Värttinä
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Värttinä (, meaning " spindle") is a Finnish
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...
band that started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in
Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...
, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then. Värttinä shot into fame with the release of their 1991 album '' Oi Dai''. As of 2009, the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by three acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian dialect of the
Finnish language Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Finnic languages, Finnic language of the Uralic languages, Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official langu ...
. In August 2005, Värttinä recorded their tenth studio album called '' Miero'' at
Finnvox Studios Finnvox Studios is a recording studio located in Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. It was founded by Erkki Ertesuo, Kurt Juuranto and Lejos Inc. in 1965 and is the longest running studio recording facility in Finland. The original multi-track ...
,
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
. It was released on 25 January 2006 in Finland, and 30 January 2006 worldwide. In 2006, Värttinä also released the Värttinä Archive Live DVD, which included material from their 20th anniversary concert and other new and archive material. Värttinä collaborated with
A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...
, a notable Indian composer, in composing the music for the theatrical adaptation of the '' Lord of the Rings'', which played in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
in 2006 and in London in 2007. Värttinä has been featured in two episodes of popular animated children's show ''
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
'' singing their hit song "Matalii ja Mustii" from the album '' Seleniko''. The song was also featured on the show's first soundtrack, '' Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (Or Tape)''.


History


Old Värttinä

The birth of Värttinä was heavily influenced by two sisters, Sari and Mari Kaasinen, from Rääkkylä. Guided by their mother, they had performed poems from the 1970s as a group named Tsupukat. After the group ceased in 1983, the girls established Värttinä, which they entered into a youth arts event and made their way into the finals. The following year they changed poem reading into singing, and this time the group won that same competition. In 1985 Värttinä, now having male members as well, made its first appearance in the
Kaustinen Folk Music Festival Kaustinen Folk Music Festival (), celebrated yearly in July in Kaustinen, Finland, is the biggest folk music and folk dance, dance festival in the Nordic countries. It was first celebrated in 1968. The festival originated in showcasing the famous ...
. Folk music circles became aware of the band as the one singing "''korkeelta ja kovvoo''" (high and loud). Sari Kaasinen had become the leading member of Värttinä, and children in Rääkkylä were eager to join the band; at its height, the group was accompanied by 21 children. When the group finally could not be made any bigger, Sari established a band called Sirmakka for the youngest ones wanting to join. In the beginning of 1987 Värttinä was selected as the "Ensemble of the Year" in Kaustinen. Their first record, ''Värttinä'', was recorded in the following spring. Instruments used were
kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with the Estonian kannel, the Latvian kokles, t ...
, acoustic guitar, double bass, violin,
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
, saxophone, flute, and
tin whistle The tin whistle, also known as the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, a class of instrument which also includes the recorder and Native American flute. A tin whistle player is called a whistl ...
. They gained more publicity and, according to a guess by Sari Kaasinen, made over a hundred performances in one year. Their next album '' Musta Lindu'' was released in the summer of 1989. Playing skills and confidence had improved with experience, which can well be heard on the record. The pieces were Mari songs collected by Sari Kaasinen on her journeys; one of them was her own composition. Returning home from
Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...
at summer's end, it seemed that Värttinä had come to the end of its journey. But the Kaasinen sisters, Janne Lappalainen, Kirsi Kähkönen, and Minna Rautiainen did not want to give up because they had just found their own way of making music, and the beginning of the ''new Värttinä'' followed.


New Värttinä

In the beginning of the 1990s, the whole aforementioned group had moved to
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
and started training at the
Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...
. Sari started singing with the other girls, and the background line-up stabilized as consisting of Janne Lappalainen, Tommi Viksten, Tom Nyman, Riitta Potinoja, and Kari Reiman. Värttinä made a demo record which led to a recording contract with
Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980 ...
. The single ''Marilaulu'', released in the autumn, increased the public interest even more, and the album ''Oi Dai'', released in the spring of 1991, became the band's breakthrough. They had now formed their style, which consisted of strong and energetic female singing, music pieces based on
Finno-Ugric Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...
music traditions, and a band playing
acoustic instrument Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the ad ...
s. The style they created, mixing folk music into rock,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
, was unheard of before. The year 1992 brought a lot of concerts and the Emma Award, and some members were changed due to the tightening pace. In the end of the year, the album ''Seleniko'' was released with more compositions by the band than before. The record rose to the top of European world music charts and stayed there for three months. The album was released also in the United States, and the next year, when ''Oi Dai'' was released in the USA, too, the band started its first North-American tour. Music from the album ''Seleniko'' (an excerpt from the track ''Matalii ja mustii'') was featured on the American children's television show ''
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
''. After ''Seleniko'', Antto Varilo became the guitarist and Pekka Lehti the bassist. On ''Aitara'', recorded in the autumn of 1994, Anssi Nykänen plays the drums, but Marko Timonen played them in concerts. The record made it to the charts again and it was remembered for the tracks ''Tumala'' and ''Outona omilla mailla''. The band toured around the North America and Europe. Many were interested in the women's distinctive way of singing, and they made an appearance on a record of
Maggie Reilly Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", " Moonlight Shadow ...
. Värttinä's sixth album ''Kokko'' was released in the end of 1996. The familiar note "trad." was not found in the credits of the pieces any more as all songs were written by the band itself. After the release of ''Kokko'', Värttinä started its first tours in Japan and Australia, even though Sari Kaasinen had to leave the band for family reasons, and only three women were left as singers. In August 1998 their seventh album, ''Vihma'', was released under the record company Wicklow Records, established by
Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney (; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was particularly associated with the re ...
from the band Chieftains along with BMG. Värttinä's style can be said to have changed in ''Vihma''. All compositions were made by the band's male members, and they contained more complex changes in time and also the singing melodies became rhythmically more diverse. ''Vihma'' made it to the charts around the world like its predecessors. During the winter 1998–1999 Värttinä experienced yet another change of members. Susan Aho, originally joined to replace Riitta Kossi (previously Potinoja), became a permanent front-row singer, and Markku Lepistö joined to replace her as an accordionist. Riikka Väyrynen replaced the singer Sirpa Reiman. In June 1999 Värttinä was awarded the BASF Master Award, given to artists, producers, recorders and studios for records gaining chart success and at the same time displaying high technical and artistic quality. The award has previously been given to
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
and
Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( ; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time and the best-sel ...
. After the award Värttinä moved to the studio to record their next album ''Ilmatar'', released in the beginning of 2000. ''Ilmatar'' took the experimental and diverse style of ''Vihma'' even further. '' Äijö'' became the most popular song of this album, featured by singer
Ismo Alanko Ismo Kullervo Alanko (; born November 12, 1960) is a Finnish musician. He is known as the frontman of several bands, most famously Hassisen Kone, Sielun Veljet and Ismo Alanko Säätiö, as well as a successful solo artist. Alanko is known ...
. During the year, Värttinä toured around Japan and Europe, ending the tour in the Savoy theatre in Helsinki, where a live album of the same name was recorded on 6 December. It was released in the beginning of the next year, simultaneously with the book ''Korkeelta ja kovvoo'' by Kimmo Nevalainen. In 2001 ''Ilmatar'' was released in Brazil, and Värttinä performed in the
Rock in Rio Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Ten incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeir ...
festival in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
for more than 200,000 people. Värttinä's line-up was changed again, when Johanna Virtanen joined to replace Riikka Timonen (previously Väyrynen) who had left the band, and Jaakko Lukkarinen replaced the drummer Marko Timonen.


Rebirth

In 2002, the violinist Kari Reiman, bassist Pekka Lehti and original Värttinä singer Kirsi Kähkönen left the band, too. Reiman was replaced by Lassi Logrén, who had already been in the ''old Värttinä'' in his childhood. Hannu Rantanen became the bassist. Both had performed in the band before as substitutes. Värttinä thus started its "third era" with the singer trio Kaasinen-Aho-Virtanen. The first release with this line-up was ''Iki'' in 2003, when the band also celebrated its 20th anniversary. Later in the same year Värttinä was invited to compose music for the '' Lord of the Rings'' theatrical adaptation, based on the book by
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
. Värttinä composed music for two and a half years together with
A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...
, coordinated by Christopher Nightingale. The musical, premiered in Toronto in 2006 and moved to London in May 2007. In December 2005 Värttinä was awarded the Finland Prize, awarded yearly by the Finnish Ministry of Education for considerable artistic merits and remarkable professional achievements. In January 2006 Värttinä released their eleventh album ''Miero''. The album was the band's first one to be made under Real World Records, established by
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
. In 2008, Värttinä toured Finland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, in support of their 25th anniversary CD. The concert in Tampere (Finland) was filmed by Filmiteollisuus Oy and was broadcast on YLE Finnish national TV. In late 2008, a new Värttinä book "Värttinä – Mierontiellä ja punaisella matolla" covering the story of Värttinä until now was published in Finland. Janne Lappalainen and Markku Lepistö departed the band.


2010s

In late 2009, Lassi Logrén and Antto Varilo departed the band. Accordionist and keyboard player Matti Kallio joined Värttinä. In 2010, Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen represented Finland at the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
in Oslo as Kuunkuiskaajat. Their song ''Työlki ellää'' finished 11th in the semi-final. In February 2012 Värttinä released their 11th studio album ''Utu''. The album reached number one on the World Music Charts Europe in May. In October, Värttinä received the Womex Artist Award 2012 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Later it was announced, that Karoliina Kantelinen would replace Johanna Virtanen in the lineup.


Members


Current members

*Mari Kaasinen-Paaso – vocals, kantele, accordion *Lassi Logrén – vocals, violin, jouhikko, Jew's harp * Susan Venhovaara – vocals, accordion *Hannu Rantanen – violin, double bass *Mikko Hassinen – drums, percussion *Karoliina Kantelinen – vocals, kantele *Matti Laitinen – guitar, mandocello


Former members

*Minna Haikola – vocals, violin *Terhi Hirvonen – vocals, kantele *Sari Kaasinen – vocals, kantele, accordion *Kirsi Kähkönen – vocals, kantele *Janne Lappalainen – bouzouki, saxophone, wind instruments *Pauliina Luukkanen – vocals, violin *Nina Mononen – vocals, kantele *Heidi Pakarinen – vocals, kantele *Minna Rautianen – vocals, kantele *Sari Tyynelä – vocals, kantele *Jaana Vänskä – vocals, kantele *Jussi Kaasinen – vocals, kantele *Johanna Logrén – vocals, accordion *Tuomas Logrén – vocal, kantele, trumpet *Matleena Pekkanen – vocals, kantele *Saija Vänskä – vocals, kantele *Olli Varis – mandolin *Tapani Varis – bass, jouhikko *Nikko Prauda – bodhrán, percussion *Petri Hakala – mandocello *Christer Hackman – drums, percussion *Maria Kalaniemi – accordion *Tom Nyman – bass *Kari Reiman – violin *Sirpa Reiman – vocals *Tommi Viksten – guitar *Riitta Kossi – accordion *Reijo Heiskanen – guitar *Pekka Lehti – bass *Antto Varilo – guitar *Anssi Nykänen – drums, percussion *Marko Timonen – drums, percussion *Markku Lepistö – accordion *Riikka Timonen – vocals *Jaska Lukkarinen – drums, percussion *Johanna Hytti – vocals *Jaska Lukkarinen – drums, percussion *Hannu Rantanen – bass *Toni Porthen – percussion *Matti Kallio – keyboard


Discography

* '' Värttinä'' (1987) * '' Musta Lindu'' (1989) * '' Oi Dai'' (1991) * '' Seleniko'' (1992) * '' Aitara'' (1994) * ''Kokko'' (1996) * '' Vihma'' (1998) * '' Ilmatar'' (2000) * '' 6.12.'' (2001) released as ''Live in Helsinki'' in the United States (live album) * ''Double Life'' (2002) – 2-CD compilation containing all of '' 6.12.'' and tracks from studio albums. * ''
iki IKI may refer to: * Internationales Kulturinstitut, in Vienna * Iodine potassium-iodide, a chemical compound * Russian Space Research Institute, originally known as IKI RAN * Iki Airport, IATA code Iki or iki may refer to: * Iki Island, a Japane ...
'' (2003) * '' Snow Angel'' (2005) – compilation including songs from studio and live albums * '' Miero'' (2006) * '' 25'' (2007) – compilation including songs from every Värttinä album throughout their career with previously unreleased ''Vipinäveet'' from the Miero sessions * ''
Utu Shamash ( Akkadian: ''šamaš''), also known as Utu ( Sumerian: dutu " Sun") was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. He was believed to see everything that happened in the world every day, and was therefore responsible for justice and protection ...
'' (2012) * '' Viena '' (2015) * '' Kyly '' (2025)


Also appear on

*''Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (or Tape)'', 1998 ( Rounder Kids) *''Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia'', 2011 (Nascente/ Demon Music Group)


References


External links


Official site

Complete Discography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varttina Finnish folk musical groups Finnish folk rock groups Worldbeat groups Real World Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Musical groups established in 1983 Finnish world music groups Westpark Music artists