Songs of Tornedalen

Most of the songs are in Finnish. Many of them employ a special singing technique, forceful and intense, reminiscent of the Eastern European vocal tradition. The powerful standing of Laestidan Christianity, which condemned instrumental music, radio and television as sinful, probably resulted in songs being better preserved in Tornedalen then elsewhere.

On this record you can hear singing games, pasquinade songs, lullabies, working songs and religious songs, all of them recorded in the homes of Tornedalen people between 1971 and 1977. The singers are: Hilda Ajanki, Frans Simonsson, Hilja Kulju, Per Nilsson Päiviö, Lars Blind, Lars Fjällblad, Richard Tonvall, Henrik Falklund and Valborg Andersson & Hilja Sandin.