With traditional instruments, one can emphasize cultural distinctiveness, but just as easily a sense of unity. Contrary to what today’s nationalists might believe, sounds travel easily across national borders. On the album “Migrating”, the Finnish-Swedish duo Maija Kauhanen and Johannes Geworkian Hellman embrace the idea of folk music as a migratory bird — or muuttolintu in Finnish. This constructed genre became a caged bird primarily through 19th-century ideas about the nation-state.
Maija Kauhanen plays the kantele — a string instrument of the zither family — and was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize two years ago as an “explosively powerful and versatile one-woman orchestra.” Johannes Geworkian Hellman is known as one half of the innovative folk duo Symbio and plays the hurdy-gurdy. The two discovered their musical connection while exchange students in Stockholm and Helsinki, respectively. From occasional improvisational sessions, the idea for a joint album was born.
Now their debut “Migrating” arrives at a fitting time — amid both NATO cooperation and a wave of KAJ-fever. Two richly resonant instruments together sound like an entire ensemble, straddling the line between folk and art music. The sound travels freely across expansive vistas and sonic landscapes, each with its own backstory detailed in the album booklet. Kauhanen’s vocal technique is rooted in the Finno-Ugric singing tradition, and her voice often adds wordless, shimmering colors to a warmly rhythmic flow — as in the gently rustling track “Mother’s Song” with its minimalist pulse.
Other tracks carry a Celtic feel or venture even farther out into the world. My only reservation is that “Side by Side” sounds like a cheerfully clichéd Disney version of its inspiration, “Mio, My Mio.” In the songs with lyrics, it’s also a pity that English was chosen over Finnish or Swedish. Even on international duty, the music would have spoken for itself in its native tongues.
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