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ARTIST
TITLE
Kuuntele
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
AGF 017CD
AGF 017CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
11/26/2013
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With the album Kuuntele, poem-producer AGF (Antye Greie-Ripatti) interprets the poetry of her new homeland, Finland, with a few well-chosen examples. Her method is the same as on Gedichterbe (AGF 015CD) for which she received an Honorary Mention at Ars Electronica in 2013 in Digital Music and Sound Art. In this collection, AGF has chosen examples of Finnish poetry from the last 327 years, including material from "An Orphan Child's Lament" by Maria Simointytär (1683) and from the Kalevala's second edition, 1849. The creation-story hero Väinämöinen suits the poetic beginning: he is a demiurge, creator of land and trees, who arises from the water. Among the chosen poets on this album is the Saami multi-artist Nils-Aslak "Ailu" Valkeapää (1943-2001), who, for his picture book Sun, My Father (original in Saami language, 1988), received the Nordic Council's literary prize in 1991. Out of 13 pieces of music, eight poems come from female writers, and six from male writers. Two of these texts have inspired AGF to give a purely instrumental interpretation; for example, Paavo Haavikko's "How to Address the Fog" and Tove Jansson's "Who Will Comfort Toffle?" (Jansson is the creator of the Moomin family of books and comic strips). Another Swedish/Finnish writer is Solveig von Schoultz (1907-1996). AGF transfers her poem "The Birds" into the sound poem "Diamantenstimmen," which refers to the representation of love crystallized into the hardest stone, the diamond. The tradition of the Kalevala can be heard in the selection of these texts. Eino Leino (1878-1926) is the most important poet in this sense, and included here is a fragment of the legend "Blue Cross," taken from the latter edition of the two collections of poems called "Helkavirsiä" (1916). In this context, the whole transforms into a magical chant, which is here performed by the Helsinki-based rapper, producer and spoken-word artist Matti P. The strong line of women writers continues with L. Onerva's (1882-1972; real name: Hilja Onerva Lehtinen) "I Rock the Echo" from the collection Mixed Tunes, 1904. (Finnish underground singer and musician Lau Nau lends her voice to this fragile creation, made entirely from an iPad app by AGF). Eeva-Liisa Manner (1921-1975) is the most important Finnish female modernist from the '50s. Her poem "Counterpoint" is just the first part of the poem, but it finishes with an allusion to another one of her classic compositions with the added phrase: "Drops of Mozart, zart, zart." Eila Kivikk'aho (1921- 2004) is the most lyrical of these poetesses, and she is represented with the poem "Generations" from the collection The Flock (1961). AGF has chosen the first part of Kivikk'aho's poem. Eeva Kilpi (1928-) is one of the most productive and beloved of the Finnish female writers. Languages -- Finnish and English, fold upon each other in her work, weaving a fabric of connection. Finnish "freak folk" singer Islaja sings on the track "Kiitos." AGF sings on and melts together Iris Uurto's text with her son Aku-Kimmo Ripatti's (1931-1994) poem "The Horseman" from the collection I Don't Say Anything Else (1986). The newest poem is Juha Rautio's "Listen" from his third collection of poems Sit Down Song (2011), read by the poet himself.
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