traditional music

“Although I have delved deep into archives and particularly into the traditional music of the Suistamo area through my research, the fact is that modern folk music finds its inspiration absolutely anywhere, not just in dusty antiquities,” writes Anne-Mari Kivimäki, a composer and the developer of the modern Karelian accordion trance style, who is also known as a member of the band Suistamon Sähkö.

Music is strongly associated with the Romani people. Singing was always a part of travelling with horse-drawn wagons or sleighs, or resting by the campfire. Music still occupies a large role in the lives of many Romani today, even as traditional lifestyles are being replaced by modern ones.

I am approaching the age when you begin to reflect on the fundamentals of life and feel the need to pare away all inessentials. For that reason my opus 110, The Singing Tree, my first opera, is a work I have taken particular pains to shape as clearly and distinctly as possible so that every note in the score can be grasped...