Värttinä
| Värttinä | |
|---|---|
 Värttinä in Helsinki on May 12, 2007 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Rääkkylä , Finland |
| Genre (s) | World music , folk , rock , pop |
| founding | 1983 |
| Website | www.varttina.com |
| Founding members | |
| Sari Kaasinen (until 1996) | |
Singing, kantele, accordion |
Mari Kaasinen |
Singing, violin
|
Minna Haikola (until 1986) |
Singing, violin |
Pauliina Luukkanen (later Pauliina Lerche , until 1989) |
Singing, kantele |
Terhi Hirvonen (until 1987) |
Singing, kantele |
Nina Mononen (until 1989) |
Singing, kantele |
Heidi Pakarinen (until 1989) |
Singing, kantele |
Sari Tyynelä (until 1989) |
Singing, kantele |
Jaana Vänskä (until 1989) |
singing |
Kirsi Kähkönen (until 2002) |
singing |
Minna Rautianen (until 1992) |
| Janne Lappalainen (until 2008) | |
Singing, kantele |
Kirsi Harinen (until 1989) |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Mari Kaasinen |
Vocals, accordion |
Susan Aho (since 1997) |
singing |
Karoliina Kantelinen (since 2012) |
Accordion, Irish whistles, flute, piano, keyboard, vocals |
Matti Kallio (since 2009) |
Violin, Jouhikko , Nyckelharpa , vocals |
Lassi Logren (1985–1989, 2002–2009, since 2015) |
Guitar, mandolin |
Matti Laitinen (since 2012) |
| Hannu Rantanen (since 2002) | |
| former members | |
singing |
Sirpa Reiman (1989-1999) |
singing |
Riikka Väyrynen (later Timonen, 1999-2001) |
singing |
Johanna Virtanen (later Hytti, 2001–2012) |
Singing, kantele |
Jussi Kaasinen (1985-1989) |
Singing, kantele |
Matleena Pekkanen (1985-1987) |
Singing, kantele |
Saija Vänskä (1985–1989) |
Vocals, accordion |
Johanna Logren (1985-1989) |
Singing, kantele, trumpet
|
Tuomas Logren (1985-1989) |
Double bass, Jouhikko |
Tapani Varis (1985-1989) |
| Olli Varis (1985-1989) | |
| Tommi Viksten (1989-1992) | |
guitar |
Reijo Heiskanen (1992–1993) |
Guitar, Cümbüs tambour
|
Antto Varilo (1993-2009) |
| Petri Hakala (1989–1990) | |
accordion |
Maria Kalaniemi (1989–1990) |
accordion |
Riitta Potinoja (later Kossi, 1990–1997) |
accordion |
Markku Lepistö (1998-2008) |
bass |
Tom Nyman (1989-1993) |
bass |
Pekka Lehti (1993-2002) |
violin |
Kari Reiman (1989-2002) |
Drums, percussion |
Christer Hackman (1989-1991) |
Drums, percussion |
Anssi Nykänen (1994) |
Drums, percussion |
Marko Timonen (1994-2001) |
Drums, percussion |
Jaakko Lukkarinen (2001-2007) |
| Toni Porthen (2007-2011) | |
| Mikko Hassinen (2011-2013) | |
Bodhran , percussion |
Nikko Prauda (1988-1989) |
Värttinä ( Finnish for “spindle”) is a Finnish band whose music is mainly based on the Finnish-Karelian musical tradition, but also from modern influences. Almost only women sing, and only in the Karelian dialect of Finnish . However, the instruments are almost always played by men.
Band history
Beginnings in tradition
The band was founded in 1983 in the small Karelian town of Rääkkylä in south-east Finland as a group of young musicians in their teens . The girls were by far the majority. The formation of the emerging band was relatively free at first, at times around 20 young musicians sang and played together. The repertoire of the early years mainly comprised traditional Karelian songs as well as pieces that were played on the local instrument, the kantele . Despite the flexible setup, the group was under the musical direction of the sisters Sari ( vocals , kantele, accordion ) and Mari Kaasinen (vocals, kantele, accordion) from the start. It was probably mainly the two siblings who brought the group forward musically and urged a deeper exploration and revival of the local musical tradition. The first two LPs, Värttinä (1987) and Musta Lindu (1989, later re-released as Black Bird ) come from this early period . The singer and violinist Pauliina Luukkanen left the band in 1989, married the Finnish musician Peter Lerche and has performed as Pauliina Lerche ever since .
Paradigm shift
At the beginning of the 1990s, Värttinä's "relaxed" musical and organizational approach changed fundamentally. In 1990 there was a major exchange between the participants, which led to a level of professionalism that had not existed in the group before. As a result, the band only consisted of ten "permanent" members. Sari and Mari Kaasinen, together with long-time member Kirsi Kähkönen (vocals) and bouzouki player Janne Lappalainen, formed the core of the basically newly founded band, which was supplemented by some instrumentalists who are widely recognized in Finland. With five female singers and five musicians (four of them male), Värttinä expanded their repertoire considerably, both with traditional music from other Finnish regions and, above all, with their own pieces. At the same time, the music developed more in the direction of pop music , without being able to be called such. In some ways the sound of Värttinä can be described as world music , but they never drew their inspiration from the entire pool of world music, but first and foremost from the local tradition. Their exploration has always been named by the band as the primary goal of their musical work. A first example of this development is the LP Oi Dai from 1991, which was very successful commercially both in the short and long term and made Värttinä known outside of Finland's borders.
With the next two albums, Seleniko (1992) and Aitara (1994), Värttinä also became known in Germany. The sound of these albums is even more catchy than on Oi Dai , which partly explains the commercial success. In addition, the harmony - and alternating singing of the women seem even more mature, their voices sound "grown up" and the music itself seems more inspired, complex and technically adept. As on most albums, pieces with vocals and instruments are supplemented by a cappella and instrumental pieces . The instrumental pieces are often played quickly and in "odd" bars , around 9/16 in Pihi Neito from the album Seleniko .
New ways again
In the mid-1990s, the band made their international breakthrough in the field of world music. The 1997 album Kokko enjoyed great success in both Europe and the USA. International tours and performances at festivals followed. The departure of Sari Kaasinen from the band, which has since run her own band Sirmakka , solo projects under her own name and a kantele school for young musicians, represented a deep musical turning point . Susan Aho (vocals, accordion) joined Värttinä for them.
At the end of the 90s, Värttinä changed the basic musical direction again, which was already beginning to be followed on Kokko . Kokko and the next two albums, Vihma (1998) and Ilmatar (2000), form a kind of trilogy whose overarching theme is Karelian mythology. However, the time is also associated with frequent changes in the line-up and record labels . Musically, Värttinä are becoming more experimental, incorporating new elements, including Tuvinian larynx singing and musicians from the Tuvinian rock band Yat-Kha, which uses traditional elements .
While the international success continued to grow and mainly extended to Japan and Eastern Central Europe ( Czech Republic , Slovakia and Hungary ), the band released the live album 6.12 in 2001 , which reproduces the concert on December 6, 2000 in the Savoy Theater in Helsinki . Despite the very good recording quality, the atmosphere of a Värttinä concert can only be guessed at on this recording. On the following album iki from 2003 there were fewer different voices to be heard than on any Värttinä release before. In addition to long-time violinist Kari Reiman and bassist Pekka Lehti, singer Kirsi Kähkönen also left the band after many years, so that only three women sang with Mari Kaasinen, Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen. Most of the musicians playing at Värttinä today, however, were popular and well-known instrumentalists in Finland even before they joined the band. The main focus of the album is probably much more on the music itself than on any other album before iki . In addition, like on Kokko eight years earlier, the band has moved very much closer to the rock - pop field .
Värttinä were named among the 40 most important artists in the world by the American magazine Utne Reader in 2003 alongside the musicians Tom Waits and Dave Douglas , the architect Shigeru Ban and the installation artist Matthew Barney ( Movers and Shakers - The 40 Most Exciting, Soulful Artists of 2003 - 40 Artists Who Will Shake the World ) was chosen. From 2004 worked Värttinä together with the Indian film music - composer A. R. Rahman on the soundtrack for the musical The Lord of the Rings , which in February 2006 in Toronto was first performed. At the end of January of the year appeared the new album Miero , again on a new record label, the world music label Real World of Peter Gabriel .
Discography
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Albums
- Värttinä (1987), republished in 1997
- Musta Lindu (1989), republished as Black Bird 1998
-
Oi Dai (1991, FI:
platinum) - Seleniko (1992)
- Aitara (1994)
- Kokko (1996)
- Vihma (1998)
- Ilmatar (2000)
- 6.12 (2001), live
- Double Life (2002), double CD: compilation and 6.12
- iki (2003)
- Snow Angel (2005), Compilation, only in the Czech Republic available
- Miero (2006)
- 25 (2007)
- Utu (2012)
- Viena (2015)
Singles
- Lasetus (2013)
Web links
- Official website
- Complete discography
- Meetings (Nordic Music)
- Värttinä at Allmusic (English)
- Värttinä at Discogs (English)