Traditional music
The Finnish musical tradition can be divided into two main families: rhyming folk songs - known as pelimanni or purppuri - and those of the Kalevala. Made up of sung poems full of alliteration, the Kalevala is the core of Finnish mythology. It recounts heroic epics as well as long winter nights and heartbreak. One of the distinctive features of Kalevala songs is the accompaniment provided by the kantele, the ancient plucked zither (with a sound curiously similar to the harp) that is emblematic of the country. A veritable national treasure, kantele playing is included in school curricula and admitted to several conservatories. Among the great interpreters of Kalevala, the Vantaa Chamber Choir is excellent. The group Värttinä and accordionist Maria Kalaniemi have also produced interesting versions.
Many of the songs in the Kalevala have contributed to the development of Finland's national identity. This is probably less true of pelimanni, although it is just as common and important in the country. A Finnish adaptation of Nordic folk dance music, pelimanni arrived here from Central Europe around the 17th century. Generally played on violin and clarinet, it features dance tunes such as polka, mazurka, quadrille and waltz. In the early 20th century, a wave of modernization of the genre was led by artists such as violinists Friiti Ojala, Antti Järvelä and above all Konsta Jylhä, who has remained more famous than the others. They paved the way for today's popular traditional music groups such as JPP and Frigg.
A great place to see young contemporary groups explore traditional heritage is the Etno-Espa festival, an excellent initiative that's also free. A must in Helsinki.
Classical music
Symbolically, classical music in Finland can be traced back to 18th-century Turku. It was here that Erik Tulindberg composed his six quartets. After the annexation of Finland by Russia in 1809, the cities of Viipuri and Helsinki became cultural centers, and opera a very popular art form. The first Finnish opera was composed in 1852 by a German, Fredrik Pacius, then professor of music at Helsinki University. Pacius was also responsible for the music of the Finnish national anthem, Maamme, first sung in 1848. In 1883, conductor Robert Kajanus founded the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the first permanent orchestra in Scandinavia.
But the undisputed master of Finnish classical music appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in the person of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). A romantic composer, he used his lyrical and harmonious compositions to awaken the nation at a time when the country was undergoing attempts at Russification. Finlandia, his best-known symphonic poem, is a veritable hymn to Finnish patriotism, and played an important role in the country's independence. He drew inspiration from the Kalevala and traditional poetry in many of his symphonies, including Tapiola. The first performances of his works, in 1892, were a veritable triumph. His famous Valse triste continues to capture the heart of every budding music lover. Other Romantic composers of the period include Heino Kaski, Toivo Kuula and Yrjö Kilpinen. Finnish opera reached its peak in the 1920s with Leevi Madetoja's Pohjalaisia and Aarre Merikanto's Juha. Other genius composers followed in his footsteps, such as Jonas Kokkonen and Usko Meriläinen in the 1940s, and Aulis Sallinen in the 1970s.
One of the last classical legends is the outstanding symphonist Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016). Influenced as much by neoclassicism as by composers such as Moussorgsky, Debussy, Messian and Berg, he wrote Gregorian chants, twelve-tone works, aleatoric music, post-romanticism and electronic music with equal brilliance... Opera, concerto, chamber music, symphonic or choral music... wherever Rautavaara went, a great work was born. Among contemporary composers, we should also mention the intriguing Magnus Lindberg and Kaika Saariaho, two great names of the spectral school. But where the country proves most fertile is in the output of Finnish conductors shining on the international stage. Like Esa-Pekka Salonen - a great composer and former star of the London Philharmonia Orchestra - the country has also produced Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Susanna Mälkki (formerly director of the Ensemble intercontemporain), Leif Segerstam, Sakari Oramo and Mikko Franck (who succeeded Myung-Whun Chung as conductor of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France in 2015), as well as contemporary opera composer Kaija Saariaho. The country also boasts an excellent musical training program, with many renowned opera singers such as Martti Talvela, Karita Mattila, Matti Salminen, Soile Isokoski and Topi Lehtipuu, as well as a number of important pianists: Ralf Gothoni, Olli Mustonen and Paavali Jumppanen.
Where to listen to classical music in Helsinki?
As Helsinki music lovers (and travelers) know, the beautiful Töölö district is the place to go to hear the best classical music in town. This is where you'll find the Musiikkitalo and theOopera. The first is the "House of Music". Designed and built for optimum acoustics, it hosts concerts by the Sibelius Academy, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (with Susanna Mälkki as principal conductor) and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Not far from here is the Oopera. Inaugurated in 1993, it remains one of the most modern in Europe, offering an excellent program of lyrical drama and ballet. As Helsinki is a true festival capital, there are bound to be a few dedicated to the genre, such as the Festival of Religious Music at the end of April in the city's churches, Musica Nova in February in art galleries and the Helsinki Festival, Finland's most important gathering, which mixes classical and contemporary music in a variety of atypical venues.
Iskelmä, song and jazz
Finnish folk music could almost be summed up by the success of theiskelmä. This variant of the German schlager encompasses all the light, lively songs in which the accordion is king. Beloved by Finns, some of the genre's most famous exponents became stars, such as Georg Malmstén in the 1930s or Olavi Virta, Tapio Rautavaara and Reino Helismaa in the post-war years. Softly kitsch - it's loved for that too -iskelmä found a new dimension in the 1960s in the hands of Irwin Goodman, who accompanied it with committed lyrics. In the 1990s, the group Eläkeläiset created the legendary humppa, another popular music more or less related toiskelmä, parodically covering rock standards to accordion tunes. The country also has a long tradition of lyric singers, such as the fabulous Hector, the Finnish Brel, or the legendary Juice Leskinen.
On the jazz front, the country abounds in highly popular talents, some of whom fill halls the world over. These include drummer Edward Vesala, pianist Heikki Sarmanto (collaborator of Sonny Rollins), saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, singer Sakari Kukko and pianist Samuli Mikkonen. Fans of the genre won't want to miss the Viapori Jazz Festival, which delights the August nights on the beautiful island of Suomenlinna, programming big names from Finland and abroad. The April Jazz festival is more focused on headliners, and is also more travel-oriented (with a fair amount of ethno-jazz and world music), while Jazz Espa offers free open-air concerts throughout the summer. And for anyone visiting in winter, We Jazz is a great celebration of jazz, with many excellent concerts, as well as screenings and meetings. And if ever the question arose as to the best jazz club in town, Storyville, on the outskirts of Töölö, is it. Quality concerts almost every night.
Metal
It's probably due to the climate. Finland is undoubtedly the king of metal. Remember, in 2006, Finland won Eurovision with Lordi, a heavy metal band (in costume, please!). A major genre in its own right, Finland boasts over 2,000 bands, including some of the genre's staples: Amorphis, inspired by Kalevala, Stratovarius and Nightwish, symphonic metal greats, Children of Bodom, death metal idols, and Sonata Arctica, heavy metal greats. But the band that has had the most success - no doubt because its music is more accessible - is Apocalyptica. This quartet of classical cellists, all graduates of Helsinki's highly respected Sibelius Academy, have a passion for heavy metal, and in 1996 decided to take up cello covers of Metallica hits. Dark yet gentle, very haunting, Apocalyptica has found the ideal formula for getting metal allergy sufferers to listen to metal. Amazing! As fans of the genre know, but the curious will be delighted to learn, Finland is naturally home to one of the world's biggest metal festivals, Tuska, renowned for its excellent atmosphere.
Current music
Although less extreme than metal, Finland is also very fond of pop and rock as a whole, and cultivates a dynamic scene with world-famous names such as The Rasmus, originally from Helsinki, HIM, much appreciated in alternative rock, and the Franco-Finnish pop-folk duo The Dø! While Helsinki has no shortage of places to enjoy contemporary music live on stage, you're almost certain to find a good concert at Korjaamo, a "cultural factory" housed in a former tramway repair workshop (with three venues), or at Tavastia, a 100% rock club in the 1970s but now more open, with a program that oscillates between rock, pop, electro and rap. There's also the Flow Festival, a superb August event that returns every year with a more impressive line-up: in 2023, Wizkid, Tove Lo, Sudan Archives and Moderat headlined the bill.
The joik
Directly descended from Saami shamanic traditions, joik is the world's oldest chant, perpetuated from generation to generation for over 10,000 years. It is generally sung a cappella, slowly, instinctively and from the back of the throat, using syllables repeated several times. Words are not necessarily important, as these are often wordless songs audible only through murmurs, interjections or imitations of animal calls. It is similar to traditional Amerindian and Inuit chanting accompanied by the traditional goavddis drum. Its aim is to capture the essence of people, landscapes and animals. Each Sami woman or man has his or her own melody, a kind of musical portrait. Missionaries likened joik to the devil's song, and banned the practice during colonization. Most of the drums were destroyed. Fortunately, the Saami continued to sing despite the ban, and some songs have been passed down to this day. Initially used for spiritual purposes, the joik has become a symbol and a means of expression in its own right for Saami culture. Since the 1960s, there has been a boom in record production, notably with the release of Nils Aslak Valkeapää's album, which led to the revival of joik. He sang at the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics. But it was above all the electro-acoustically inspired Norwegian militant singer Mari Boine who brought joik to the international stage. This new style of interpretation led to a whole new generation of Finnish artists with a rock or hip-hop edge, such as Wimme, Angelit, Vilddas, Ulla Pirttijärvi, SomBy, Tiina Sanila-Aikio, Ailu Valle and Niko Valkeapää. The Finnish folk group Shaman is strongly inspired by traditional Sami songs.
