Music of Finland

Though folk songs of the old variety became progressively rarer in western Finland, they remained common in far eastern parts of the country, mainly Savonia and Karelia.

More primitive instruments like the jouhikko (a bowed lyre) and the säkkipilli (Finnish bagpipe) had fallen into disuse, but are now finding new popularity in a folk revival.

Early pioneers in this field of pop rekilaulu included Arthur Kylander, while Erkki Rankaviita, Kuunkuiskaajat, and Pinnin Pojat sustained the tradition.

Well-known Finnish folk music groups of today in the Kaustinen tradition include JPP, Frigg (although part Norwegian), and Troka.

The Sami of northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway are known for highly spiritual songs called joik, reminiscent of a few types of Native American singing.

Among them are opera singers Martti Talvela, Karita Mattila, Matti Salminen, Soile Isokoski and Topi Lehtipuu, pianists Ralf Gothoni, Olli Mustonen, Risto Lauriala, Janne Mertanen and Paavali Jumppanen, as well as clarinettist Kari Kriikku and violinist Pekka Kuusisto.

More recent major operas by Finnish composers include among others Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de loin and Adriana mater as well as Olli Kortekangas's Isän tyttö ("Daddy's Girl").

A generation of Finnish composers turned to modernism, such as Einojuhani Rautavaara and Usko Meriläinen, while the neoclassical style found voice in the music of Einar Englund.

society followed Central European modernism along the lines of Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen, but also showed interest in post-war Polish School composers such as Witold Lutoslawski.

[11][12] Performance of contemporary art music blossomed in Finland, with specialized groups including Uusinta Chamber Ensemble and Zagros.

[13] Some of the most acclaimed Finnish chanteuses of this time period were Laila Kinnunen, Carola, Annikki Tähti, Brita Koivunen and Vieno Kekkonen.

Antti Hammarberg) combined iskelmä and protest songs, gaining popularity with humorous tunes penned by Vexi Salmi, who also wrote for other Finnish artists.

Traditionally accordion has been the major instrument in iskelmä music and it is still played, but has in most cases been replaced by guitar, electric piano and synthesizer.

Blues Section later developed into internationally acknowledged "superband" Wigwam, featuring English singer Jim Pembroke, who wrote many of their songs.

At the same time, Finland had a massive movement of Elvis and rockabilly fans, later parodied by Finnish lo-fi punk band Liimanarina.

[14] In the underground, Ismo Alanko, considered by many as the foremost Finnish rock lyricist, gained a legendary status with his punkish groups Hassisen Kone and Sielun Veljet.

Finland hosts a strong underground doom metal scene more focused on the depressive mood of the genre, evoking intense grief.

[17][18] Notable bands include Reverend Bizarre,[19] Minotauri,[18] Dolorian,[15] Shape of Despair, [15] Swallow the Sun,[15] Thergothon,[15] Skepticism[15] and Unholy.

[20] In the later 1990s the symphonic metal group Apocalyptica played Metallica cover songs as cello quartets and sold half a million records worldwide.

Finnish hard rock band Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, Finland's first-ever victory.

[30][31] Erika Vikman is another popular electropop singer who achieved wide recognition in Finland with her 2020 hit "Syntisten pöytä" (The Sinner's Table).

Singer-songwriter Chisu is a good example of this phenomenon penning songs that can be considered classics, along with Eppu Normaali, Tuomari Nurmio.

With Finnish lyrics and moral and spiritual content artists such as Soul-Captain Band, Kapteeni Ä-ni, Jukka Poika and Raappana have attained wider popularity.

The Finnish style (suomisaundi) of psy trance music is known worldwide and has notable international audiences, for example in Japan and Russia.

The most popular Finnish electronica artist is Darude (Ville Virtanen), who gained international success with his chart-topping "Sandstorm", and the following hit album Before the Storm.

Finland has a popular and internationally recognised Freeform hardcore scene, with the FINRG label enjoying success in the UK, Australia, and more recently Canada and the United States.

In experimental electronica, noise and ambient electronic music, Finland is represented by Petri Kuljuntausta, Pink Twins, Ihokas, Rihmasto, Nemesis, Niko Skorpio, Dystopia, Ozone Player, Winterplanet, Corporate 09, Moya81, and Outer Space Alliance.

Other important jazz musicians from this era are Severi Pyysalo, Lenni-Kalle Taipale, Verneri Pohjola, Markus Ketola and Anna-Mari Kähärä.

Oddarrang, Dalindéo, Mopo, Teemu Viinikainen, Timo Lassy, Jukka Eskola, Manuel Dunkel and Mikko Innanen represent the future of Finnish jazz.

Finnish artists included Värttinä, Kimmo Pohjonen, Maria Kalaniemi, Vuokko Hovatta, Sanna Kurki-Suonio, Islaja and Wimme.