Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen - Teppana Jänis

Recorded 1916-17 and 2020-21.

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.

Boomkat Product Review:

One of Death is not the End's most arresting trad curiosities, this one transports vintage Finnish folk music into the modern age, matching folklorist Armas Otto Väisänen's 1910s wax cylinder recordings of kantele maestro Teppana Jänis with contemporary renditions from researcher Arja Kastinen and Taito Hoffrén.

It's always hard to know how to respond to traditional music - what's a respectful way to approach it, and what's functionally sacrilegious? 'Teppana Jänis' is remarkably considerate and particularly well-handled, and it's surprisingly simple. The base recordings were made by Armas Otto Väisänen, a young folk researcher who made two trips to the border of Karelia in 1916 and 1917 to visit Teppana Jänis, a blind kantele player who went door-to-door in his neighborhood playing the instrument for coins and performing at local events. Väisänen was eager to archive Finland's beloved folk music, so traveled across the country armed with a phonograph, recording kantele songs, laments and shepherd melodies and transcribing manuscripts. He ended up with 22 kantele melodies from Jänis, 14 of which were recorded to wax cylinder, and that's where Kastinen and the now late Finnish folk player Taito Hoffrén started from, poring through Väisänen's notes and additional transcripts for extra clues. 

And the duo's response to Jänis's renditions is quite touching - we get to hear the oversaturated, crackly originals in each case, and Kastinen and Hoffrén's beautifully recorded new version, as if the melodies are being bounced back and forth in time. Of course, the new versions are closer to what Jänis's original performance would have sounded like, but the way we hear the wax cylinder recordings, the chugging, pitchy chimes and degraded twangs, makes us aware of the age - it's only a brief period of time when wax cylinders were even used. Needless to say, if you're in any way interested in Finnish, Karelian or Baltic folk music, 'Teppana Jänis' will be essential listening.

Teppana Jänis & Arja Kastinen - Teppana Jänis

Cat No: DEATH087
Release date: 19 September 2025

Visit: https://deathisnot.bandcamp.com/
Label: Death Is Not The End
Genre: Finnish Folk Music, Karelian Folk Music, Field Recordings, Traditional

Source: Digital

1. Vanha valssi 2:10
2. Ruskoi 1:58
3. Lippoa 1:38
4. Letška 1:23
5. Vanha letška 1:42
6. Hoffalssi l. foffalssi 1:38
7. Hoilolan polkka, 3 parii 1:59
8. Ruohtalazen falssi 2:06
9. Vaivazen pojan laulu (kantele) 1:36
10. Vaivazen pojan laulu (laulu & kantele) with Taito Hoffrén 1:38
11. Unolaulu – Voi minä poloine poiga with Taito Hoffrén 1:54
12. Riivattu eli ristakondra ja tšiitžik 4:00
13. Maanitus eli ribatška ja tšiitžik 5:54
14. Markan kiža 1:55
15. Markan kiža sovitus (arr. A. Kastinen) 3:05
16. Valamon kirkonkellot 1:42

17. Valamon kirkonkellot sovitus (arr. A. Kastinen) 3:47