- artist:Hannu Lehtoranta
- featured artist:Arto Kakko, Kimmo Pohjonen, Martti Pokela, Tapani Varis, Hannu Tähtelä, Aladin Abbas
- release year:2005
- style(s):Ethnic
- country:Finland
- formats:CD (Compact Disc)
- record posted by:Kaustinen Folk Music Festival
- label:Folk Music Institute
Hannu Lehtoranta has played his modern Kalevalaic music for nearly 30 years. The group Fyyralyyra’s debut album was part of the first wave of the Finnish ethno music scene in the 1970´s. During the next decade, his second group, Tuulenkantajat, were among the first to rock with their five-string Kanteles, steering away from the well-trodden paths.
The 1990’s and the beginning of the new millennium, were periods of seraching for new musical horizons. Several finished but unreleased demos saw the light of day, with Hannu emerging as a songwriter, flute soloist and a clubdanceambientpsychedelist.
Taivaallinen kuu (The Celestial Moon) marks a full circle for Hannu, but at the same time ventures as far out as a record by a Finnish musician possibly can. Here the ancient modernist introduces more musical instruments than most people know the names of, as well as a bunch of fellow musicians, and takes a Kalevalaic Trip from the Karelian Peninsula to Nairob, from the Saint Sigfrid Church in sibbo to Aboa Castle and Hitonhauta (Devil’s tomb) in Laukaa, Finland.
A real treat here is Hannu’s interpretation of Akseli and Mary Gallen-Kallela’s Kenyan treasures from 1909-1911. Mother Africa blends in with the black night by the light of the Celestial Moon. Indeed, cultural history is destined to be rediscovered, to be given a new birth.
Hannu Saha, transl. by Markku Helin