The Source of Sound
fri 11 sep 2026 21:00 hrs
Source of Sound 129 – From Siberia to Scandinavia
On Friday 11 September 2026, the Source of Sound presents the final instalment in its series on the music of the peoples living around the Arctic. The previous programmes were broadcast on 12 June, focusing on the Inuit of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the far east of Siberia. On 10 July, the programme explored Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka. On 14 August, we turned to the Nganasans of the Taymyr Peninsula, the northernmost part of the Eurasian mainland. Tonight, the Source of Sound travels from Siberia to Scandinavia, bringing you music from many of the peoples who live in this vast region. Much of this music is difficult to hear, as it does not fit the tastes of those in power or the interests of an increasingly centralised music industry and media landscape, which force us to listen to the same music and advertisements over and over again. Fortunately, that is not the case at the Concertzender, where programmes such as the Source of Sound continue to bring you music and sounds that are rarely heard—or never heard at all.
Evenki and the Amur River
We’ll start off with a song about an elegant and handsome young man, performed by singer Ulyana Vasilyeva. It’s a recording by Alexandra Lavrillier, released on the CD Évenk: Chants rituels des nomades de la Taïga. Another three songs from this CD will be played, among which is a shamanic ritual. The word ‘shaman’ itself is derived from their language and entered international usage through Dutch. Additionally, we’ll listen to four songs from the Amur River region, performed by Nanai, Udege, and Ulch peoples with the drum, mouth harp, four birch-bark horns and a buzzer. These recordings were made by Henri Lecomte and are on the CD Chants Chamaniques et Quotidiens du Bassin de l’Amour.
The Many Peoples of Central Siberia
Next in line are three songs by the Ket, who speak an isolated language in central Siberia and have genetic links to the indigenous peoples of North America, playing a bone mouth harp together with a buzzer. An additional fragment featuring an earth shaman and his ritual will be heard, followed by six songs by the Evenki, Tofalar, Dolgan, Selkup, and Nenets, also from central Siberia. Starting off with two instrumental pieces featuring a mouth harp and a trumpet-like instrument, followed by songs about a type of tractor known locally as an artel tractor, shamanism, little hooves representing children—accompanied by a rattle made from small reindeer hooves—the fishermen of the Ob River, and a personal song, a phenomenon we encounter here as well. With this, we conclude the first part of tonight’s Source of Sound.
The Far North of Europe
In this second part of tonight’s Source of Sound, we venture on through Western Siberia and the European Far North. Starting off strong with the Khanty and Mansi, who are related to the Finns and Hungarians and play the zither, followed up by three songs by the Kola Sámi, from the part of Russia bordering northern Norway and Finland. They sing about beautiful Katrin, a song about grandfather, and girls strolling through the small village of Tuloma. All of these are recordings by Russian ethnomusicologist Igor Bogdanov, whose work we heard earlier on in the series. The recordings are rather short, as was common at the time, due to limited resources. They can be compared to the four songs of the Sámi in Norway that follow. These were recorded by Swiss ethnomusicologist Wolfgang Laade and his German colleague Dieter Christensen in 1955 and released on the LP Lappish Joik Songs from Northern Norway. Their later recordings were almost never this short. The songs tell a story of a wealthy Sámi man from around 200 years ago who owned a large reindeer herd, the 1852 uprising in which the Sámi resisted the state church of Norway, and three people from the time of the recordings.
Next are four songs by the Finnish Sámi women’s trio Angelin Tytöt, with titles such as “Glutton”, “Fire”, “For My Cousin”, and “Strength to You”, all performed with voices and drums. We conclude today’s programme with two Finnish instrumental pieces played on the kantele, a Finnish zither. The first is related to the Finnish epic Kalevala and is therefore known as a melody in the Kalevala style. The second is called Konevitsan Kirkonkellot (“The Church Bells of Konevitsa”), a melody that imitates the church bells of the Konevitsa Monastery in Karelia. Karelia is the part of Finland that was occupied by the Soviet Union during the Second World War.
The next Source of Sound will be broadcast on Friday, 9 October at 9 p.m. We hope to see you then.
Playlist
01 A beautifull and elegant young man – u-juju 0’51
Uljana Nikolavna Vasileva – voice
CD Évenk Chants rituels des nomads de la Taïga
Buda Records 3015792, tr. 13
series Sibérie 8
recorded by Alexandra Lavrillier at Džilinda, 2000
Evenk
02 As I ride my horse – jangduli 2’07
Oktjabrina Vladimirovna, Svetlana Naumova – voices
CD Évenk Chants rituels des nomads de la Taïga
Buda Records 3015792, tr. 14
series Sibérie 8
recorded by Henri Lecomte at Lengra, 1998
Evenk
03 A song to accompany the departure 3’00
of young men to the army – dèvèjdè
Maria Enokhova, Oktjabrina Vladimirovna Naumova – voices
CD Évenk Chants rituels des nomads de la Taïga
Buda Records 3015792, tr. 11
series Sibérie 8
recorded by Alexandra Lavrillier at Lengra, 1997
Evenk
04 Shamanic ritual 3’52
Savelij Vasilev and his assistants – voices and drum
CD Évenk Chants rituels des nomads de la Taïga
Buda Records 3015792, tr. 21
series Sibérie 8
recorded by Alexandra Lavrillier at Lengra, 1997
Evenk
05 Song about the small aunt 2’01
Nina Pavlovna Gejker – voice, uŋtu drum
CD Chants Chamaniques et Quotidiens du basin de l’Amour
Buda records 92671-2, track 5
series Sibérie 5
recorded by Henri Lecomte at Acan 26-3-1996
Nanaj
06 Muane jew’s harp solo 1’15
Anna Petrovna Khodžer – mouthharp
CD Chants Chamaniques et Quotidiens du basin de l’Amour
Buda records 92671-2, track 14
series Sibérie 5
recorded by Henri Lecomte at Dzari 6-4-1996
Nanaj
07 Four kuinki long horns and a ja buzz-disk 1’25
Ensemble of four young maids and a young boy
CD Chants Chamaniques et Quotidiens du basin de l’Amour
Buda records 92671-2, track 23
series Sibérie 5
recorded by Henri Lecomte at Gvjasugi 16-3-1996
Udēgē
08 Shamanic song with uŋtu drum 3’32
Ekaterina Gavrilovna Obertelina-Eiki – voice, uŋtu drum
CD Chants Chamaniques et Quotidiens du basin de l’Amour
Buda records 92671-2, track 28
series Sibérie 5
recorded by Henri Lecomte at Bulava 20-3-1996
Ulč
09 Instrumental tune 2’11
I. Tyganov – mergeykoya, buzzer of zoemschijf
M. Irikov – pymyl, bone mouthharp
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b25
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Ket
10 Pikulya 1’04
tale song
O.Tyganova – voice
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b26
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Ket
11 Ritual of the Earth Shaman 2’24
Usik – lead voice
T. Korotkikh – assistant voice
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b27
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Ket
12 Evenki melodies 1’26
Yu. Zolotarev – kordaun metal mouthharp
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b34
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Evenki
13 Instrumental tune 0’58
V. Saganov – myrgy trumpet or horn
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b30
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Tofalar
14 Artel tractor 0’35
E. Aksenova – voice, comp, lyrics
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 b29
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Dolgan
15 Shamanic song 0’58
Paes’ – voice
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a22
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Selkup
16 Little hooves song 0’48
N. Ardeeva – voice, tobakotsya rattles
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a13
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Nentsy
17 Song of the Ob fishermen 1’12
A. Laptander
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a14
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Nentsy
18 Ver’ya Nemyang’s song 1’42
L. Nenyang – voice
MC Fly, my reindeer
Igor Bogdanov, 1997, a 17
recording Igor Bogdanov
personal female song
personal male song female singing
Nentsy
19 Dance tune 0’58
L. Tebetev – Nars-Yukh – 7 stringed zither
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a9
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Khanty
20 Men’s dance 0’33
S. Anyamov – Sangkvaltap, zither
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a6
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Mansi
21 Hare brook 0’51
G. Saynakhov – Sangkvaltap, zither
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a4
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Mansi
22 Beautiful Katrin 1’10
P.Konkov – voice
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a1
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Kola Saami
23 My grandfather’s song 0’51
A. Gerrasimova – voice
LP Music of Northern Lights
Melodia C90 30129 001, 1990, LP1 a3
compiled by Igor Bogdanov
Kola Saami
24 Girls stroll along the small village of Tuloma 0’49
Anisia Gerasimova- voice
MC Fly, my reindeer
Igor Bogdanov, 1997, a 5
recording Igor Bogdanov
Traditional Kola reindeer-breeders’ song
25 Eira Ašlak 0’30
Per Henderak Haetta – voice
LP Lappish Joik Songs from Northern Norway
Ethnic Folkways P 1007, 1956, 7
Recorded by Wolfgang Laade and Dieter Christensen in Finnmark, Norway, 1955
About 200 years old from pre-Christian times about a person who had a large reindeer herd
26 A song for different Lappish communities 0’46
Inga Susanne Haetta – voice
LP Lappish Joik Songs from Northern Norway
Ethnic Folkways P 1007, 1956, 26
recorded by Wolfgang Laade and Dieter Christensen in Finnmark, Norway, 1955
About a revolt from 1852 against the state church, The lyrics only partly remembered
27 Mathis Eira and Anders Goup 1’35
Ašlak Bals – voice
LP Lappish Joik Songs from Northern Norway
Ethnic Folkways P 1007, 1956, 42
recorded by Wolfgang Laade and Dieter Christensen in Finnmark, Norway, 1955
Song about an old dead man and another alive. Two songs without pause
28 Nils Kemi 1’47
Ašlak Bals – voice
LP Lappish Joik Songs from Northern Norway
Ethnic Folkways P 1007, 1956, 54
recorded by Wolfgang Laade and Dieter Christensen in Finnmark, Norway, 1955
About Nils Kemi
29 Geatgi (glutton) 2’57
Angelin Tytöt
Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ursula Länsman, Tuuni Länsman – drums, voices
Comp. Ulla Pirttijärvi, lyrics Ursula Länsman
CD Dolla
MIPUCD 102. 1992, tr1
30 Dolla (fire) 3’14
Angelin Tytöt
Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ursula Länsman, Tuuni Länsman – drums, voices
Comp. Sara Máret Gaup
CD Dolla
MIPUCD 102. 1992, tr3
31 Vilbeallai (for my cousin) 2’27
Angelin Tytöt
Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ursula Länsman, Tuuni Länsman – drums, voices
Comp. Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ursula Länsman
CD Dolla
MIPUCD 102. 1992, tr13
32 Fabmun Didjiidde (Strength to you) 3’37
Angelin Tytöt
Ulla Pirttijärvi, Ursula Länsman, Tuuni Länsman – drums, voices
comp Ulla Pirttijärvi
CD Dolla
MIPUCD 102. 1992, tr6
33 Kalevalainen Sävelmä 2’08
Martti Pokela, Eeva-Leena Pokela-Sariola, Matti Kontio – Kantele (zither)
trad.
LP Kantele
Finnlevy SFLP 8578, a2
Finn
34 Konevitsan Kirkonkellot 2’54
Martti Pokela, Eeva-Leena Pokela-Sariola, Matti Kontio – Kantele (zither)
trad. – Karjala
LP Kantele
Finnlevy SFLP 8578, a8
Finn
