Martti Erik (Erkki) Ala-Könni (2 February 1911, Ilmajoki – 2 September 1996,

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

) was a Finnish university professor, ethnomusicologist, researcher, and recorder of Finnish folklore. He received a

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in folk music in 1956 from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

with a dissertation ''Die Polska-Tänze in Finnland'' and directed the Department of Folk Tradition (currently the Department of Music Anthropology) of the

University of Tampere The University of Tampere (UTA) ( fi, Tampereen yliopisto (Tay), ) was a public university in Tampere, Finland that was merged with Tampere University of Technology to create the new Tampere University on 1 January 2019. The university offered u ...

in 1965–1976. Erkki Ala-Könni accumulated a significant collection of traditional Finnish musical instruments,

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, and

hymns A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

, and took more than 100,000 folklore-related photograph slides and negatives. Together with

Martti Pokela Martti Eliel Pokela (23 January 1924 – 23 August 2007) was a Finnish folk musician and composer. Pokela was an expert with the kantele, Finland's national musical instrument. Life and career Pokela and his wife, Marjatta Pokela, were wide ...

he contributed to the revival of the Finnish traditional musical instrument

kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuania ...

when folk music began its resurgence in the 1960s. Ala-Könni, known for his motto "Magnum animum labori inspira", was from Ilmajoki where he has a memorial,Laitinen, Heikki
Erkki Ala-Könnin kivinen kantele.
13 November 2009. and he remained as an active friend and supporter of the Ostrobothnian culture throughout his life. He was one of the founders of the

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival Kaustinen Folk Music Festival ( fi, Kaustisen kansanmusiikkijuhlat), celebrated yearly in July in Kaustinen, Finland, is the biggest folk music and dance festival in the Nordic countries. It was first celebrated in 1968. The festival originated in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ala-Konni, Erkki 1911 births 1986 deaths Finnish musicologists Academic staff of the University of Tampere 20th-century Finnish male musicians 20th-century Finnish educators 20th-century musicologists