The kantele has a distinctive bell-like sound. The Finnish kantele generally has a diatonic tuning though small kantele with between 5 and 15 strings are often tuned to a gapped mode missing a seventh and with the lowest pitched strings tuned to a fourth below the tonic as a drone. Players hold the kantele in their laps or on a small table. There are two main techniques to play, either plucking the strings with their fingers or strumming unstopped strings (sometimes with a matchstick). The small and concert kanteles have different, though related, repertoires.
There have been strong developments for the kantele in Finland since the mid-20th century, starting with the efforts of modern players such as Martti Pokela in the 1950s and 1960s. Education for playing the instrument starts in schools and music institutes up to conservatories and the Sibelius Academy, the only music university in Finland. Even some artistic doctoral studies have been made at the Academy with traditional, western classical and electronic music. A Finnish luthiery, Koistinen Kantele, has developed also an electric kantele, which employs pick-ups similar to those on electric guitars. It has gained popularity amongst Finnish heavy metal musicians such as Amorphis.
My Kantele
Amorphis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who say that music reckon that the kantele
Was fashioned by a god
Out of a great pike's shoulders
From a water-dog's hooked bones
It was made from the grief
Molded from sorrow
Its belly out of hard days
Its soundboard from endless woes
Its strings gathered from torments
And its pegs from other ills
So it will not play, will not rejoice at all
Music will not play to please
Give off the right sort of joy
For it was fashioned from cares
Molded from sorrow
The lyrics of Amorphis's song "My Kantele" are both poetic and powerful. The song is a tribute to a traditional Finnish stringed instrument called the kantele. The song starts by dismissing the claims that the kantele was created by a god, and instead describes how it was born out of grief and molded from sorrow. The instrument, made out of a pike's shoulders, a water-dog's hooked bones, and other ills, symbolizes the Finnish resilience and is a testament to the fact that beauty can arise from pain and suffering.
According to Finnish folklore, the kantele was created by the god Väinämöinen, the central character in the Finnish epic poem "Kalevala." However, in Amorphis's interpretation, the kantele is not a divine creation but rather a cultural artifact made out of the Finnish people's collective experience of hardship and sorrow. The lyrics reflect the sentiment that music is not just entertainment or a means of diversion, but a way of expressing the most profound emotions and connecting with one's cultural heritage.
Overall, "My Kantele" is a sobering meditation on the power of music to speak to the most profound human feelings, both in moments of joy and, even more crucially, in moments of pain and sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
Truly they lie, they talk utter nonsense
Those who claim that the kantele instrument was made by a god from a pike's shoulders and a water-dog's bones are simply not telling the truth.
Out of a great pike's shoulders
According to the myth, the kantele was fashioned from the shoulders of a large fish.
From a water-dog's hooked bones
The myth says that the kantele was made from the bones of a water-dog, an animal believed to inhabit bodies of water.
It was made from the grief
The true origin of the kantele is not divine but emotional: it was created from grief and sorrow.
Molded from sorrow
The kantele's shape and form were shaped by the sorrows and hardships of its creators.
Its belly out of hard days
The body of the kantele was crafted from rough and difficult times.
Its soundboard from endless woes
The soundboard of the kantele was made from the woes and troubles of life that seemed to never end.
Its strings gathered from torments
The strings of the kantele were collected from various forms of suffering.
And its pegs from other ills
The pegs of the kantele were assembled from other sources of hardship and misfortune.
So it will not play, will not rejoice at all
The kantele cannot produce joyful or celebratory music because it was created from such profound sadness and pain.
Music will not play to please
The music created by the kantele will not be pleasing or uplifting to its listeners.
Give off the right sort of joy
The kantele cannot create music that is joyful or delightful.
For it was fashioned from cares
This is because the kantele was made from the cares, worries, and sorrows of those who created it.
Molded from sorrow
The kantele was formed and shaped by the emotions of its creators, especially their sadness and despondency.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ESA HOLOPAINEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@robhamilton2661
Truly they lie, they talk utter nonsense
Who say that music reckon that the kantele
Was fashioned by God
Out of a great pike's shoulders
From a water-dog's hooked bones:
Moulded from sorrow
It's belly out of hard days
Its sound board from endless woes
Its strings gathered from torments
And it pegs from other ills
Truly they lie, they talk utter nonsense
So it will not play, will not rejoice at all
Music will not play to please
Give off the right sort of joy
For it was fashioned from cares
It was made from grief
@ptbempire
A Sitar, Accordian, and an Organ in the same song... This is one of the best songs I have ever heard
@diegoelcool
but no kantele 😕
@seetaami5810
@@diegoelcool People tend to write their best songs about longing for their loved ones, when the objects of their desire are nowhere around. If this applies to ladies, it might as well apply to musical instruments.
@user-bn3bu3dv9y
Просто нет слов. Треку почти тридцать лет, а я балдею до сих пор.
@pavelufa5170
в дороге самое то
@brandonl3923
Same. Cheers from USA. We're not enemies but brothers. Love.
@molot1122
Покупал когда-то демо.Да,на аудиокассетах полностью атмосферу не прочувствуешь.Зато сейчас один клик и готово.
@JBCUSTOMBAITS
2024 here, since 90" old nuclear blast records.. thats Was a long time ago... really miss that time.
@ventsislavaivanova9035
Memories are sth strange. Today someone mentioned Amon Amarth, I remembered Amorphis, but I couldn't remember the song. But I started singing it. "Truly they lie....".
Great song. I haven't listened to it since the times I was waiting with my boom box to record it from the radio.
@daewonjang3597
Since 1996, when I first encountered this music, I felt the power of purification that led me out of the corrupt and false reality and into the pure inner world.