Ton's Musical Musings: The Horse Hair Orchestra

Another highlight of the Sommelo Festival in Finland was Jouhiorkesteri, otherwise known as the Horse Hair Orchestra.

Thanks to musician, instrument maker and researcher Rauno Nieminen another ancient instrument has been revived from museological hibernation. This time it's not the kantele - a plucked zither which, according to recent theories, has been derived from Celtic lyres - but the jouhikko, a bowed lyre which has been in use around the Baltic Sea until the beginning of the 20th century. Its strings are stopped by simply resting the finger on them instead of pressing them down on a fingerboard.

So far the jouhikkos Rauno and fellow orchestra member Marianne Maans have built, are equipped with metal and nylon strings, but experiments are already being done with traditional materials such as gut and horse hair. Jouhiorkesteri, a quartet of jouhikkos including a bass version plus incidental vocals, mouth harp and willow flute, is devoted to the ancient art of Nordic European drone music. They sound like a primordial string quartet, incredibly rich in harmonics.

Their debut album "Nikodemus" is available from Aania Records in Finland.

Further information: www.aania.fi and www.jouhiorkesteri.com