Southwell Minster Kankles Concert
On the 6th of February 2026 the Southwell Minster held an intriguing concert.
Virtuoso Emilija a musician of 16 years honed music skills performed music repertoires on the Kankles.
Emilija has been awarded the title of the National Laureate of Lithuania her home country twice. The Kankles musical instrument is rarely known around the world, but has a long traditional history in Lithuania. It is a stringed box instrument comprising or 5 to 12 strings. Made from Lithuanian pine and fir trees gives it's unique sounding ambience.
Developed in the 15th century it's purpose served traditional folk music and church choir music accompaniments, along with Baltic pagan rituals use and it's mythological connections. Predecessors of the Kankles instruments go back thousands of years to ancient Greece.
In the 6th and 3rd century the Lyre music instrument shaped like a smaller modern day harp and the Zither an ancient box musical instrument is similar design to the Kankles. The Zither was usually tuned to D Major key. It only used a pentatonic scale of five notes per octave.
Over time different cultures adapted their design of the Kankles, in Latvia, Russia, Estonia and Finland. Emilija described between her repertoires the relevance of the music compositions she performed and connections with folklore and nature.
Emilija diverse pieces included The Forest Idyll (III parts) by Alfonsas Mikulskis (1909 -83 and Prelude and Fugue in C by Jonas Svedas (1908-71) also Remaer by Caroline Elizabeth Harding to name a few. Emilija modern Kankles has 29 strings and levers to enable key changes and chromatic scale modern music demands. These music compositions gave the full scope of the Kankles instrument.
The Zither instrument is included in the film production music themes the 1948 film The Third Man and the Kankles was used in the iconic 2000 film Gladiator. This gives the Kankles a special music genre. It was a privilege to hear this concert live at Southwell Minster.