Runosong melodies on a 5 string kantele

Five runosong melodies with variations played on a 5-string kantele. The kantele is a replica made by Rauno Nieminen. It has bronze strings. The original was made by the famous runosinger Ontrei Malinen in 1833 in Vuonninen, Viena Karelia. The kantele is tuned according to the harmonics, and thus it's not in Equal Temperament.

You can find old runosongmelodies online at: esavelmat.jyu.fi - "Haku" - "tarkennettu haku" - "kokoelmat". And when you scroll down from the "kokoelmat", you can find two collections of runosongs: "Runosävelmät I" and "Runosävelmät II". After choosing either of them just click the "Hae" button in the bottom right corner of the page.

The five runosong melodies that are played on this video were collected by Axel August Borenius (Lähteenkorva) in 1877 and in 1879 in Ilomantsi, Leppävirta and Kivijärvi (Hiitola). You can transpose the melodies and you should also variate them; only one or two basic phrases are written down.