Sibelius is not known for his songs, and while they fail to rise to the same level as, say, his symphonies, they are nevertheless generally quite worthwhile compositions. More than a few are masterpieces, like the Op. 35 Two Songs (1907-08) and the riveting 1910 song/tone poem, Luonnotar. This Op. 13 collection, the Songs of Runeberg, is an early effort and their text is Swedish. Many people may be unaware that Sibelius' first language was Swedish, not Finnish, and that most of his songs were set to texts in that tongue. Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-77) was a Finnish poet who wrote in Swedish, and all texts to these seven songs are setting of his poems.

Sibelius wrote this group of songs around the same time as he was working on his first large composition, the choral symphonic poem Kullervo. Even though these are early efforts from a composer not completely at home in this genre, there are still some gems here. The fourth song, "Varen flyktar basigt" (Spring is flying), is short but incandescent in its subtle beauty. The composer himself liked it enough to make an orchestral version in 1914, giving the song greater color and expressive range. "Till Frigga" (To Frigga), No. 6 in the group, is another worthwhile entry for its dark, haunting character, despite piano accompaniment that is not wholly effective.

No. 1, "Under strandens granar" (Under the fir trees) has an air of fantasy about it, with dark and atmospheric, if not always convincing, piano accompaniment. No. 5, "Drömmen" (The dream), features an attractive middle section but is not particularly striking otherwise. The other items—No. 2, "Kyssens hopp" (A Kiss' hope), No. 3, "Hjärtats morgon" (The heart's morning), and No. 7, "Jägargossen" (The young hunter)—offer some attractive moments but, on the whole, are not as compelling as the others in the collection.

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