Pohjola's Daughter, Op. 49 "Pohjolan tytär"

The tone poem Pohjola's Daughter (Pohjolan tytär), Op. 49, was composed by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius in 1906. Originally, Sibelius intended to title the work Väinämöinen, after the character in the Kalevala (the Finnish national epic). The publisher Robert Lienau insisted on the German title Tochter des Nordens ("Daughter of the North"), which means the same as the work's Finnish title, Pohjolan tytär, but is traditionally translated as Pohjola's Daughter in English, which Sibelius then countered with the new title L'aventure d'un héros. He also considered the title Luonnotar. However, Lienau's suggestion eventually became the work's published title. (The title Luonnotar was given to a later work.) This was Sibelius' first work that he wrote directly for a German music publisher. The first performance was in Saint Petersburg, Russia in December 1906, with the composer himself conducting the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre.