Composed in Helsinki, Alexander Glazunov's Finnish Fantasy (1909) demonstrates the composer's genius for orchestration. The basic theme is taken from a familiar Finnish folk song motif, which Glazunov subjects to increasingly imaginative and expert treatments. Russian composers of this era found Finland a rich source of inspiration for their orchestral music, and Glazunov here makes full use of the ensemble to express the indefinable pathos and open spaces that pervade the music of this country. The Fantasy is alternately Romantic and menacing, bright and somber; it changes with great abruptness from evoking a Finnish landscape to expressing the character of the Finnish people through the use of a well-known Lutheran chorale, played by deep-throated brass to a simple string accompaniment.

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