Sámi Music

In traditional Sámi music songs (e.g. Kvad and Leudd songs) and joiks are important musical expressions of the Sámi people and Sámi languages. The Sámi also use a variety of musical instruments, some unique to the Sámi, some traditional Scandinavian, and some modern introductions.

Highly spiritual songs called joiks (Northern Sámi: ''luohti''; Southern Sámi: ''vuolle'') are the most characteristic song type. (The same word sometimes refers to lavlu or vuelie songs, though this is technically incorrect.) Joiks may have few or no lyrics, do not rhyme, and have no definite structure. They are typically about any subject of importance to the singer, and vary widely in content. In Northern areas each person often has their own joik, sometimes given to them at birth, which is seen as personal to and representative of them, like a name. Purely folk joiks have declined in popularity over the 20th century, due to the influence of pop radio and religious fundamentalism, especially Laestadianism. Joiking first came to prominence within Sweden and Scandinavia as a whole with the 1959 release of Sven-Gosta Jonsson's "I'm a Lapp", which featured the singer singing about joiking towards heathen stones over a modern, skiffle-like beat. The first commercial recordings of joiking were performed by Nils-Aslak Valkeapää in 1968, in Finland. Valkeapää's recordings, however, differed from traditional hoiking by including both instrumentation and ambient sounds, such as barking dogs and the wind.

Nevertheless, joik performers of some fame include Angelit (former Angelin tytöt, Girls of Angeli), Wimme Saari and Nils-Aslak Valkeapää from Finnish Sápmi. Many modern singers are signed to DAT, the premier record label in Sámi music.

The most famous Sámi singer is Mari Boine of Norway, who sings a type of minimalist folk-rock with joik roots. Some non-Sámi artists, including RinneRadio, Xymox, and Jan Garbarek, have used joik and other Sámi styles in their music.

The Finnish folk metal band Sháman (now known as Korpiklaani) introduced what some call "yoik metal" in the late 1990s, drawing attention to Sámi music in the heavy metal scene. Their music incorporated Sámi elements such as yoik singing, Sámi lyrics, and shamanic drum. The vocalist has also yoiked for fellow Finnish folk metal band Finntroll. Also Finnish black metal band Barathrum (On Eerie album's first track) and Swedish black metal band Arckanum have used joik parts in couple of their songs.

In January 2008, the Sámi artist Ann Marie Anderson, singing "Ándagassii" qualified to the finals of Melodi Grand Prix 2008, (the Norwegian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008), but she did not win. In Mars 2015 the Swedish Sámi artist Jon Henrik Fjallgren came second with his song "Jag ar fri" in the finals in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the October 2018 final episode of the Norwegian televised music contest Stjernekamp, 20-year-old Sámi artist Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen was voted the winner; her final performance on the show was a yoik.

At the Eurovision Song Contest itself, joik appeared in Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with "Sámiid ædnan", where Mattis Hætta performed a yoik he had composed, and 2019 thanks to the song "Spirit in the Sky" performed by the KEiiNO trio representing Norway. Parts in this language joik were performed by the Saami singer and rapper Fred Buljo, who is a member of the group. The KEiiNO team won the audience vote, but after adding up the total vote of the jury (40 points) and the audience (170 points), the trio took only 6th place in the general classification of the grand final of the competition.

Musical instruments

Some sources have commented on a supposed lack of musical instruments among the Sámi, with one 1885 work noting: "They cannot claim to possess a single instrument of their own, not even the most primitive." Despite these beliefs, the Sámi employ a variety of musical instruments, several unique to them. Among these instruments are the ''fadno'', a reedpipe made from ''Angelica archangelica'' stalks, and the Sámi drum. Late 18th century researchers also noted two bagpipes in Lapland: the ''sak-pipe'' and the '' wal-pipe''.

Other Sámi instruments of wider Scandinavian usage include the lur (a long horn trumpet), and the ''harpu'', a zither to the Finnish kantele. Willow flutes are often made from the bark of the quicken tree or mountain ash.Carl von Linné and Sir James Edward Smith: Lachesis lapponica. A tour in Lapland, Linnaeus (1811), Volume: 2 (p. 51).

Modern bands use a wide variety of instruments, especially the fiddle, concertina, and accordion.

Gallery

Image:Wimme Saari.jpg, Wimme Saari, a Sámi joiker from Kelottijärvi, Enontekiö
Image:Sofia Jannok 20070621 Centre Culturel Suedois 5.jpg, Sámi vocalist and musician from Gällivare, Sofia Jannok, performing at the Centre Culturel Suédois in Paris, France.
Image:Mari Boine 2.jpg, Mari Boine, a Sámi vocalist and musician from Gámehisnjárga (by Kárášjohka), Finnmark
Image:Mari Boine.jpg, Mari Boine performing at the Kongsberg Jazz in 2007
Image:Turdus Musicus Lawra Somby.jpg, Lawra Somby, Sámi joiker and member of the group Adjágas, making a guest appearance with Norwegian heavy metal band Turdus Musicus
Image:Riddu Riđđu (8).jpg, Ande Somby, Sámi vocalist and law professor at the University of Tromsø from Sirbma, Finnmark, performing with his band Vajas at the 2007 Riddu Riđđu festival
Image:Riddu Riđđu (9).jpg, A Sámi vocalist performing at the 2007 Riddu Riđđu festival
Image:Riddu Riđđu (7).jpg, The crowd gathers to watch a rock band perform at the 2007 Riddu Riđđu festival
File:Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, 2018.jpg, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen with Isák the DnB-stage at Grefsenkollen

See also

* Adjágas
* Amoc
* Vilddas
* Maxida Märak

Notes

References

*Cronshaw, Andrew. "Joiks of the Tundra". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp 255–260. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.

External links

Official Angelit Webpage


from a multinational student project on minority languages in Europe

More sample joiks
from '' Hollow Ear'' magazine

Sámi Culture Library – Yoik and Music
collection of links related to Sámi music





Sámi contemporary music: Transjoik

{{Sámi navigator

Finnish music
Norwegian music
Swedish music
Russian music
Nordic music