Monday, March 14, 2011

Kantele-ilo Kantele-joy

This fall our class learned lullabies, songs that sound like church bells, a bear feast polska, traditional Finnish Christmas tunes and songs from the Kalevala.



In the Kalevala, Finland’s folk epic poem, there is a time when Väinäimöinen who is the great sage, great singer of songs sits down on a singing stone with his 5-string kantele for the first time and plays. The music is beautiful, mysterious, haunting and full of joy.

Old Väinäimöinen, immortal singer,
Sat upon a joy stone, upon a singing rock,
High upon a silver hill.
Then he took his new-made harp
And he laid it on his knees and said:
“Come and hear now, all of you
Who have never heard before
The joy of poetry,
Echoing from the joyous giver!”
Then Väinäimöinen played it
And the music rose to joy
And the joy to high rejoicing.
All the music felt so real
On from song to song high hymns.
There was not a single creature
Of the forest, of the woodland,
That did not run out to listen
And wonder at the joy.
Master and mistress of the woodland.
Traveled to the mountain peak,
Halted on a birch-knee
There to harken to the harp
To absorb the joyous music.
Nature’s airy daughters,
Listened to the thrilling music.
Moonmaid and Sunmaid,
When they heard the charming music
Of that graceful instrument
Dropped their weaving cloths of gold,
Interlacing threads of silver.
Every creature of the air,
Every flier on two wings.
Scurried like driven snowflakes.
There was not a single creature
Not even of the water
Not one single six-fin swimmer
From the finest schools of fishes
that did not swim up
And marvel at the music,
For the sound was wondrous moving.

(from the Kalevala)

--Diane Jarvi

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