The subtitle Voice of Kannel on this release refers to a musical instrument, the Estonian kannel. It is a box zither, closely related to the Finnish kantele, played horizontally like an autoharp. The instrument is thought to be at least 2,000 years old, but it has been revived in its homeland and has even given rise to an electric version, played here in improvised preludes and postludes by soloist Anna-Liisa Eller. The title "voices of kannel" might have been more apropos, for the instrument can produce quite a variety of sounds in addition to the shimmering, overtone-like quality of the electric instrument. Eller can muster up a certain amount of historical justification for using the kannel in medieval and Renaissance music. Its more distant relatives include the harp and psaltery, either of which could conceivably have been used to play much of the music on the album. There's less justification for using it in Baroque music, but who cares? The kannel can take on the sound of a harpsichord at times, and it has a remarkable dynamic range for an instrument of its type; listen to the Tombeau sur la morte de Mr. Comte de Logy of Sylvius Leopold Weiss for an idea. Harmonia Mundi's sound from the concert hall La Courroie is ideal, and Eller's playing is lively and clean. The whole thing has a slight flavor of approaching familiar western European styles from a perspective in which they are all slightly exotic, and this is really a great pleasure.