Accordion artist Maria Kalaniemi has created together with Pekko Käppi, the jouhikko (bowed lyre) artist an exceptional artistic work based on a poem from the Kalevala. The result is rune singing in Swedish, telling a story that captures the inexplicable, emotionally stirring power of music. The album is a magical journey where powerful harmonies, delicate melodies, and resonant church bells intertwine.

The poem 41 is a long epic narrative in which Väinämöinen plays for all people and creatures in the forest. His instrument is a kantele made by himself from the head of a pike. His playing and singing is so beautiful, touching everyone, bringing them to tears. Even the forest animals become enchanted by his music. Väinämöinen himself sheds tears which fall to the ground, trickle into the lake and are transformed into blue pearls.

“Having access to this particular Swedish translation by the Huldéns’ (1991) opened up this specific story even further for me and expanded the fascinating world that artists throughout the ages have found in the Kalevala”, tells Maria Kalaniemi. “To me, this poem is a power song about the enduring significance of music and singing for us as human beings.”

The entire work was recorded for the album in a single take in Kalaniemi’s living room. This approach made it possible to preserve the pulse of the poem, the flow of the narrative, and the sense of performance throughout the piece. The poem runs through the entire half-hour work, which is divided into different musical sections. The melodies surrounding the poem were created spontaneously. A strong spirit emerges from the magic of a single, distinct sound. The modern concert accordion and the ancient jouhikko weave powerful harmonies around the vividly unfolding verses of the story.

Each musical section of the album has its own distinct atmosphere. Maria Kalaniemi speaks of the parts of the work as landscapes, describing how each section evokes a different inner vision. For example, Hymni leads her thoughts back to her roots—first to Poland, from where the Orbinski family on her father’s side moved to Karelia, to Pyhäjärvi, and later to Savo. In this way, the hymn also becomes a kind of journey, along which the sound of church bells can be heard.

Although the album presents a single poem, Kalaniemi sees the work as part of a continuum. The idea of performing this poem has been with her for a long time. Over the course of the journey, the performance has evolved from a solo into a duo. Now the music is once again ready to set out on a new path, eventually merging with a new poem to become a new work of art.

“Tåreportens Pärla is an impressive new opening: accordion artist Maria Kalaniemi and jouhikko artist Pekko Käppi interpret Finnish ancient runes in Swedish, guiding the listener into an enchanting world, a magical liminal space. When the journey ends, one has not necessarily returned home, but has instead been subtly transported into an almost immaterial spiritual state. Echoes from the distant origins of runic song resonate, etched into the listener’s consciousness for all time.” – Pekka Hako

Over the course of a career spanning more than 40 years, Maria Kalaniemi has redefined perceptions of the accordion and the music performed on it. She is known for her exceptional sensitivity as a performing artist and for her highly developed virtuosity and mastery of the instrument. As a soloist and ensemble musician, Kalaniemi has performed extensively around the world through her domestic and international projects, appearing in venues ranging from concert halls in Vienna and festival halls in Tokyo to a manor hall in Espoo, Finland. Her award-winning repertoire highlights the Swedish-speaking Finnish musical heritage, alongside a substantial body of her own compositions. In 2018, Maria Kalaniemi was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Music and was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Pekko Käppi has specialized not only in the thousand-year-old tradition of the jouhikko, but also in the most obscure and dust-covered margins of archaic, unwritten vocal traditions. His raw and stripped-down performances have silenced audiences both in Finland and on international stages. A sense of Finnish voodoo and primordial, archaic force works its irresistible magic throughout his music.