Katharina von Schlegel

The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote the symphonic poem Finlandia for a pageant in his homeland in 1899. It served as a patriotic song in Finland’s struggle to maintain its independence from neighboring Russia. Much of the symphony conveys the strain of the Finnish people to preserve their freedom, as expressed in the energetic, turbulent music played by brass and drum. In the middle of the piece, there is a decided shift in mood, a halt to the discordance as the strings play a serene hymnlike melody. This portion of the symphony was later removed as a stand-alone tune to accompany the lyrics of the hymn, “Be still my soul: the Lord is on thy side.” It was a fitting match, given the serenity of the tune and the calming influence of the lyrics. Both are set against a wider expanse of chaos and struggle. Not much is known about the hymn’s originator, Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (1697-1768). She published the hymn in a 1752 hymnbook with twenty-eight other songs of her own composition. The hymn begins with the reflexive command, “Be still, my soul” that repeats twelve times in her six-stanza hymn. A reflexive command is an imperative spoken to oneself, a form of self-talk, you might say. In German, the phrase has greater force, for literally, it translates, “Silence, my will.” The “be still” theme is drawn from the Psalms, as David extols himself, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Ps. 37.7) and in words that God speaks back to him, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46.10). The last two lines of the second verse reference the gospel story of Jesus calming the storm at sea with the stirring rebuke, “Peace, be still” (Mark 4.39). The third stanza expresses faith in God’s provision when the storms of life do not abate. I mentioned in a previous prayer post that sometimes God calms the storm; at other times he calms us in the storm. The poignant reference to “disappointment, grief, fear…sorrow” explains its appeal in times of loss and sadness. The hymn closes on a triumphant word of hope as it anticipates all loss swallowed up in eternity when “we shall be forever with the Lord.”