Värttinä

Värttinä (Finnish for " spindle" ) is a Finnish band whose music is fed mainly from the Finnish- Karelian music tradition, but also from modern influences. It sing almost exclusively women, and exclusively in the Karelian dialect of Finnish. The instruments are almost always played by men.

Band History

Beginnings in the tradition

The band was founded in 1983 in the small Karelian town Rääkkylä in Southeast Finland as a group of young musicians in their teens. The girls were doing much in the majority. The composition of the resulting band was initially relatively free, some sang and played music together about 20 young musicians. The repertoire of the early years consisted primarily of the traditional Karelian songs and pieces that were played on the local instrument, the kantele. However, despite the greater flexibility in positioning the group was from the beginning the musical direction of the sisters Sari (vocals, kantele, accordion) and Mari Kaasinen (vocals, kantele, accordion). It was probably especially the two sisters who moved the group musically and penetrated to a deeper exploration and revitalization of the local music tradition. Out of this initial period, the first two LPs, Värttinä (1987) and Musta Lindu come (1989, later re-released as Black Bird ). The singer and violinist Pauliina Luukkanen left the band in 1989, married the Finnish musician Peter Lerche and has since been on a Pauliina Lerche.

Paradigm shift

At the beginning of the 1990s, the "loose " musical and organizational approach of Värttinä changed fundamentally. In 1990, a major replacement of the participants took place, which led to a professionalism that it had until then not been in the group. Subsequently, the band was only ten " solid " member. Sari and Mari Kaasinen formed along with fellow longtime member Kirsi Kähkönen (vocals ) and Janne Lappalainen bouzouki the core of the newly formed basically band, which was supplemented by some in Finland widely recognized instrumentalists. With five singers and five musicians ( four of them male) Värttinä extended their repertoire considerably, both by traditional music from other Finnish regions and especially to their own pieces. At the same time the music developed more towards pop music, without having to be referred to as such can. In some ways the sound of Värttinä can be described as world music, but they never drew their inspiration from the general fund of world music, but first and foremost from the indigenous tradition. Their exploration was always referred to by the band as the highest goal of their musical work. A first evidence of this development is the LP Oi Dai 1991, which was commercially in both the short and the long term very successful and made known Värttinä outside the borders of Finland.

The next two albums, Seleniko (1992) and Aitara (1994 ), Värttinä were well known in Germany. The sound of these albums is even catchier than on Oi Dai, which explains the commercial success to some extent. In addition, acts of harmony and antiphonal singing of the women still much more sophisticated, their voices sound " adult " and acts the music itself inspired, complex and technically skilled. Like most albums pieces are complemented with vocals and instruments through a cappella and instrumental pieces. The instrumental pieces are often played fast and in " odd " clocks about 9/16 in Pihi Neito from the album Seleniko.

New ways

Mid-1990 the band reached international breakthrough in the field of world music. The album Kokko 1997 was able to record great success both in Europe and in the USA. International tours and appearances at festivals followed. However, a deep musical incision represented the departure of Sari Kaasinen from the band since then runs her own band Sirmakka, solo projects under her own name and Kantele - school for young musicians. For she joined Susan Aho (vocals, accordion) Värttinä.

End of the 90s Värttinä changed again the basic musical direction that has already been tried on in Kokko approaches. Kokko and the next two albums, Vihma (1998) and Ilmatar (2000), form a kind of trilogy, whose overarching theme is the Karelian mythology. The time is also associated with frequent changes in the cast and the record companies. Musically be Värttinä experimental bind new elements, including Tuvan throat singers and musicians of the Tuvan traditional elements processed rock band Yat- Kha.

While the international success continued to grow and expanded mainly to Japan and East - Central Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary ), the band released the 2001 live album 6:12 which reproduces the concert on 6 December 2000 at the Savoy Theatre in Helsinki. Despite the very good recording quality, the atmosphere of a Värttinä concerto on this recording can only be guessed. On the next album iki 2003 were heard than on any Värttinä publication before have so few different voices. In addition to the long-standing violinist Kari Reiman and bassist Pekka Lehti also a singer Kirsi Kähkönen left after long years of the band, so that with Mari Kaasinen, Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen only three women sang. Most of today's gambling at Värttinä musicians were, however, before joining the band in Finland popular and well-known instrumentalists. The main focus of the album is probably much more on the music itself than on all the other albums before iki. In addition, the band has, similar to Kokko eight years earlier, pretty much closer to the rock and pop field.

Were Värttinä 2003 by the American magazine Utne Reader next to the musicians Tom Waits and Dave Douglas, the architect Shigeru Ban and the installation artist Matthew Barney among the 40 most important artists of the world ( Movers and Shakers - The 40 Most Exciting, Soulful Artists of 2003-40 Artists Who Will Shake the World) selected. 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 premiered in February 2006 in Toronto. 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

• Värttinä (1987 ), re-release 1997
• Musta Lindu (1989) re-release as a Blackbird 1998
• Oi Dai (1991 )
• Seleniko (1992)
• Aitara (1994 )
• Kokko (1996 )
• Vihma (1998)
• Ilmatar (2000)
• 6:12 (2001), live
• Double Life (2002), a double CD: Compilation and 6:12
• Iki (2003)
• Snow Angel (2005), Compilation, available only in the Czech Republic
• Miero (2006)
• 25 (2007)
• Utu (2012 )

Website

• Official website of the band
• Full Discography

• World Music Band
• Folk Band
• Rock band
• Pop band
• Finnish band
• Rääkkylä