Värttinä
Encyclopedia
Värttinä is a Finnish
folk music
band which was started as a project by Sari
and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä
, in Karelia
, 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 language
of Finnish Karelia
. Värttinä collaborated with A. R. Rahman
, a famous composer from India
, in composing the music for The Lord of the Rings, which played in Toronto
in 2006 and opened in London in May 2007.
In August 2005, Värttinä recorded their tenth studio album called Miero
at Finnvox Studios
, Helsinki
. It was released on January 25, 2006 in Finland, and January 30, 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 has been featured on popular children's show Arthur
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).
. 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
. 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; as its biggest, the group accompanied 21 children. When the group finally couldn't 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
, acoustic guitar
, double bass
, violin
, accordion
, saxophone
, flute
, and tin whistle
. 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 age and 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 a composition of her own. In the end of the summer, returning home from Åland, it seemed that Värttinä had come to the end of its journey. The Kaasinen sisters, Janne Lappalainen, Kirsi Kähkönen and Minna Rautiainen didn't want to give up, though, as they had just found their own way of making music, and the beginning of the new Värttinä followed.
In the beginning of the 1990s, the whole aforementioned group had moved to Helsinki
and started training in premises of the Sibelius Academy
. 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
. 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 the Finno-Ugric
music tradition, and a band playing acoustic instruments. The style they created, mixing folk music into rock
, jazz
and popular music
, 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 USA, 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
.
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
.
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; the whole material was made 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
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 e.g. Metallica
and Shania Twain
. 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
. 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 December 6. 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
festival in Rio de Janeiro
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.
Later in the same year Värttinä was invited to compose music for the The Lord of the Rings theatrical adaptation, based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien
. Värttinä composed music for two and a half years together with A.R. Rahman, 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
.
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.
In 2010, Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest
in Oslo as Kuunkuiskaajat
. Their song Työlki ellää finished 11th in the semi-final.
Currently Värttinä are working on their next album.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
band which was started as a project by Sari
Sari Kaasinen
Sari Johanna Kaasinen is a Finnish singer. Together with her sister she began a Finnish folk music band called Värttinä....
and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä
Rääkkylä
Rääkkylä is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, in Karelia
Finnish Karelia
Karelia is a historical province of Finland. It refers to the Western Karelia that during the second millennium has been under western dominance, religiously and politically. Western, i.e. Finnish Karelia is separate from Eastern, i.e...
, 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
Oi Dai
Oi Dai is Värttinä's 3rd album, and the first after they re-formed in 1990 after losing many members. It was released in 1991 in Finland by Spirit/Polygram. It was a great success, and led to Värttinä touring throughout Europe. In 1994, it was released in the United States by Xenophile Records...
.
As of 2009, the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by three acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian language
Karelian language
Karelian language is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland and some Finnish linguists even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish...
of Finnish Karelia
Finnish Karelia
Karelia is a historical province of Finland. It refers to the Western Karelia that during the second millennium has been under western dominance, religiously and politically. Western, i.e. Finnish Karelia is separate from Eastern, i.e...
. Värttinä collaborated with A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
, a famous composer from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, in composing the music for The Lord of the Rings, which played in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in 2006 and opened in London in May 2007.
In August 2005, Värttinä recorded their tenth studio album called Miero
Miero (album)
-Track listing:#"Riena / Anathema" – 3:30#"Valhe / The Lie" – 4:47#"Mataleena" – 3:54...
at Finnvox Studios
Finnvox studios
Finnvox Studios is a recording studio located in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1965, it was the first studio in Finland dedicated for music recording. Many metal bands have had albums mastered here , including Sonata Arctica, Nightwish, Finntroll, HIM, Moonsorrow, Holy Knights, Ram-Zet, Throes of...
, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. It was released on January 25, 2006 in Finland, and January 30, 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 has been featured on popular children's show Arthur
Arthur (TV series)
Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...
singing their hit song "Matalii ja Mustii" from the album Seleniko
Seleniko
Seleniko is Värttinä's 4th album, and second after they re-formed in 1990, released in Finland by Spirit/Polygram in 1992. It immediately reached the top of the European World Music radio charts, and remained there for 3 months. In 1993 it was released by Music & Words in Benelux and Xenophile...
. The song was also featured on the show's first soundtrack, Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (Or Tape).
Old Värttinä
The birth of Värttinä was heavily influenced by two sisters, Sari and Mari Kaasinen, from RääkkyläRääkkylä
Rääkkylä is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
. 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
Kaustinen Folk Music Festival , 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....
. 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; as its biggest, the group accompanied 21 children. When the group finally couldn't 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
Kantele
A kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...
, acoustic guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, and tin whistle
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
. 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 age and 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 a composition of her own. In the end of the summer, returning home from Åland, it seemed that Värttinä had come to the end of its journey. The Kaasinen sisters, Janne Lappalainen, Kirsi Kähkönen and Minna Rautiainen didn't want to give up, though, as they had just found their own way of making music, and the beginning of the new Värttinä followed.
New Värttinä
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and started training in premises of the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is 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. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
. 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
Sonet Records is a jazz 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 1980s. Dag Haeggqvist, the owner of Gazell Records, became an executive of the...
. 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 the Finno-Ugric
Finno-Ugric peoples
The Finno-Ugric peoples are any of several peoples of Europe who speak languages of the proposed Finno-Ugric language family, such as the Finns, Estonians, Mordvins, and Hungarians...
music tradition, and a band playing acoustic instruments. The style they created, mixing folk music into rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, was unheard of before.
The year 1992 brought a lot of concerts and the Emma Award
Emma-gaala
The Emma-gaala is a Finnish music gala arranged yearly by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland, awarding the most distinguished artists and music professionals of the year. It has been arranged since 1983, except for the years 1988–1990....
, 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 USA, 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 (TV series)
Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...
.
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
Maggie Reilly is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield...
.
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; the whole material was made by the band itself. After the release of Kokko, Värttinä started its first tours in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, 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
Paddy Moloney is one of the founders of the Irish musical group The Chieftains and has played on every one of their albums.He was born in Donnycarney in Dublin. His mother bought him a tin whistle when he was six and at the age of eight he started to learn the Uilleann pipes. He also plays button...
from the band Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
along with BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
. 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 e.g. Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
. 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
Äijö
Äijö may refer to:*Äijö, a name of the supreme god in Finnish mythology, more often used when he is portrayed in an evil way or as the Devil.* "Äijö" , a song by the Finnish folk music group Värttinä...
became the most popular song of this album, featured by singer Ismo Alanko
Ismo Alanko
Ismo Kullervo Alanko 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....
. 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 December 6. 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
Rock in Rio is a series of music festivals held in three cities: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lisbon in Portugal and Madrid in Spain.Four incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010....
festival in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
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 of Värttinä
In 2002, the violinist Kari Reiman, bassist Pekka Lehti and original Värttinä singer Kirsi Kähkönen left the band, too. Reiman was replaced by Lassi Logren, 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 The Lord of the Rings theatrical adaptation, based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
. Värttinä composed music for two and a half years together with A.R. Rahman, 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
Real World Records
Real World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
, established by Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
.
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.
Värttinä today
In late 2009, Lassi Logren 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
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in Oslo as Kuunkuiskaajat
Kuunkuiskaajat
Kuunkuiskaajat is a Finnish female folk duo made up of Värttinä members Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen, that represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "Työlki ellää"...
. Their song Työlki ellää finished 11th in the semi-final.
Currently Värttinä are working on their next album.
Current lineup
- Mari Kaasinen (vocals)
- Susan Aho (vocals)
- Johanna Virtanen (vocals)
- Matti Kallio (accordion, keyboards)
- Hannu Rantanen (basses)
Discography
- VärttinäVärttinä (album)Värttinä is the first album by the band of the same name, Värttinä. On it, the 21-member band performs traditional Karelian folk songs. It was originally self-released in 1987 on vinyl and cassette. In 1992, it was re-released in Finland by Mipu Music. In 1997 it was reissued in Japan by Warner Japan...
(1987) - Musta LinduMusta LinduMusta Lindu , is Värttinä's 2nd album, released in 1989 by Olarin Musiikki. Like their first album, it is mostly traditional Karelian and Finnish folk songs, with 15 girls singing and playing kantele and 6 young men on acoustic instruments.In 1998, the album was re-released under the title Black...
(1989) - Oi DaiOi DaiOi Dai is Värttinä's 3rd album, and the first after they re-formed in 1990 after losing many members. It was released in 1991 in Finland by Spirit/Polygram. It was a great success, and led to Värttinä touring throughout Europe. In 1994, it was released in the United States by Xenophile Records...
(1991) - SelenikoSelenikoSeleniko is Värttinä's 4th album, and second after they re-formed in 1990, released in Finland by Spirit/Polygram in 1992. It immediately reached the top of the European World Music radio charts, and remained there for 3 months. In 1993 it was released by Music & Words in Benelux and Xenophile...
(1992) - AitaraAitaraAitara is Värttinä's 5th album, released in 1994 in Finland. In 1995, it was released by King Records in Japan, Music & Words in Benelux, and Xenophile Records in the United States, where it spent five weeks at #1 on the CMJ World Music charts. In 2003, it was re-released in Finland by BMG, and...
(1994) - Kokko (1996)
- VihmaVihmaVihma is Värttinä's 7th album, released in 1998. It is primarily pop- and rock-influenced Finnish folk music. However, three tracks also include Tuvan throat singing....
(1998) - IlmatarIlmatar (album)Ilmatar is Värttinä's 8th album, released in 2000.The album is named for the Finnish goddess of air Ilmatar who, according to the creation story in the Kalevala, creates the world from two eggs from the eagle Kokko...
(2000) - 6.12.6.12.6.12. is Värttinä's 9th album and first live album, released on September 3, 2001.With the exception of "Laulutyttö", all songs on 6.12. appear on earlier Värttinä studio albums...
(2001) released as Live in Helsinki in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(live album) - Double Life (2002) - 2-CD compilation containing all of 6.12.6.12.6.12. is Värttinä's 9th album and first live album, released on September 3, 2001.With the exception of "Laulutyttö", all songs on 6.12. appear on earlier Värttinä studio albums...
and tracks from studio albums. - ikiIki (album)iki is Värttinä's 11th album , released in 2003. It continues Värttinä's trend of having more original compositions, while retaining a folk influence in the songs and their style....
(2003) - Snow AngelSnow Angel (Album)Snow Angel is a compilation album of songs by the Finnish band Värttinä. It contains songs from earlier albums iki, 6.12, Ilmatar, Aitara and Seleniko...
(2005) - compilation including songs from studio and live albums - MieroMiero (album)-Track listing:#"Riena / Anathema" – 3:30#"Valhe / The Lie" – 4:47#"Mataleena" – 3:54...
(2006) - 25 (2007) - compilation including songs from every Värttinä album throughout their career with previously unreleased Vipinäveet from the Miero sessions
- Utu (2012)