Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen - Teppana Jänis [LP]

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: DEATH087LP
Barcode: 5050580841031
Release Date: 05 Sep 2025
Genre: Folk (Field Recordings)

Teppana Jänis was born in the village of Uuksujärvi in Suistamo on 21 June 1850. After becoming blind in the late 19th century, he went house to house, supporting himself by playing the kantele, a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family. He performed at dances and in schools, and also participated in the Suistamo kantele and runosong competitions in 1911.

In the summers of 1916 and 1917, the young folk music researcher Armas Otto Väisänen (1890-1969) made collecting trips to Border Karelia. His aim was to collect kantele tunes, laments and shepherd melodies, which were confusingly few in the archives. The 1916 trip was financed by the Finnish Literature Society, who provided a phonograph for recording purposes. In 1917, the trip was financed by the Kalevala Society and the recording was carried out using a parlograph. During these two summers, Väisänen recorded kantele players in the parishes of Suojärvi, Korpiselkä, Suistamo, Tuupovaara, Kitee and Impilahti. Väisänen met Teppana Jänis in both summers and transcribed 22 kantele melodies from him. He recorded 14 of these on wax cylinders.

This LP, titled simply 'Teppana Jänis' fuses and intertwines the original raw cylinder recordings with replayed pieces by Kantele player and researcher Arja Kastinen together with the now late Finnish folk musician Taito Hoffrén, taking into account the additional information and notes found in Väisänen's sheet music manuscripts. Warm thanks to the Finnish Literature Society for permission to use the archive recordings, to Risto Blomster for his invaluable assistance, and to the Karelian Cultural Foundation.

Recorded 1916-17 and 2020-21.
In memoriam Taito Hoffrén (1974–2024) credits

01: Vanha valssi - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
02: Ruskoi - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
03: Lippoa - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
04: Letška - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
05: Vanha letška - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
06: Hoffalssi l. foffalssi - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
07: Hoilolan polkka, 3 parii - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
08: Ruohtalazen falssi - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
09: Vaivazen pojan kaulu (Kantele) - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
10: Vaivazen pojan laulu (Laulu & Kantele) [feat. Taito Hoffrén] - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
11: Runolaulu – Voi minä poloine poiga (feat. Taito Hoffrén) - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
12: Riivattu eli ristakondra ja tšiitžik - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
13: Maanitus eli ribatška ja tšiitžik - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
14: Markan kiža - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
15: Markan kiža sovitus - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
16: Valamon kirkonkellot - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen
17: Valamon kirkonkellot sovitus - Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen