kleemola-Välimäki, and MMus Charlotta Hagfors (research assistant). In addition to the researchers, musicians from the ensemble Laitakaupungin Orkesteri are also working on the project.
Collaborators
Lead organisation
Seinäjoki unit
Introduction
The Land of Dreams – Migration and Music from the 19th Century to the Present is a project combining academic research and music with performing and visual arts to explore the history of migration in South Ostrobothnia, Ostrobothnia, and Central Ostrobothnia. The project focuses on the music of Finnish immigrants to North America and from there to Soviet Karelia, as well as the social meanings and uses of music from the mid-19th century to the end of the 1930s.
The topical project will generate new research material by collecting memory data on migration-related music and engaging the inhabitants of Ostrobothnia whose lives have been, or continue to be, affected by migration. The project will culminate in a dramatic, scripted concert in which the collected stories and the different stages of the migrants’ lives will be combined with historical songs and compositions as well as music composed for the event.
The concert will take place at Seinäjoki City Theatre, featuring performances by Laitakaupungin Orkesteri and guest soloists. Although the project is set in the past, the concert will also explore the manner in which the stories of today’s migrants or war refugees are conveyed in music and the role of music in dealing with grief and trauma. What are the similarities between the old and the new songs? How have the reasons for leaving changed, what has remained the same? What do the songs tell us about migration, and how can they be used to deal with the experience of migration?
Project background
The great wave of immigration from Finland to the United States and Canada created a wonderful musical legacy. The Finnish immigrants sang gruesome songs reflecting the toil and hardship of their labour and expressed their homesickness through melancholy tunes, but they also broke into defiant battle songs brimming with rebellious spirit. The songs were recorded in both handwritten and numerous published songbooks. Finnish-language newspapers in North America were active in publishing song lyrics as well. During this time, the so-called “Ameriikan laulut” (American songs) became more common in Finnish folk song culture. They saw North America as a wonderland where everything was possible, although the contradiction between dream and reality was often palpable. Many such songs have been found in southern Ostrobothnia, a region particularly affected by the migration.
Although there has been a lot of research on North American migration in Finland, research on migrant music is only starting. This is particularly true for immigrants of Finnish origin from Soviet Karelia. According to current estimates, about 6,500 of the Finnish immigrants who emigrated to the United States or Canada traveled on to Soviet Karelia in search of work and to build the ideal communist society. The Finns who came from North America played a key role in sustaining the musical life of Petrozavodsk, the capital of Soviet Karelia, before Stalin’s persecution began. As part of the project’s memory data collection, we are also promoting the opening and presentation of these immigrant memories.
The multidisciplinary project, which combines research and artistic activities, explores the image of migration through music and its related stories. The diversity of musical activities and the material left behind allows for a grass-roots examination of the lives of those who left. As well as looking in detail at songs and other music, the research project will also explore the meaning of music more broadly. How was music involved in the daily lives of migrants? How was musical life shaped in the new environment? What did music mean for the identity of immigrants with a Finnish background?In addition to cultural and social history, the project will highlight music made and used by migrants never before heard in Finland.
In addition to research publications, the most important result and output of the project is a research-based concert that presents the migrants’ lives and reasons for leaving to a wider audience and contributes to the understanding of contemporary migration.
Implementation
The project’s home, the Seinäjoki Unit of Uniarts Helsinki, acts as a platform and developer of the University of the Arts Helsinki’s social interaction in the region. In line with the strategic goals of the University of the Arts Helsinki, our project will initiate and strengthen the interaction of research activities with the field of art and reinforce the role of art and artistic thinking not only in society at large but also in understanding the changes taking place around us.
Partners and funding
The project is carried out in cooperation with Seinäjoki City Theatre, the Migration Institute of Finland, the Kaustinen Folk Music Institute and the Central Ostrobothnia Migration Project. The project is funded by the South Ostrobothnia Cultural Fund.
Further information
Saijaleena Rantanen
Professor of Cultural Study of Music
Seinäjoki Unit of the Uniarts Helsinki
saijaleena.rantanen@uniarts.fi
+358 40 710 4200