Finnish tango
The Finnish Tango is similar to the Tango Argentino of the 1930s, but the Finnish version is more often in the minor rather than the major and has descending rather than ascending melodies. The lyrics are mostly sung in Finnish, occasionally in Swedish or also in German or Spanish.
In addition to humppa and other couple dances , tango is very common in Finland among people born before 1960. But even today, young people often still master the basic steps of tango. The Finnish tango is not danced as an artful dance of the South American style. The dance couples usually move in a basic step; dance is not seen as a performance, but as a leisure activity.
Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki likes to use Finnish tango as part of his film music . He judged tango: "Tango is our national music."
Important interpreters of the Finnish tango are among others. a.
The two most influential composers were Toivo Kärki (also wrote under different pseudonyms) and Unto Mononen . There are also numerous important composers, u. a. Pentti Viherluoto, Walter Rae and Rauno Lehtinen. The permanent repertoire also includes international tangos that have been translated into Finnish and have almost taken the form of independent versions.
How tango came to Finland
Tango originated in South America at the end of the 19th century. When he came to Finland in 1913 (the whole of Europe was gripped by tango fever that year), the Finns felt that tango had understood them in their suffering under Russian rule. Tango expressed what was impossible to talk about.
Even in the winter war of 1939/40, during the invasion of the now independent Finland, the melancholy power and dynamic passion of tango, which the government even banned from dancing, provided an outlet for the population. However, the people did not let themselves be deterred from composing; this created a unique style of music full of poetry, sadness and depth.
Toivo Kärki's Siks' oon mä suruinen ('That's why I'm sad'; German version: So sad and alone) ushered in the first heyday of Finnish tango at the time of the Second World War. Toivo Kärki (1915–1992), originally a jazz musician, combined the sentimentality of Russian romances with the rhythm of German marching music.
After musicologists dismissed the second, brief bloom in the 1960s as a defiant reaction of the Finnish rural population to Anglo-American "steel wire music", the tango has established itself in the city as well as in the country. The third flowering of Finnish tango began in the 1980s and continues to this day.
Finnish tango today
Tango music is now practiced in restaurants and dance halls, on the ferries to Sweden and Estonia, but especially on weekends in summer with the so-called "Lavatanssi" (dance on the wooden floor). The numerous dance bands usually alternately play two pieces of tango, humppa, jenkka and waltz, plus possibly Schlager, Latin and danceable pop or rock songs. Tango is still played on the accordion. The tango can be found on festive occasions, village festivals, but also in pedestrian zones.
Since 1985, the so-called Tango Market has been held in Seinäjoki for a week in July . Tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world come to Seinäjoki for this occasion. This large, multi-day festival has now developed into a hit competition. Nevertheless, a tango queen and a tango king were chosen every year until 2008, and since then only either a king or a queen. This is often the beginning of a career as a tango and hit artist. Occasionally, tango princesses have also become successful.
Harri Kaitila , the Finnish tangotenor, has been translating Finnish tangos into German since 1999. Before him, MA Numminen has already interpreted selected tangos in German with an ironic undertone. Timo Valtonen is also currently an important representative of Finnish tango in other European countries, especially in Germany. As a “cultural ambassador” of Finland, the charismatic singer and entertainer celebrates traditional Finnish tango with modern influences from jazz and world music with his formation Tangon Taikaa. The Frankfurt Ensemble Bändi is a German band that plays Finnish tango with new, own arrangements of the classics of Finnish tango. Their debut CD Satumma-Finnish Tango, released in 2007, is considered the first ever recording of Finnish tangos by a German band.
Web links
- Finnish Tango on Welcome to Finland ( page no longer available )
- Seinäjoen Tangomarkkinat , the largest tango festival in Finland
- Midsummer Night Tango, a film by Viviane Blumenschein. Mirror online
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mervi Koponen tangokuningatar vuosimallia 2011 . yle.fi, July 12, 2011 (Finnish) Retrieved July 11, 2013
- ↑ Vuoden 2012 Tangokuninkaaksi kruunattiin Pekka Mikkola . ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. yle.fi, July 15, 2012 (Finnish). Retrieved July 11, 2013
- ↑ Heidi Pakarinen kruunattiin tangokuningattareksi . Turun Sanomat , July 11, 2013 (Finnish). Retrieved July 11, 2013
