Although their work is in no way politically motivated as far as I know, their interpretation of Finnish folksinging is a beautiful and inspiring synthesis of old Kalevalaean folk poetry and modern instruments.
They have achieved relatively wide repute abroad, and are known quite well outside Finland as well. Their songs inspire thousands of people who don’t understand a word of Finnish, yet there is a primal life force in their music that makes listening to it very enjoyable, even to the non-Finnish listener.
Their music has a unique sound, at the same time ancient as the Baltic Shield as well as new and revolutionary. The vocals are an enchanting example of Finnish runo-singing, and even though the lyrics sometimes remain a mystery even to the native speaker, the emotions they radiate are intelligable to all humans, as their international success will prove.
Here is a short review of their album Miero, bu Musicdish.com:
“How to describe this mystic menagerie of throbbing Nordic war cries? First, don’t let the Finnish language stop you from listening to this wild Northern European Folk music. The fact that I don’t understand a word of it matters not at all. The language and the vocals are instruments deftly used by Värttinä, standing atop fiddles, the 2-row accordion, jouhikko, nyckelharpa, harmonium, kantele, bouzouki, and complex percussion. Although I have no idea what these instruments are, they sound fabulous!
The members of Värttinä are professionally trained musicians and Folk music specialists, who studied at and/or teach at institutions such as the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory in Kokkola, the Helsinki Pop Jazz Conservatory, the Espoo Pop/Jazz School, and the Helsinki University Department of Musicology. These are serious artists.
At a loss as to how to describe this music, I’ll turn to a review of Miero, their 10th album, which contains “Riena”:
The tone is set by the opener, Anathema, which fuses storming global beats with wild fiddles and accordions while conveying genuine menace as the band’s trio of vocalists, Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen, warm up for their battle with the Orcs by chanting such lines as “my loathing drips blood, my pain slashes, curses, drenches with pus”.
- NIGEL WILLIAMSON, The Times
The band is now collaborating with A.R. Rahman on the score of the stage version of “Lord of the Rings.” To get a sense of what’s in store for the stage, below are the English-version lyrics to “Riena – Anthema,” (Music: Antto Varilo, Words: Mari Kaasinen, Johanna Virtanen)”
I throw off sparks,
I tear from my tongue words as twisted as tree-roots.I poke the fire of hatred with my words,
I hurl hate back at you.My mood blackens,
blacker than the mind of any mortal.My loathing drips blood,
my pain slashes, curses, drenches with pus.The snakes also curse you, serpents of death ?
oh, that hissing will enter your head?The snakes also curse you, serpents of death ?
even the snakes?I throw off sparks,
I tear from my tongue words as twisted as tree-roots.You crushed me underfoot, you evil betrayer.
You punish me with rage, you poisoned my mind.So I heap blame on you, spit words from my mouth.
So I accuse you – pathetic worm that you are.“
And Finally, some youtube magic:
