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Professor Stig Nyström (1924–2018, Helsinki) was not only a doctor of medicine but also a visual artist. A very special kantele (SM883), a Kalevala symbolist artwork made by him was donated to the Sibelius Museum in 1993. The kantele was completed immediately after the Continuation War in 1944–1945, when Nyström was 20 years old. During […]

Who was E. Lekve, whose name is engraved on the bottom of the carefully crafted kantele SM496 in the Sibelius Museum? The kantele was donated to the Sibelius Museum in 1974. The instrument had belonged to the donor’s mother’s father, stationmaster Mauno Paatero (1866-1908), who had bought the kantele from its maker, E. Lekve, at […]

In the information about the origin of the kantele SM128 in the Sibelius Museum, there is one sentence: “Tillhört Albert Edelfelt” – could this really be Albert Edelfelt’s kantele? Albert Edelfelt (1854–1905), once the undisputed leading figure of Finnish art and internationally one of the most famous Finnish painters, was born in a noble manor […]

The Sibelius Museum kantele SM124 may be the only Taivassalo kantele in Finnish museums. It has so many unique and special features that I’d write science fiction about it if I could. The maker of this instrument has put a lot of effort into the planning and execution of the design, but what she or […]

The 12-string kantele SM579 in the Sibelius Museum was built by Teppo Repo (1886-1962). He was born in Ingria and became famous in Finland as a shepherd’s musician. Tellervo Hämäläinen, the widow of Antti Hämäläinen (1897–1976), who was also born in Ingria and later became a Finn, donated the kantele to the Museum in 1980. […]