I am a kantele player/song writer in the United States. Can you tell me where I can find Finnish folk tunes and songs that are in the public domain? I would like to publish my own arrangements in a kantele
instruction book which I am writing.
Answer
In virtual Finland Websites Anneli Asplund has written a page The Kantele - Finland's national instrument http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/kantele.html . There you can listen to the famous kantele player Timo Väänänen playing the kantele as Realaudio. He is playing Mid the Hills of Karelia and The Governor's Polska, which are traditional finnish folk songs.
There are also a list of recorded kantele music on CD. It is possible to make a distant loan request for these CDs through your nearest library.
For folk tunes and songs, you can also ask Folk Arts Centre. The email address is folk.art@kaustinen.inet.fi or Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, i.e. Association for Finnish literature, kirjasto@finlit.fi
Violinmaker Jussi Laasanen has also a web page about kanteles http://jymy.kase.fi/~jussila/eindex.html
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