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Martti Eliel Pokela was a
FinnishFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
folk musician and composer. Pokela was an expert with the
kanteleA kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...
, Finland's national
musical instrumentA musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
.
Life and career
Pokela and his wife, Marjatta Pokela, were widely credited with ushering in a revival in interest in Finnish folk music beginning in the 1950s. Their daughter, Eveliina Pokela, began performing with them in the 1960s.
Pokela merged traditional Finnish folk music with contemporary sounds. He and his family's albums have been released outside of Finland.
Pokela taught the kantele at the
Sibelius AcademyThe Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
in
HelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and
KuopioKuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...
until 1987. He was the founder of the academy's folk music department, where he was named a full professor in 1980.
Albums
- Best of Kantele (1995)
- Sonata For Kantele (1996)
- Snow Kantele (1998)
- "Tuulikumpu" (2001)
- Improsette by Martti Pokela (2005)
External links