Kalevala Society operated informally from 1911 to 1919 and was officially established in 1919. It was clear that Jean Sibelius, the national composer who became famous for his Kalevala-themed compositions, would be invited to participate in the society’s activities. At the founding celebration of the society in December 1919, the composer also met his old Symposion brothers, Robert Kajanus and Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The trio was reunited, a quarter of a century after the dissolution of the Symposion circle.
One of the first projects that the Kalevala Society wanted to undertake was a film project about the Kalevala. On New Year’s Eve in 1920, a preliminary planning meeting was held, attended by Sibelius along with professors Axel Haartman and Carolus Lindberg, as well as the artist Wettenhovi-Aspa. Enthusiasm was high, and at the height of it, Wettenhovi-Aspa turned to Sibelius and said: “And you, Sibba, will compose the brilliant music as only you can, starting gently with pim, pim, pim and then building to a great crescendo with pom, pom, pom.”
In June 1920, an ethnographic expedition indeed set out for Suojärvi to film a documentary about the Kalevala under the leadership of ethnologist U. T. Sirelius. The film was released in 1921. The music for the silent film premiere, however, was commissioned from Armas Launis. It seems that Sibelius did not agree to participate in the project.
Sibelius actively participated in the sessions of the Kalevala Society at the turn of 1919-1920. The most famous of these sessions was the meeting on February 16, 1920, at the home of wholesale merchant Otto Lumme on Pohjois-Esplanadi. In addition to Kajanus, Eero Järnefelt, and Pekka Halonen, others present included sculptor Emil Wikström, Aleksis Kivi scholar Viljo Tarkiainen, and sculptor Alpo Sailo. What followed was the most comical and saddest evening.
The celebration began at 6:30 PM, and the dinner table was occupied until midnight. The gentlemen dealt with “current matters” despite the prohibition law. These matters included liquor shots, Bordeaux, champagne, and beer. The poet Eino Leino arrived early, having taken substantial drinks at Restaurant Royal. He read a celebratory poem he had composed for the Kalevala festivities and began to behave loudly, though initially also profoundly. “When drunk, Leino always behaved profoundly. Sibelius, by his side, was coarse, ineffective, though such a genius. They had some old underlying tension,” Tarkiainen recalled in 1946 to Sailo and Aarre M. Peltonen, who had begun his studies on Leino.
“Sibelius always boasted everywhere, and it seems that this remained a sore spot for Leino as it did for many others,” Alpo Sailo said. “Sibelius even put his feet on the table and bragged that no one in his family had done physical labor for so many generations (…) He then displayed his fine toes—took off his shoes and socks and boasted. A strange trait!”
By midnight, official matters were dealt with in quite a drunken state. It was decided to organize a Kalevala celebration on February 28, where Leino’s celebratory poem would be presented. It was also decided to invite Otto Manninen, Uno Holmberg, Sakari Pälsi, and A. Lähteenkorva as new members. Meanwhile, Leino had arranged his own session and passed out on the toilet seat. The members of the Kalevala Society took turns giggling at the sight.
“Finally, the hero was awakened and brought back to the gathering,” Tarkiainen recalled. “After getting some coffee and downing a few cognacs and Bols shots, he was back in full swing and recited his recently composed ‘March of the Finnish Heavy Artillery.’ — Sibelius promised to compose it and said: — Poor poems are always easier to compose music for than good ones; you can get something out of them. Leino thanked him for the compliment!”
The verbal sparring continued. Leino warned, shaking his finger: “Remember, it is the march of the heavy artillery, and when such a shell comes towards your head, you won’t have a head or teeth left. You are so stupid (dum) and ugly, you look like a death’s head [you are like a skull of death].”
Sibelius had moved to the other side of the table and grabbed Leino by the collar. Leino shouted: “Take your hands off, or I’ll hit you so hard that your head will roll into the corner.” Sibelius withdrew to another room, stared at himself in the mirror, and thoughtfully stroked his bald head. Tarkiainen recounts the continuation of the evening:
“A lively discussion arose about whether to invite foreign diplomatic representatives to the Kalevala celebration or not. The decision: to invite them. But an even more heated debate ensued about whether the celebration should conclude with the song ‘Maamme.’ — Sibelius opposed this because it would musically disrupt the impact of his composition ‘The Origin of Fire’ if the ‘Maamme’ song, composed in a completely different key, were sung and played immediately afterward; it would create one of the worst musical dissonances imaginable. — Pekka Halonen, however, supported the ‘Maamme’ song for the sake of tradition, speaking with real enthusiasm, with a tear in the corner of his eye. Sibelius relented and shook hands with Halonen in reconciliation.”
“At 2 AM, we went for a night snack, toasting and teasing each other. At this point, an argument broke out between Leino and Sibelius about nobility and Swedishness. Sibelius seemed to be a staunch aristocrat: he also admitted that his heart was divided in two, with one part Finnish and the other Swedish. He proposed a toast to Finland’s former nobility. Pekka Halonen intended to respond and began a speech about families and their nobility, but he was so tired that he completely lost his train of thought and fell silent. — Leino tried to speak. But Rob. Kajanus took the floor and said: — The Finnish language has no equivalent for the English word ‘gentleman.’ We have few gentlemen as well. But I would like to propose a toast to one Finnish man, a man whom we all recognize as a Finnish gentleman: Elias Lönnrot! The toast was drunk. Leino began his speech like this: — I have recently become international. But all these disputes about nobility and Swedishness seem so painful to me that — — — And in this country, there is so much to criticize that if I were a dog, I could do nothing but sit with my snout between my paws at the foot of Runeberg’s statue and bark at everyone passing by: bark, bark, bark — –! But my jaws wouldn’t take it, nor would my backside bear it. And I am a well-mannered person and let Sibba talk nonsense about families, the superiority of Swedishness and nobility — — Sibelius said: — We are both noblemen, you and I, Leino. When you sat on the toilet earlier in such a monumental pose, I saw your Finnish nobility clearly. Leino: — I am a Renaissance figure, and I am the son of a drummer, Mustonen. — But you, Sibelius, are also the descendant of a Finnish drummer five or six generations back. And if you are now beating the drum that the whole world listens to, I am no worse a drummer than you, even though my drum’s soundbox is just the language of a small nation spoken by only 3 million people. — And you, Sibelius, are a Rococo figure with peasant roots from Häme. Ask [Eeli] Granit-Ilmoniemi, who has studied the Sibelius family. Thus continued the skirmish between these two greats (…) revealing the fragmentation and emptiness of Finnish culture when viewed from the inside.”
Alpo Sailo recounted that Leino and Sibelius reconciled in the early morning hours after the event ended. “Why do you always insult me at every opportunity, can’t you stop?” the now-sobered composer asked.
Sibelius was so ashamed of his behavior that he did not go to conduct ‘The Origin of Fire’ at the Kalevala Day celebrations on February 28. It would not have been easy to appear as a respectable conductor before an audience that had just seen him displaying his toes on the table and bragging while drunk. In his diary, Sibelius cited “rheumatism” as the reason for his absence.
In 1921, the first yearbook of the Kalevala Society was published, including an interview with Sibelius by A. O. Väisänen. In it, the composer spoke to the interviewer about the significance of the Kalevala and the Kalevala Society.
“The Kalevala House, as a sanctuary of our art and a place for the study of our heritage, is a magnificent idea. When I heard about this, I realized that many of my drafts should not have been sacrificed to the fire. – I believe in Finland’s great unity and I see it. I am glad that I have been able to live through it. By the way, here is something from my part to begin the collections of the future Kalevala House,” Sibelius said to the interviewer.
He handed over the original manuscripts of the ‘Lemminkäinen Suite,’ ‘Historical Scenes,’ and ‘The Daughter of Nature’ to the Kalevala Society.
Sibelius’s enthusiasm for the Kalevala was evident in the 1920s, for example, in his compositions ‘Hymn of Väinö’ and ‘Tapiola.’ However, his active involvement in the Kalevala Society gradually waned as the 1920s progressed.