History
2. A TIME OF REFORMS
Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto's second decade
For Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto, then called Suomen Pelimanniyhdistys, a time of change began in the latter half of the 1970s. This ten-year period (1978–1987) saw among other things a change of chair and secretary, a change of name and increasingly diverse activities.
During the first decade (1968–1977), which I described in my previous article, a system of honours was also developed for the association. The Kaustinen Folk Music Festival began naming master folk musicians in 1970, but Suomen Pelimanniyhdistys wanted its own say in the matter. On the initiative of chair Erkki Ala-Könni, the association began naming Oltermannis as exemplars for the provinces, the aim being to have an Oltermanni in each provincial association. The first Oltermanni title was conferred on Central Finland's Pekka Kinnunen, a fiddle player from Kannonkoski, in 1971. In 1972 a second was named for Häme (Fredrik Koivikko from Vilppula) and the following year a third for South Ostrobothnia (Aatos Rinta-Koski from Kauhajoki). By the end of the decade, six provincial associations already had their own Oltermannis, Satakunta even two (one each in northern and southern Satakunta).
The activities begun in the first decade continued into the second: courses (the Orivesi winter courses, summer courses in Kaustinen and the provinces), the three-stage instructor training and the concert series Samuelin Poloneesi. The composition competition held in connection with Pispalan Sottiisi also continued: in 1972 the theme was the waltz, in 1974 the polka, in 1976 the march and in 1978 the polska. In Tampere's jubilee year 1979, the task was to write lyrics for the Pispalan Sottiisi signature tune. Pispalan Sottiisi still held a mazurka composition competition in 1980, and in 1982 the search was for ”the three most beautiful folk tunes I have found”. The competition series ended in 1984 with a song competition.
Samuelin Poloneesi, begun in 1972, was played ten times at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, until the board decided to send the concert on a tour of the provinces and bring it back to Helsinki every five years. The Poloneesi was then played in Lahti (1982), Oulu (1983), Lappeenranta (1984), Tampere (1985) and Kuopio (1987). The 1986 Poloneesi thus sounded, as planned, in Helsinki. These concerts always include a joint session that brings hundreds of folk musicians together to perform the year's repertoire.
New forms of activity, too
The activity of accordion pedagogue Matti Rantanen raised the accordion's profile strongly within Suomen Pelimanniyhdistys. The instrument had been included in the Sibelius Academy's degree programme from autumn 1978, and both training and concert activity accordingly expanded for this instrument. At the same time, fiddle players also became more active. In southern Häme there were even moves to split off into a separate association, though these were later abandoned. Instead, separate Fiddle Players' Days began to be held in Hämeenlinna from 1979. Led by master folk musicians, these gathered a large crowd of players to play together and discuss fiddle maintenance, repertoire and so on.
The role of kantele players in Suomen Pelimanniyhdistys's activities diminished somewhat when Suomen Kanteleensoittajat was founded in 1977. Cooperation nevertheless continued, for example through courses, and experiences were exchanged on both sides.
Interaction with the Finland-Swedish folk musicians' organisation was still relatively limited in the early stages of the activities, but it too gained momentum towards the end of the 1970s. Various seminars, spelmansstämma gatherings and Nordic NORDLEK cooperation drew Finnish-speaking folk musicians to new playing pastures as well. In spring 1980, a folk music section was founded under NORDLEK, whose chair and vice-chair has been Antti Koiranen. Language difficulties were no obstacle. If Swedish was not enough, every other word of German was thrown in.
Proficiency badges for folk musicians began to be planned along the lines of the Swedish Zorn Badge (Zornmärket). In 1980, the board drew up the requirements on the basis of a proposal prepared by Voitto Mäkelä. At first, folk musician badges could be taken at courses and festive events, and the examination sessions were closed, as in Sweden. Later, these sessions were opened to the public here and made into programme items at events.
Suomen Pelimanniyhdistys changed its name at the beginning of 1980. The organisation, which had already operated for years as a central federation of 16–18 provincial associations, updated its name to Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto, reflecting both its true form and the whole field of folk music – playing and singing. One motive for the name change is also thought to have been the renaming of the Folk Music Advisory Board (Kansanmusiikin neuvottelukunta) as Kansanmusiikin keskusliitto.
The great undertaking of the early part of the decade was compiling the Pelimannimatrikkeli, a register of folk musicians. Data collection began in 1981 and the book was published in 1984. The work contains descriptions of hundreds of Finnish folk musicians and dozens of ensembles from all over Finland. Unfortunately, data was not obtained evenly from every province, but the book still serves as an excellent reference work and a demonstration of the keen interest in folk music in our country.
Duties change hands
New winds of equality also blew through Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto's administration. From the start, women had been represented by Sirkka Viitanen, who served as secretary. She was assisted at the association's office by Raija Hätinen (Mäkinen). In 1980, a woman was elected to the board as a provincial representative for the first time: Seija Wirkkala from Kaustinen.
Until the end of 1979, the editor-in-chief of the Pelimanni magazine was Timo Koski. From the beginning of the following year, he handed the duties over to Tapio Rantakari, who continued as the magazine's editor-in-chief until his death in 1993. The magazine soon got a new look and layout: from a typewritten bundle of duplicated sheets, it became a printed publication in 1984.
From the beginning of 1980, Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto appointed its first executive director, initially part-time. The post went to Antti Koiranen, who at the same time held the post of lecturer in folk music at the University of Tampere. His term lasted until autumn 1982, when he moved to the post of assistant in folk music at the University of Tampere. In 1981, the deputy for the executive director was Kari Kilpeläinen, who also held the post in 1982–83. Juhani Näreharju continued for the next three years (1983–86). After that, the holder of the executive director's duties changed frequently: Kirsti Nikulainen (1986), Reija Grönroos (1986–87), Maarit Hildén (1987-88) and Anita Ahtiainen (1988). After them, the post of permanent executive director went to the enthusiastic and industrious Päivi Utriainen (later Ylönen-Viiri), who has held the post since 1988.
From the beginning of 1984, a new man took the helm of Suomen Kansanmusiikkiliitto. Erkki Ala-Könni had, in his greeting to the previous year's autumn meeting, expressed the wish that he could ”for now step aside”. The new man had long been familiar to the folk music field: professor Martti Pokela had in his day been the first chair of the Pelimannikilta (1965–1966), had gained folk music a foothold at the Sibelius Academy, and was familiar as a performer from radio and television. Pokela's chairmanship lasted three years, after which, in January 1987, the leadership was taken over from the vice-chair's seat by Tapio Rantakari.