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Description:
It's Midsummer this upcoming weekend. I wrote this in that magical kind of mood. I hope you enjoy. Thanks/Mikki
Kalevala (for you who like to read):
The name can be interpreted as the "lands of Kaleva" (by the Finnish suffix -la/lä for place). The epic consists of 22,795 verses, divided into fifty cantos or "chapters" (Finnish runo).
The poetry of Kalevala was usually sung to tunes built on a pentachord, sometimes assisted by the kantele (a kind of five-string zither). The rhythm could vary but the tunes were arranged in either two or four lines consisting of five beats each. Sometimes the poems were performed antiphonally, sometimes they were a part of a "singing-match" between knowers of the tradition. Despite the vast geographical distances and cultural spheres separating the individual singers, the poetry was always sung in the same metre, the so-called archaic trochaic tetrametre. Its other formal features are alliteration and parallelism and inversion into chiasmus.
The chronology of this oral tradition is uncertain. The seemingly oldest themes (the beginning of the world) have been interpreted to have their roots in distant pre-history while the seemingly latest events (e.g. the arrival of Christianity) seem to be from the Iron Age.
The main character of the Kalevala is Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero with the magical power of songs and music. He is born of the primeval Maiden of the Air and contributes to the creation of the world. Many of his travels resemble shamanistic journeys, most notably the one where he visits the belly of a ground-giant, Antero Vipunen, to find the words of boat generation. He plays the kantele, a Finnish stringed instrument that resembles and is played like a zither. One of his kanteles is made of the jawbone of a giant pike. His search for a wife is a central element in many stories; he never finds one, though. For example one of the brides, Joukahainen's sister Aino, drowns herself instead of marrying him. He is also part of the group who steals the Sampo, a magical mill, from the people of Pohjola.
Seppo Ilmarinen, a heroic artificer-smith (comparable to the Germanic Weyland and perhaps the Greek Daedalus) who crafted the sky dome, the Sampo and more. Ilmarinen is also one of the group who steal the Sampo.
Louhi the Hag of the North, is a shamanistic matriarch of a people rivalling those of Kalevala who at one stage pulls the sun and the moon from the sky and steals the fire away from the people of Kalevala. She rules Pohjola alone after Lemminkäinen has killed his husband, Master of Pohjola. She promises her daughter to Ilmarinen in exchange for him building a Sampo.
Väinämöinen's young rival, Joukahainen, who promises his sister Aino to Väinämöinen when he loses a singing contest. Joukahainen attempts to gain his revenge on Väinämöinen by killing him with a crossbow, he fails but his actions lead to Väinämöinen promising to build a Sampo in return for Louhi rescuing him.
Vengeful, self-destructive Kullervo who is born as a slave, sold to Ilmarinen and given work by Ilmarinen's wife whom he later kills. Kullervo is a misguided and troubled youth often at odds with himself and his situation. He often goes into berserk rage and in the end commits suicide.
Handsome but arrogant Lemminkäinen, whose mother has to rescue his corpse from the river of Death which runs through Tuonela, and bring him to life, echoing the myth of Osiris. Lemminkäinen is the third member of the group which steals the Sampo from Pohjola.
Some of the chapters describe ancient creation myths, a long wedding ceremony, and the right words for magical spells of healing and craftsmanship.
The last chapter, Son of Marjatta, is an allegory of Christianization of Finland. Maid Marjatta becomes pregnant after eating a lingonberry (allusion of Maria to marja (Finnish for berry) and gives birth to a son. Since the son has been born out of wedlock, Väinämöinen sentences him to be killed. The infant boy then begins to speak and demands Ukko as his judge. After the infant has witnessed sad details of Väinämöinen's own past and of Väinämöinen's own culpability, Ukko declares the young infant boy as the King of Karelia. In the end Väinämöinen exits the material world, but leaves his kantele (symbol for poetry and literary arts) as heirloom for Finns.
Source: Wikipedia
Lyrics:
Kalevala
Lemminkäinen shot the Swan of Tounela
Got killed by a herdsman and thrown into the river
Awoken from death by his mothers magic hands
The land of Kalevala, his homeland
Hiljaa Hyvää Tulee
Minä Rakastan Sinua
He wins a duel with the Master of Northland
...and sail the Lapland's seas to get the Sampo
He forces the Mistress to return to the Moon and the Sun
In the mist of the night he sails away
Translation and comments:
Hiljaa Hyvää Tulee (Good comes slowly)
Minä Rakastan Sinua (I love you)
Tounela (The land of the death)
Sampo (magical artifact)
© M08
Hardware:
Guitar, Bass, Keyboards
Software:
GB
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Great! &mdash 06/19/08 - 03:11:32 PM
I love the new style you achieved in this piece. Great choice of instruments and excellently done. Nice singing and overall, it seems that a lot of time spent. Enjoyed listening every second!
Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi [ Reply to This ]
Thank you! &mdash 06/19/08 - 03:18:01 PM
I appreciate you listening and commenting. You're right, I am slowly going into new (for me) musical arenas. Even though I keep a lot of elements from the past, I have opened a few new doors. Again, thank you for your friendly words. [ Reply to This ]
A little hot in the mix &mdash 06/24/08 - 07:08:42 PM
but a really interesting post. I like the Finnish bits in particular - might be interesting to hear one totally in your language. This reminds me of something, but I can't figure it out.
I suspect Finnland (or Estonia) might like this one for Eurovision ;)
Neil [ Reply to This ]
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Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi
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