17 - The music in Finland
A MUSIC DIFERENT THAT WE USE TO HAER IN FRANCE When I came in Finland, what I directly noticed was the music that was so different that I could hear it on the radio when I went to the gym. Of course, they listen to American songs like us, but they also have their own songs which we're not necessarily used to listening to in France. FOLK MUSIC The origin of the musical tradition merges with that of popular poetry, whose bards have been singing the runes for centuries to the sound of the kantele, the popular instrument par excellence. Endowed with magical power by the ancient Finns, music was the means to defeat the most hostile forces. Today, folk music still feeds on the past. From the old kantele to the weak and lyrical voice, a concert instrument with about forty strings has been developed. Its practice, included in school curricula, is now accepted in several conservatories and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Finnish music also bears the imprint of Christianity, wh