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Peter Phippen & Arja Kastinen new album release May 19, 2020 – “Forest of a Thousand Songs”

News

May 08, 2020

The second collaboration album from Peter Phippen and Arja Kastinen is released on May 19, 2020. The album Forest of a Thousand Songs (TEMPS07) is published digital only. Journalists and album reviewers can also ask for a promotional CD from kantele(at)temps.fi. The album can be found on Spotify, Amazon etc. If you wish to support the artists directly, please download the hight quality 320 kbps mp3 at temps.fi/store.

“I must be honest here, I have now listened to this album 3 times in a row and I’m really having a hard job pulling away from it. Forest of a Thousand Songs by Peter Phippen & Arja Kastinen is probably one of the finest examples of flute and string based ambient music I have heard for absolutely years.”        (Steve Sheppard, One World Music Radio)

“In this album, we feel as if we are part of the forest, part of the whole, and an integral part of a thousand timeless, eternal songs. A thousand accolades for this album.”  (Dyan Garris, New Age CD)

Peter Phippen: Shakuhachi & Ocarina
Arja Kastinen: Kanteles
All music: Peter Phippen & Arja Kastinen
ISRC: FI – 9TE – 20 – 00001-00008
EAN 6430032710044

Tracks:

  1. Night Born 5’52
  2. The Water’s Mistress 2’26
  3. Aspen Meeting 6’23
  4. Why Do You Weep, Wooden Bark? 4’09
  5. Sun-Bird 5’34
  6. And the Great Oak Sighed 3’53
  7. Risen From Stone 5’34
  8. Ten Seeds 6’06

Total length 40’29

Recording: Ivar Lunde and Arja Kastinen
Editing and mixing: Arja Kastinen
Mastering: Taito Hoffrén
Graphic desing: Petri Lampela

Listen to in Spotify:

The instrumental parts are improvised. Arja recorded her parts in Finland and Peter his in the US. After the parts were recorded Arja edited and mixed the parts along with the background soundscapes. The soundsapes are built from edited kantele and nature sounds, and the sounds of the ringing stone, Klockarsten in the island of Nötö, Finland.

Peter is specialized in traditional flutes from around the world. Over the last three decades Peter has researched the history and performance technique of flutes both ancient and modern. Read more: peterphippen.com. On this album Peter plays the Shakuhachi bamboo-flute and the ocarina.

Arja plays the 11-string alto kantele made by Jan-Anton Kallioinen (tracks 1-3) and the 15-string kantele made by Keijo Säteri (Leppävirta, Finland, track 5), and also these kanteles made by Rauno Nieminen: the 10-string kantele with bronze strings (tracks 4 and 7), the 5-string kantele with bronze strings (track 8) and the 5-string kantele with viscose strings (tracks 6 and 8).

The kanteles played on the album “Forest of a Thousand Songs”. The lowest is the 11-string alto kantele made by Jan-Anton Kallioinen. On the upper right corner you can see the 15-string kantele made by Keijo Säteri. And on the left there are the two 5-string kanteles and one 10-string kantele made by Rauno Nieminen.

The ringing stone of the Nötö island (Klockarsten) was recorded in September 2014 when Arja visited the island with her friend Tuula Olkanen. The low and not so very big (ca. 1,6 m2) stone has round, ground cups, and it has been thought to have served as a signal stone for seal hunters and fishermen. It may also have served as a sacrificial stone in the same way as other prehistoric cupstones. Here is one short video footage by Tuula from September 2014: