Programme Note

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Koivunsoitto is a Finnish word which roughly translates as ‘The Sounding of the Birch’.

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In the Kalevala, the Finnish mythological epic poem compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century and mostly derived from Karelian folklore, the main character is Väinämöinen, an old and wise bard with magical powers who deploys his magic through the act of singing.

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In one of the Kalevala’s many tales, Väinämöinen fashions the first kantele (a traditional Finnish zither) from the jawbone of a great pike. The instrument’s sound magically draws people and creatures towards it in revelry.

Väinämöinen later loses his kantele during a sea storm. He tries desperately to retrieve it from the seabed, but to no avail. Lamenting his loss in a forest and wishing to sing again, Väinämöinen fashions a new kantele from a birch tree, which itself is weeping as it has been mistreated. Väinämöinen is overjoyed with his new birch kantele, which proves to have the same magical powers as the original. At the end of the Kalevala, Väinämöinen departs the northlands and gifts his birch kantele, along with his magical powers of song, to the people of Karelia.