Konsta Jylhä – Konstan parempi valssi (”Konsta’s Major Waltz”)

 

Konstan parempi valssi is one of the best known Finnish traditional folk songs. It was composed in summer 1964. It was the composer Konsta Jylhä’s second composition and it is an instrumental waltz. The song is usually played with violins, double bass and organ. This kind of folk music was already played in the 1800s but Konsta Jylhä recreated Finnish Pelimanni-style folk music. Pelimanni means a musician (usually a fiddler) who is an excellent improviser and does not play straight from notes. Finnish people got interested in Jylhä’s playing style and it became famous. This song is a good example of this style of traditional music.

                      Konsta Jylhä was born 14 August in 1910 and he was one of the most famous Finnish musicians at that time. He is the symbol of Finnish folk music and Kaustinen folk music festival. Konsta was a very modest and humble man who didn’t want to be famous. However, the hall was always full when Konsta played with his orchestra Kaustisen Purpuripelimannit. Konsta Jylhä has won numerous Finnish awards, such as Pro Finlandia –medal, director musicaes –title, master pelimanni -title and Finland’s president invited him to the Independence Day party. Konsta said that he does not deserve them but the truth was different. He had created a piece of Finnish tradition. His most famous works were Vaiennut Viulu (“Silent Violin”) and this Konstan parempi valssi. He played the violin all his life and his final performance was in 1978. He had suffered some heart attacks and died in September 1984. He got a state funeral, which was held only for a composer Jean Sibelius before that.

                      Konstan parempi valssi shows Jylhä’s virtuoso playing. It is a basic Finnish waltz but there is an interesting change between major and minor chords in the song. This is normal for Finnish folk music. The main melody of the song is happy but there are also really sad moments in the middle of the song. The song is less than 4 minutes long but it tells a story even though it is an instrumental. I decided to choose this song because Konstan parempi valssi is a very good example of Finnish Pelimanni-music and Konsta Jylhä is one of the Finland’s most known compositors and musicians in folk genre.

Listen to the song: Konsta Jylhä - Konstan parempi valssi

Konsta Kauppinen

Angelit – Ruojain Ruotot

Angelit is a Finnish Sami folk music group which consists of two sisters, Ursula and Tuuni Länsman, who sing in Sami language. Sami people are a minority group and culture in Lapland in Finland and other Nordic countries. Actually, Angelit has brought that culture better in people’s awareness in Finland. Angelit come from the village of Angeli in the municipality of Inari, in Northern Finland, Lapland. At the beginning there were other girls from Angeli as singers in the band, too. Angelit has recorded nine studio albums between the years 1992 and 2003. The band is one of the best known developer of Sami music and the most famous Sami band in the 1990s and in the first decade of the 21^st century in Finland. They have also been performing overseas.

Angelit’s music genre is 'yoik' (joiku in Finnish) which is a traditional Sami form of song. Sami people's own music differs a lot from, for instance, popular music. The most famous type of yoik is ‘luohti’ among the Nordic Sami. Angelit combines the yoik with a modern electric tone. The yoik tells often about animals, nature or a person who is described verbally, melodically and rhythmically with gestures and facial expressions. There is usually a pentatonic scale in the yoik. The yoik has changed over the years but the essential features of yoik have remained. Modern yoik is more melodic and its vocal is primmer. The vocal in the yoik is very different in comparison with the basic ones. It is typical of yoik that the vocal has rapid variations between natural sound and falsetto.


I chose the song Ruojain Ruotot to introduce because I think it’s a clear and cheerful yoik. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the words of the song and translation of the name. The song Ruojain Ruotot represents yoik with many different percussion instruments in the background so it’s very rhythmical and absorbing. Its ambiance is quite happy. The melody has large intervals in vocal but the song is pretty monotonous in its entirety. Ruojain Ruotot includes one verse between two choruses.

Link to listen the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vyDQhTIicY&feature=related
                                                                                                                                  

Lauri Viljavuori

Jean Sibelius - Finlandia

Finlandia is a symphonic poet which is composed by Jean Sibelius. The first version of Finlandia was written in 1899 during the years when Finland was under the Russian régime and got oppressed by them. The next year the first version of Finlandia was revised. The Young Finnish Party was a nationalist political party in that time which arranged a revolutionary celebration against the increasing censorship from the Russian Empire which contained a Finnish nationalist tableau. Finlandia was composed just for this tableau.

Finlandia starts up with intensifying brass instruments which are leading the piece to a turbulent atmosphere containing other symphonic instruments like bowed string instruments, woodwind instruments, timbali and cymbals. Towards the end the music slows down to a part where a hymn-like section is played only with bowed string instruments and woodwind instruments. The mood of this symphonic poet is very dark and maybe a bit fierce at the beginning which describes the feelings of the oppressed Finns. As the composition hits the hymn-like section, the mood gets brighter and very patriotic telling about the time that Finland declared its independence and the Finns finally got out from the Russian oppression. Finlandia is played most often on the independence day of Finland on 6 December and it's also played in other various patriotic events.

Jean Sibelius was born on 8 December 1865 and died on 4 September 1957. He was worldwidely  the most known Finnish composer and his music was very important for the national identity of Finland. His most precious musical compositions are the set of seven symphonies, symphonic poets and the Violin Concerto in D minor.

In my opinion Finlandia is one of the most beautiful-sounding pieces of music in the world. Listening to it gives me chills almost all the way through it. Finlandia gives me the feeling of love and affection to my homeland.

Here's a link to the symphonic poet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgwr3wrenkQ


Ville Kataja