Blog

If I were a writer, I would turn Taivassalo’s kantele into a science fiction story

March 13, 2024

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 […]

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The 12-string kantele SM579 in the Sibelius Museum, built by Teppo Repo

March 03, 2024

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. […]

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A puzzling hollow kantele SM1910 in the Sibelius Museum, Turku

February 24, 2024

During the last decade, I photographed and measured all the kanteles in the Sibelius Museum at that time: 8 five-stringed, 7 small kanteles larger than five-stringed, and 27 large kanteles. In addition, there were 8 instruments whose classification is more or less controversial. In 2019, I published information about the Sibelius Museum’s five-string kanteles, and […]

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A gut string kantele among others

April 10, 2023

Experimentation with string materials in small kanteles has shown interestingly how different materials affect the character of the instrument. Changing string material often requires not only a different pitch, but also a different playing technique or touch, as the feel of the strings can be completely different depending on the material. I have tried different […]

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A concert where the audience created the music

February 27, 2023

The Kanteletupa-concert at the Organo hall of the Helsinki Musiikkitalo on the 11th of February, 2023, was an experiment born as part of research at the University of the Arts Helsinki, perhaps with slightly uncertain expectations at the beginning and at the same time firmly relying on a musical-philosophical theory about improvisation and creativity. In […]

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