SINIKKA LANGELAND - Convening With Nature, The Past & The Present
Photograh by Dag Alveng
The Norwegian folk singer and kantele payer, Sinikka Langeland, has been presenting her very personal artistic vision in a fascinating series of albums of albums for ECM in which she has utilised a variety of settings to enhance the stories she tells. From her albums with her quintet, Starflowers (2007) and The Land That Is Not (2011) featuring Arve Henriksen on trumpet and the saxophones of Trygve Seim, The Half-Finished Heaven (2015) that featured a quartet including the viola of Lars Anders Tomter with whom she recorded Maria's Song (2009) to the sublime The Magical Forest that sees the quintet joined by the singers of the Trio Mediӕval in a work that is both timeless and contemporary. However, with the release of her latest album, Wolf Rune, Langeland has stepped out and produced a solo album for solo kantele and voice that has a beauty and purity that is uniquely her own.
Born in Kirkenær in south-eastern Norway in 1961, Sinikka first studied piano, guitar and contemporary folksong. She discovered the 39-string kantele in 1981 after being told about the instrument by her Finnish mother, and after further studies in Paris and Oslo became fascinated by the traditional songs and music from Finnskogen region of Norway. Having decided to focus solely on the kantele as main instrument and with her deepening interest in combining the traditional with the present, Sinikka expanded her repertoire to encompass folk hymns, shamanistic rune songs and traditional dance pieces along with her own compositions.
For those that have been following the kantele player's recordings for ECM, a solo album seemed inevitable if a long time coming, so when I had the opportunity to talk to Sinikka about both Wolf Rune and her instruments I asked her how the solo album came to fruition. "First of all, Manfred asked me at Rainbow studios, when we mixed the Starflowers album, if I would like to make a solo album and also compose and play some instrumental pieces" explained Sinikka. "The idea has been growing during the years since then and I now trust more and more in the music and my playing without expressing myself through my voice. I also really like solo performances and albums where you can meet one voice and one person's landscape. And of course, since the kantele is a very soft instrument it is easier to get space for the small sounds and improvisations when all alone, and also the special way of the old improvisational style that may be only for the kantele. I find it very interesting and challenging to see what can be done on both the small instruments and the concert-kantele."
With the ability in the studio to capture all the small sounds and subtle nuances of the kantele, the material on Wolf Rune has been very carefully chosen and well balanced over the course of the album. How did you go about selecting the songs to record I ask? "Thank you", comes the modest reply. " Since the solo album idea has been with me for a long time, I have been trying out different ways of approaching it but since I am a storyteller whatever, with instrumental music or songs with texts, I ended building it up around the idea of the panteisme meeting the mysteries of the other spiritual thinkers and poets like Meister Eckhart and now Jon Fosse and how the music connected. The panteisme in Finnskogen is linked with the rune songs and the 5 string improvisations. The hymns and most of the poems are linked to the more mystic part of Christianity."
Born in Kirkenær in south-eastern Norway in 1961, Sinikka first studied piano, guitar and contemporary folksong. She discovered the 39-string kantele in 1981 after being told about the instrument by her Finnish mother, and after further studies in Paris and Oslo became fascinated by the traditional songs and music from Finnskogen region of Norway. Having decided to focus solely on the kantele as main instrument and with her deepening interest in combining the traditional with the present, Sinikka expanded her repertoire to encompass folk hymns, shamanistic rune songs and traditional dance pieces along with her own compositions.
For those that have been following the kantele player's recordings for ECM, a solo album seemed inevitable if a long time coming, so when I had the opportunity to talk to Sinikka about both Wolf Rune and her instruments I asked her how the solo album came to fruition. "First of all, Manfred asked me at Rainbow studios, when we mixed the Starflowers album, if I would like to make a solo album and also compose and play some instrumental pieces" explained Sinikka. "The idea has been growing during the years since then and I now trust more and more in the music and my playing without expressing myself through my voice. I also really like solo performances and albums where you can meet one voice and one person's landscape. And of course, since the kantele is a very soft instrument it is easier to get space for the small sounds and improvisations when all alone, and also the special way of the old improvisational style that may be only for the kantele. I find it very interesting and challenging to see what can be done on both the small instruments and the concert-kantele."
With the ability in the studio to capture all the small sounds and subtle nuances of the kantele, the material on Wolf Rune has been very carefully chosen and well balanced over the course of the album. How did you go about selecting the songs to record I ask? "Thank you", comes the modest reply. " Since the solo album idea has been with me for a long time, I have been trying out different ways of approaching it but since I am a storyteller whatever, with instrumental music or songs with texts, I ended building it up around the idea of the panteisme meeting the mysteries of the other spiritual thinkers and poets like Meister Eckhart and now Jon Fosse and how the music connected. The panteisme in Finnskogen is linked with the rune songs and the 5 string improvisations. The hymns and most of the poems are linked to the more mystic part of Christianity."
Photograph by Linda Schade
The beauty and sheer range of tones and timbres heard on the album come from Langeland's choice of which kantele to play, so I'm interested to find out if Sinikka has a specific sound in mind when arranging the song, or does the song dictate which instrument to play? "I mainly use the big concert-kantele when there are many changes of keys and more contemporary ways of arranging and improvising. I choose the smaller ones when I use an older way of playing and improvising. I also think about what atmosphere I want in the piece, different sounds come because of the different types of strings, and use of bow, etcetera. Also, one of the kanteles has tuning screws of wood that gives a very nice sound that I feel suits sacred music. And it is also nice to play two at the same time, often then the concert-kantele and one of the smaller instruments."
While Wolf Rune is her first all solo recording, Sinikka recorded an album, Maria's Song, for ECM that was released in 2009 that also featured some pieces on for solo kantele. So, I ask Sinikka how she felt that her approach to the instrument and playing solo has changed between recordings? "Using a small 15 string kantele on Marias Songs was a cautious small step since the previous Folktune and Bach projects had been just voice (religious folk hymns) and organ (Bach). I tried improvising with the big concert- kantele too, but my experience was that if you have older than Bach style of playing, singing ( small kanteles with 5-15 string has its playing rooted in medieval style) it works better with Bach since he also builds his music on older traditions and psalms." Continuing, Sinikka adds, "Then the recording The Half-Finished Heaven was a huge step on the road to make and play more instrumental pieces. It was planned like a solo album but Manfred understood that it was too early for me when I said I missed my voice, so he said, 'why don't you let Lars Anders on viola be your voice?', but I started to trust and feel more and more that I could express myself also with instrumental music."
A relatively unusual instrument to hear, the kantele seems to have a way of fitting in a variety of musical settings from Sinikka's wonderful solo recordings, the classical work on Maria's Song and with her jazz quintet with Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin and Markku Ounaskari, so I was keen to learn how she become interested in the kantele and the decide to make it her instrument of choice? Without hesitation Sinikka says "Yes I love that the kantele, at least the big concert-kantele is an instrument that can be used in many kinds of music. My mother, who was born in Karelen in Finland, talked about it when I was a child, and she suggested that I should get one. In 1981, I think, we took the boat from Stockholm to Åbo in Finland and asked in a music shop. But it was not popular at that time, so first he said no, but after a while he took us into the back room of the store and there in a cupboard it was one hidden. I bought it and the adventure started. But it was quite difficult so to learn at first, and it was after getting an offer of a 3-month tour in Sweeden that I really started to get some lessons in Helsinki and practise. I played the guitar also but felt that it is difficult to really play something new on that. On kantele everything sounded new to me, even the simplest things, and it mirrors my soul and roots of course so I ended up being a kantele player. It is also fun now that I also have workshops on Sibelius Academy in Helsinki because I play it so different from the Finnish players."
One of the aspects of the kantele is that it has a remarkably broad range and sound palette, and in the hands of a musician like Sinikka is incredibly expressive, so I ask if she tell me about her instruments and what makes them so unique. "The small 5 and 15 string kanteles are played 'upside down'. It is said that now we think that the music goes from lower to higher and that the scales correspond with from down and up, but that in earlier times you could think that low was up and the scale goes down to 'higher' tones" she explains.
"So, on the modern big 39 string concert-kantele the bass is down now, but earlier they played all the kanteles with the high strings close to your body, think about the guitar, it would say the thickest strings as number 1. or the piano would have the highest notes to the left. On the small kanteles this is still the case and it makes you think differently. You also pick one finger on each hand after each other, for example, left thumb , right finger number 2, left finger 3 right hand finger 4.. this is also strange in the beginning .. they say it the combine the two halves of the brain differently.. Five tones are a kind of centre in all the oldest tradition and improvisation.
While Wolf Rune is her first all solo recording, Sinikka recorded an album, Maria's Song, for ECM that was released in 2009 that also featured some pieces on for solo kantele. So, I ask Sinikka how she felt that her approach to the instrument and playing solo has changed between recordings? "Using a small 15 string kantele on Marias Songs was a cautious small step since the previous Folktune and Bach projects had been just voice (religious folk hymns) and organ (Bach). I tried improvising with the big concert- kantele too, but my experience was that if you have older than Bach style of playing, singing ( small kanteles with 5-15 string has its playing rooted in medieval style) it works better with Bach since he also builds his music on older traditions and psalms." Continuing, Sinikka adds, "Then the recording The Half-Finished Heaven was a huge step on the road to make and play more instrumental pieces. It was planned like a solo album but Manfred understood that it was too early for me when I said I missed my voice, so he said, 'why don't you let Lars Anders on viola be your voice?', but I started to trust and feel more and more that I could express myself also with instrumental music."
A relatively unusual instrument to hear, the kantele seems to have a way of fitting in a variety of musical settings from Sinikka's wonderful solo recordings, the classical work on Maria's Song and with her jazz quintet with Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin and Markku Ounaskari, so I was keen to learn how she become interested in the kantele and the decide to make it her instrument of choice? Without hesitation Sinikka says "Yes I love that the kantele, at least the big concert-kantele is an instrument that can be used in many kinds of music. My mother, who was born in Karelen in Finland, talked about it when I was a child, and she suggested that I should get one. In 1981, I think, we took the boat from Stockholm to Åbo in Finland and asked in a music shop. But it was not popular at that time, so first he said no, but after a while he took us into the back room of the store and there in a cupboard it was one hidden. I bought it and the adventure started. But it was quite difficult so to learn at first, and it was after getting an offer of a 3-month tour in Sweeden that I really started to get some lessons in Helsinki and practise. I played the guitar also but felt that it is difficult to really play something new on that. On kantele everything sounded new to me, even the simplest things, and it mirrors my soul and roots of course so I ended up being a kantele player. It is also fun now that I also have workshops on Sibelius Academy in Helsinki because I play it so different from the Finnish players."
One of the aspects of the kantele is that it has a remarkably broad range and sound palette, and in the hands of a musician like Sinikka is incredibly expressive, so I ask if she tell me about her instruments and what makes them so unique. "The small 5 and 15 string kanteles are played 'upside down'. It is said that now we think that the music goes from lower to higher and that the scales correspond with from down and up, but that in earlier times you could think that low was up and the scale goes down to 'higher' tones" she explains.
"So, on the modern big 39 string concert-kantele the bass is down now, but earlier they played all the kanteles with the high strings close to your body, think about the guitar, it would say the thickest strings as number 1. or the piano would have the highest notes to the left. On the small kanteles this is still the case and it makes you think differently. You also pick one finger on each hand after each other, for example, left thumb , right finger number 2, left finger 3 right hand finger 4.. this is also strange in the beginning .. they say it the combine the two halves of the brain differently.. Five tones are a kind of centre in all the oldest tradition and improvisation.
Photograph by Morten Krogvold
"The sound of the kantele is quite unique sound, and I think it must be due to the box and that it is mainly played by the fingers. The big concert kantele has 5 and 1/2 octaves, and that's almost the range you use most on a piano. The low strings, the bass strings are so great, low and clear at the same time. Paul Salminen developed the tuning system so you can get all the keys, and that asks for virtuoso building as my kantele-builder Hannu Koistinen does, to make it tuned and then stay in tune. He and his father are really masters and do also improve and experiment all the time to make better instruments."
In addition to the natural sound of the kantele, Sinikka also plays her instruments with a bow increasing both the expressiveness and timbre of the instrument. Accepting the complement, Sinikka gives a modest reply , "Thank you, I use just a normal violin bow. You could say I am all the time trying to find contrasts to the more normal 'harp' playing, and trying to find other colours. I also get inspired by the musicians that I play with of course, Anders Jormin has quite a fantastic way of using the bow on his bass."
In parallel with her kantele playing is Sinikka's singing, so I ask if she considers herself a singer first or an instrumentalist or are the two inextricably linked? "Well, I think I always will be a storyteller, but I really like to go on experimenting with the instrument. Both are linked I think, at the moment at least."
What draws many listeners to Langeland's music is her very personal and individual use of traditional folk music, so I am interested to learn where Sinikka draws her inspiration from, and how she endeavours to make her music sound so contemporary? Pausing a moment Sinkka says, "My source is something that want to come out, and I like the old tunes so much and they can be so strong in their simplicity.
"In fact, I decided to use two traditional elements that I really love very much as part of my music, my musical DNA if you like, and also use this in my newly composed music. These are:
I. The 5-6 tones from old kanteletrad.
II. The polsdance rhythm in asymmetric 3/4, the way they played it in Finnskogen. I did even restore the dance to find out how it was, then the texts and the stories decides the rest. I also like to get out some groovy things."
This melding if the old and the new, traditional and contemporary, is heard in a startingly fresh concept on Sinikka's album, The Magical Forest, that makes great use of the voice with Sinikka's vocals and that of Trio Mediaeval. Is this something that she might look to develop further as a collaborative project? "I would love too!", comes the immediate reply " The questions is time, finance and priority. I have made a whole 90-minute Mass For The Blue Whale ( Mysticeti) with classical singers, folk and jazz improvisers, it was a huge fantastic thing to make and perform, but I composed it over a two-year period and we performed it twice with, 10 musicians but have not yet recorded it. I had to do it, and when something has to be done I do it, but I try to listen carefully around what is most important."
As our conversation draws to a close, I ask about her plans for the future. Is she hoping to do more solo recordings, or does more work with the quintet beckon? "In fact, I am doing both with the same music.", Sinikka replies with enthusiasm. "I am diving into poet and play writer Jon Fosses texts and poetry. It's very interesting making the music and developing the same piece solo and then arrange it for the quintet in the same period of time. It gives ideas and strengths to each other. Solo, I sing the poems and an actor reads other poems and texts.
"It's called 'Row My Ocean', and one piece is on Wolf Rune. Together with the quintet I am planing recording the music in October. Because of the pandemic I had to use Norwegian musicians because we postponed the rehearsals with my old quintet may be 3 or 4 times during two year period. So, to get the work growing I have now a Norwegian quintet with Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Mats Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen. We managed to play some concerts this spring and have some more before hopefully recording in October. But The Starflowers quintet will also play some concerts and we will see what will happen next also with that wonderful quintet."
Continuing she adds, "The sister album to Marias Song, Maria Magdalena will also be released on the organist Kåre Nordstogas' label LAWO in September. Since I have so much going on at ECM we found this to be a good solution for just this recording. I will also play Wolf Rune concerts and share concerts with Thomas Strønen who also has a solo project going on in 2022. And maybe, just may be there can be an instrumental kantele recording one day."
In addition to the natural sound of the kantele, Sinikka also plays her instruments with a bow increasing both the expressiveness and timbre of the instrument. Accepting the complement, Sinikka gives a modest reply , "Thank you, I use just a normal violin bow. You could say I am all the time trying to find contrasts to the more normal 'harp' playing, and trying to find other colours. I also get inspired by the musicians that I play with of course, Anders Jormin has quite a fantastic way of using the bow on his bass."
In parallel with her kantele playing is Sinikka's singing, so I ask if she considers herself a singer first or an instrumentalist or are the two inextricably linked? "Well, I think I always will be a storyteller, but I really like to go on experimenting with the instrument. Both are linked I think, at the moment at least."
What draws many listeners to Langeland's music is her very personal and individual use of traditional folk music, so I am interested to learn where Sinikka draws her inspiration from, and how she endeavours to make her music sound so contemporary? Pausing a moment Sinkka says, "My source is something that want to come out, and I like the old tunes so much and they can be so strong in their simplicity.
"In fact, I decided to use two traditional elements that I really love very much as part of my music, my musical DNA if you like, and also use this in my newly composed music. These are:
I. The 5-6 tones from old kanteletrad.
II. The polsdance rhythm in asymmetric 3/4, the way they played it in Finnskogen. I did even restore the dance to find out how it was, then the texts and the stories decides the rest. I also like to get out some groovy things."
This melding if the old and the new, traditional and contemporary, is heard in a startingly fresh concept on Sinikka's album, The Magical Forest, that makes great use of the voice with Sinikka's vocals and that of Trio Mediaeval. Is this something that she might look to develop further as a collaborative project? "I would love too!", comes the immediate reply " The questions is time, finance and priority. I have made a whole 90-minute Mass For The Blue Whale ( Mysticeti) with classical singers, folk and jazz improvisers, it was a huge fantastic thing to make and perform, but I composed it over a two-year period and we performed it twice with, 10 musicians but have not yet recorded it. I had to do it, and when something has to be done I do it, but I try to listen carefully around what is most important."
As our conversation draws to a close, I ask about her plans for the future. Is she hoping to do more solo recordings, or does more work with the quintet beckon? "In fact, I am doing both with the same music.", Sinikka replies with enthusiasm. "I am diving into poet and play writer Jon Fosses texts and poetry. It's very interesting making the music and developing the same piece solo and then arrange it for the quintet in the same period of time. It gives ideas and strengths to each other. Solo, I sing the poems and an actor reads other poems and texts.
"It's called 'Row My Ocean', and one piece is on Wolf Rune. Together with the quintet I am planing recording the music in October. Because of the pandemic I had to use Norwegian musicians because we postponed the rehearsals with my old quintet may be 3 or 4 times during two year period. So, to get the work growing I have now a Norwegian quintet with Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Mats Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen. We managed to play some concerts this spring and have some more before hopefully recording in October. But The Starflowers quintet will also play some concerts and we will see what will happen next also with that wonderful quintet."
Continuing she adds, "The sister album to Marias Song, Maria Magdalena will also be released on the organist Kåre Nordstogas' label LAWO in September. Since I have so much going on at ECM we found this to be a good solution for just this recording. I will also play Wolf Rune concerts and share concerts with Thomas Strønen who also has a solo project going on in 2022. And maybe, just may be there can be an instrumental kantele recording one day."
Click on the album covers to read our reviews of some of Sinikka's albums for ECM
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For more information visit Sinikka's website & ECM Records
