I realize Lemminkäinen and Väinämöinen are not easy names to get your mouth around at 6:00 in the morning. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the incantations if you agree to carry my broadsword.

This morning on WPRB, it’s a full playlist of music inspired by the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. The fantastic and heroic tales inspired Jean Sibelius to compose some of his greatest works.

But Sibelius was not alone in being influenced by this cultural juggernaut, which, like the mysterious and generative Sampo at the core of its rather wayward narrative, has had the effect of granting untold riches to its native land.

We’ll hear Kalevala-inspired works by Väinö Haapalainen, Robert Kajanus, Uuno Klami, Leevi Madetoja, Aarre Merikanto, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and of course Sibelius himself.

I hope you’ll join me, as we light 151 candles for Sibelius this morning, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’re nothing if not polysyllabic, on Classic Ross Amico.