Finlands Värttinä are distinguished by the fact that they have invented a unique roots-based vocal/instrumental style combining traditional Finno-Ugric vocal elements with original compositions and dynamic performance. Blending ancient Finnish runo poetry, distinctive vocal harmonies, traditional and modern acoustic instrumentation, complex rhythms and imaginative arrangements, the front line of three female singers with backline of six acoustic musicians are forging their own path in contemporary music.
On recordings and in concert, the singers voices and unique harmonies are the main attraction. Their style is their own, born of the Värttinä collective creative energy but with deep roots in the womens singing traditions of Finno-Ugric tribes of the east, including Karelia, Setu, Mari Republic, Ingria, Mordva and others. One key feature of these styles is extremely close harmonies, so close that they often seem strange to untuned western ears.
In 1983, a small group of pre-teen girls in Rääkkylä, in the Karelia region of Eastern Finland, started by sisters Sari and Mari Kaasinen and their mother Pirkko, began to recite and sing old Karelian traditional poetry and songs, accompanying themselves on kantele, the Finnish national zither-like instrument. What began as a hobby quickly became a mission: to revive forgotten traditional Karelian songs and to present them in new ways. The group soon became 21-strong with fifteen singers and six young players on accordion, saxophone, guitar, double bass, fiddle and flute. Seeking new ways of presentation, the singers developed a more aggressive and powerful vocal style; loud, almost shouting. This vocal/instrumental concept was provocative and new to folk music and to Finland and Värttinä rapidly gained national recognition.
Interest in Finland grew quickly over the next five years resulting in concert performances nationwide and two albums. The first album, entitled Värttinä, recorded in Rääkkylä, Karelia in April 1987 and released on their own label, comprised traditional Karelian songs arranged mostly by Sari Kaasinen. The arrangements and presentation were exuberant and provocative and after their breakthrough appearances at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival the same year, where they were named Band of the Year, the album became a favourite in the domestic folk music scene with word of the band trickling up to mainstream audiences.
The second album, Musta Lindu Black Bird recorded in Nurmijärvi in early 1989 again featured traditional Karelian songs, this time arranged primarily by Sari with additional arrangement from some of the other band members. These pieces were even more adventurous than those on the first album, slightly darker with more unorthodox arrangements. While perhaps not as well received as the first album, Musta Lindu did clearly indicate the more uncompromising side of the band as developing artists who were not out to replicate the past but instead were seeking to reinvent folk music.
Thank you so much for the friendship!I am very pleased to be one of your friends!I love your wonderful/magical/ music!I hope that I will see you back at Sziget Festival soon!Have a happy & blessed Easter!Cheers,attila!
Sisu ja Nosturi tarjoaa mahdollisuuden päästä keikalle Nosturiin!! Yleisö äänestää voittajabändin. Ilmoita bändisi mukaan samantien, liittyminen tai äänestäminen, kaikki on äärimmäisen helppoa, tsekkaa vaikka: http://www.suomalaistasisua.fi/sisullastagelle
hi! here you can see two very young(2&4 years old) fans seeing you play for the first time in their lives! they've been hearing your music before, but since they've seen you , they demand me to play "the ladies" almost every day, still! hope to see you coming summer! KvdR
