Kannel () is an Estonian plucked string instrument (

chordophone String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

) belonging to the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

box zither The box zither is a class of stringed instrument in the form of a trapezoid-shaped or rectangular, hollow box. The strings of the box zither are either struck with light hammers or plucked. Among the most popular plucked box zithers are the Arab ...

family known as the

Baltic psaltery Baltic psaltery is a family of related plucked box zithers, psalteries, historically found in the southeast vicinity of the Baltic Sea and played by the Baltic people, Baltic Finns, Volga Finns and northwestern Russians. Types Baltic psalte ...

along with Finnish

kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuania ...

, Latvian

kokles Kokle (; ltg, kūkle) or historically kokles (''kūkles'') is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish ...

, Lithuanian

kanklės Kanklės () is a Lithuanian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery, along with the Latvian kokles, Estonian kannel, Finnish kantele, and Russian gusli. Etymology Acc ...

, and Russian

gusli ''Gusli'' ( rus, гусли, p=ˈɡuslʲɪ) is the oldest East Slavic multi-string plucked instrument, belonging to the zither family, due to its strings being parallel to its resonance board. Its roots lie in Veliky Novgorod in Novgorodian Ru ...

. The Estonian kannel has a variety of traditional tunings. In Estonia, studying the kannel has made a resurgence after some years of decline.''Postimees: Pärimusmuusika ait lööb uksed valla''
(in Estonian)

Etymology

According to Finnish linguist Eino Nieminen, the name of the instrument, along with the names of most of its neighbouring counterparts (Finnish ''kantele'', Livonian ''kāndla'', Latvian ''kokles'' and Lithuanian ''kanklės''), possibly comes from the

proto-Baltic Proto-Baltic (PB, PBl, Common Baltic) is the unattested, reconstructed ancestral proto-language of all Baltic languages. It is not attested in writing, but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method by gathering the collected dat ...

form ''*kantlīs''/''*kantlēs'', which originally meant 'the singing tree', ultimately deriving from the

Proto-European Old Europe is a term coined by the Lithuanian archaeologist Marija Gimbutas to describe what she perceived as a relatively homogeneous pre-Indo-European Neolithic and Copper Age cultural horizon or civilisation in Southeastern Europe and part ...

root '' *kan-'' ('to sing, to sound'). However, Lithuanian ethnologist

Romualdas Apanavičius Romualdas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. List of people named Romualdas * Romualdas Aleliūnas (born 1960), Lithuanian designer of ceramics *Romualdas Brazauskas (born 1960), Lithuanian basketball referee *Romualdas Granauskas Romualdas Gra ...

believes ''kokles'' could be derived from the Proto-European root ''*'', meaning 'a vessel; a haft (of a sword)', suggesting that it may be related to the Russian word ''gusli''.Romualdas Apanavičius
Ancient Lithuanian Kanklės
Institute of Ethnomusic, Vilnius, Lithuania

History

The kannel became rare in the early 20th century, though surviving in some parts of the Estonian diaspora, until cultural movements under the Soviets encouraged the development and playing of larger chromatic kannels. However, influence from neighboring traditional Finnish kantele players supported the playing of the traditional smaller kannels.

Social role

The kannel serves as a national symbol of Estonia;

Jakob Hurt Jakob Hurt ( in Himmaste – in St Petersburg) was a notable Estonian folklorist, theologian, and linguist. With respect to the last, he is perhaps best known for his dissertation on "pure" -ne stem nouns ("Die estnischen Nomina auf -ne purum ...

's 1875-1876 publication of Estonian folksongs was even entitled ''Vana Kannel'' ("The Old Kannel"). The kannel was legendarily played by the Estonian god of song

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It was the first Estonian language theatre. History ''1870–1906 The Beginning of the Beginning. Koidula’s Theatre, Wiera’s Theatre.'' On June 24, 1870 was the first day in Estonian theatre ...

, and the Estonian national epic ''

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century Epic poetry, epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition ...

'' (published in the 1850s) begins with the line: ''Laena mulle kannelt, Vanemuine!'' ("Vanemuine, lend me your kannel!").

Players

Kristi Mühling Kristi Mühling (born 28 March 1971) is a professional Estonian chromatic kannel player who specialises mainly on classical and contemporary music. She has premiered numerous compositions for this instrument, both as a soloist and chamber music ...

*Anna-Liisa Eller *

Mari Kalkun Mari Kalkun (born 1 April 1986) is an Estonian singer and musician who specializes in contemporary folk music. She has performed at home and abroad with the ensemble Runorum, releasing several recordings since 2007. In 2013, she was voted the bes ...

References

External links