The title of this post translates from Finnish as 'I'll leave behind my beautiful golden cross'. It is the first line of the chorus of my next composition for music.
I'm going to tell you a little about said composition.
It basically has to have a link to world music in it, so I thought I'd use a big ol' reference to Finnish folklore (it's not totally random, my dad happens to be Finnish). I chose the story of Aino from the Kalevala (Finnish national epic poem type thing); Aino is meant to marry this old wizardy man and she doesn't want to so she drowns herself. But I liked it because it's oh so tragic and symbolic and one of the phrases that stuck in my mind was about how she left all her pretty things like her golden cross and her silk dress on the shore.
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| picture : taidetupalehikoinen.fi |
Then I decided I wanted to put my own spin on it, so it's not just recycling someone else's ideas and stuff (I'm using a choir and very traditional melodic devices and instruments). So I'm going to put the verses -in English- into a more modern context. I thought I might say things like 'I can shave off all my hair and still be a girl' and other defiant, feministy things. Because when I read the story of Aino, the theme of defiance stands out to me - the fact that NO, she will NOT become someone's wife if she doesn't want to, and she would rather drown herself than just obey. This, to me, is the ultimate symbol of defiance.
So I'm basically combining the ideas oppression from that era and now, using traditional techniques and out-of-context lyrics. A kind of Aino = activist grrrl type thing.
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| Me in Finland 3 years ago. |
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| I love Finland. |
Love
Sinead
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