Concert: Finno-Ugric Days Eastern Mari folksongs, improvisatsions on kannel
Anna Makeev – voice
Kristi Mühling – chromatic kannel
The duo combines ancient Eastern Mari spiritual and secular folksongs with experimental Estonian kannel music.
The Mari live at the central stream of the Volga River on the territory of the Mari El Republic and Bashkortostan. The Mari language belongs to the Volga group of Finno-Ugric languages.
The Mari culture is very colorful. An interesting aspect is its ancient animist religion where centuries-long traditions and lyrical folksongs have been preserved.
The kannel is an ancient Estonian national instrument with a history spanning over two millennia. The archaic kannel was an instrument with 6–7 strings that was carved from a single piece of wood; with time, the number of strings grew and the instrument became larger. In the 19th and 20th centuries, diatonic kannels of various shapes and sizes were played across villages. Gradually, however, the need for a kannel that could also be played in different keys emerged. In the first half of the 20th century, several attempts were made to construct a chromatic kannel.
Finno-Ugric Day have been celebrated on the third Saturday in October since 1928. The aim is to introduce and promote co-operation between the Finno-Ugric peoples
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