Kottarainen

Features:
The Finnish poem Kottarainen (Eng. “Starling”) was written in 1941 by the composer's grandmother Maila Korhonen. Maila was born in Ala-Urpala, Karelia, a portion of south-eastern Finland that is now governed by Russia. In 1939, just three months after the start of World War II, the Winter War broke out between the Soviet Union and Finland. Maila was evacuated from her home, along with most women, children, and elderly, but was able to return to Ala-Urpala briefly after the Winter War ended. Yet when conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland reignited with the Continuation War in 1941, Maila was evacuated again and this time relocated permanently with her family inside the new Finnish border. In Kottarainen she compares herself to a starling, a migrating bird, who is far away from home, longing to see her home one last time. Today the Ala-Urpala village is a military zone, with nothing left except grass-covered ruins. Maila's legacy to her family lives in her poetry.



Table of Contents:

Catalog:	AMP1072
Publisher:	Alliance Music Publications
Composer:	Riikka Pietiläinen-Caffrey
Artist:
Arranger:
Voicing:	SATB
Level:
Pages:	8