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Hello all surfers out there. I just made this small
page to call your attention to a fantastic group
:Värttinä from Finland. Why? - because I'm a friendly
man and want to share with others if I enjoy something
and this music is really enjoyable. This is not a
fan-page -as I can not tell news to the fans- , rather an
appreciation of the group , and maybe some surfer take a
fancy to check this music. |
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 The radios are playing mostly the boy-group
and techno shit and not too much quality music (at least
here in Hungary but I'm afraid the situation is not much
better in other countries) and not everybody is so lucky
to meet with them accidentally as I did. Walking with my
friends on the SzigetFestivalBudapest August 2000
(looking for some beer) when I heard a funny music from
the WorldMusicStage where just started a concert. I went
closer to check it , and this was so exciting, I can not
move anymore (just my hands as I was clapping a lot). I
was mesmerized by the energy and livingness of that
group. The other some thousand guy had the same feelings
as there was four encores (the last without microphones
as the technicians switched off the amplifiers already).
I checked the program sheet after the concert and
identified the group as "Värttinä" from
Finland. Spent the next days(weeks) with searching for
their CD-s and surfing the net for info. I believed
that my enthusiasm will fade with the time but listening
the CD-s a lot it just increasing. They was here again
next year and at least the same succes again. This was
a fantastic evening and they are simple the best band.
You must see this yourself. A brilliant performance and
an ecstatic crowd. Kiitos ! I have seen since that some
more concerts of them and was always completely satisfied.
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| Their story in nutshells: The band founded in
Rääkkylä , a small village in Karelia, in 1983. This
was a large group of children (age 10-15), mostly girls,
singing folk-songs and playing kantele. They released two
albums in this formation. Turning point 1989: The band
dissolved as the members grew up, but some core members
moved to Helsinki and re-found Värttinä with additional
musicians from the rock scene. Generally we speak about
this new Värttinä. Within some years they become a big
name in world-music, releasing 6 albums (all of them hit
the charts) and touring around the world. Sounds like a
Hollywood story -- some talented young from a small
village go to the big city and become world-stars -- but
not to forget the talent and the hard work behind the
success. |
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Their music is based on the Finno-Ugric musical
traditions. On the first album mostly are arranged
traditional songs and on the recent albums are their own
compositions but inspired by folk melodies and lyrics. I
can not make a detailed review of their music due the
lack of skill in music and due my bad English. I can not
speak about eg. “irregular meters”, but on the link
page you find a lot of professional reviews, or read from
the most authentic source: here is an article by Kari
Reiman about runo songs.
 Listening the songs ,first you
will recognize the singers. Hard to describe their
singing style as this is powerful but womanly , energetic
but charming, shrill in a moment but soft in the next.
Sure you will be enchanted. The female vocal is their
trademark but not less important are the musicians. They
are using only acoustical instruments. The members all
are well experienced masters of their instruments and
some of them are teacher in the Finnish Music Academy. They are
playing in other projects too in a wide range, from jazz
to rock. A nice surprise for me the intensive and
interesting use of accordion as this is not too usual in
Hungary. I never imagined that accordion can sounds as a
Jazz instrument, and Värttinä always was strong in
accordionists. The songs are in Finnish and this gave a
special taste to them. Reading some language book hard to
believe that Hungarian and Finnish are relatives. Indeed
both has a lot of cases , endings , vowel changes and are
completely different to the Indo-European languages.
After all listening the songs sure you will learn some
words like "tyttö"," laulu" or
"kylä" . |
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| This kind of music usually called as world-music but
this tell not too much about that. In the world-music
basket are everything what is not Anglo-Saxon pop, and
this is a very wide range from European folk to Asia or
Africa. Basically this means something involved with folk
music , in this case with Finno-Ugric folk music. We can
name their music as folk-rock , world-beat , or may I say
ethno-jazz ? Especially if I use the word;-jazz as a term
of quality music. After all nothing compare to Värttinä
and the best if you listen the music and find a name
yourself. |
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This quotation from “Jazz Time” is a good
summary:
“You have to be half-dead or heavily MTV-sedated not to
get caught up in the delirious spirit put forth by the
Finnish group Värttinä” |
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