| violacd04:
American Hanuri Prinsessa Volume 4 1949-1951 CD by Viola Turpeinen |
| Elamaa
suomalaismetsissa (Woods of Finlands) |
Carl
Jularbo, sov.Viola Turpeinen
|
2:25
|
| Vingelska |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:32
|
| Finnish
Schottish |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:50
|
| Ulla's
Hambo |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:56
|
| Sven's
Hambo |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:27
|
| Vekkuli
polkka (Jolly Fellow) |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:51
|
| Heinaaika |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:24
|
| Talkoo
polkka (Working Bee) |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:33
|
Kuun
virran sillalla (Nidelven)
(On the Bridge in the Moonlight) |
Hoddo
- Cristensen, sov Viola Turpeinen - Tetos Demetriades
|
2:36
|
| Meinasin,
meinasin olla(Not single anymore) |
Kansanlaulu,
Viola Turpeinen-Tetos Demetriades
|
2:29
|
| Ilalla
(Tula tullalla) (In The Evening) |
Kansanlaulu,
Viola Turpeinen
|
2:31
|
| Tahti
ja meripoika (Star & Sailor) |
Bror
Karlsson, san. Olavi Virta, Viola Turpeinen
|
2:40
|
| Kallen
valssi (Carl's Waltz) |
Tetos
Demetriades
|
2:42
|
| Saarijarven
Liisa (Saarijarven-Waltz) |
Georg
Malmsten, san.R.R.Ryynanen
|
2:44
|
| Sataa
vetta, sataa lunta(Its raining & Snowing) |
Viola
Turpeinen - Tetos Demetriades
|
2:33
|
| Finnish-Sweish
Schottish |
Tetos
Demetriades
|
2:30
|
| Ellin
polkka (levan polkka) |
Kansansavel,
sov. Viola Turpeinen - Tetos Demetriades
|
2:30
|
| Two
Row Accordion |
Viola
Turpeinen
|
2:37
|
| Taika
yo |
Viola
Turpeinen |
2:45
|
Meilla
ei taalla ole (Vieraalla maalla)
(We Have No Home) |
sov.Tetos
Demtriades
|
2:38
|
| Kullallein
mina kaffia keitan(Cooking Coffee For My Girl) |
Kansanlaulu,
sov. Tetos Demetriades
|
2:36
|
| Sydammestani
rakastan (I Love you Truly) |
sov.
Tetos Demetriades
|
2:48
|
| Suomalainen
sottiisi ja Kivijarven polkka |
Kansanlaulu,
Viola Turpeinen
|
3:31
|
|
Total
Time
|
55.48
|
|
Name
|
Time
|
mp3
file size
|
| RElamaa
suomalaismetsissa (Woods of Finlands) |
20s
|
|
| Vingelska |
20s
|
|
| Finnish
Schottish |
20s
|
|
| Ulla's
Hambo |
20s
|
|
| Sven's
Hambo |
20s
|
|
| Vekkuli
polkka (Jolly Fellow) |
20s
|
|
| Heinaaika |
20s
|
|
| Talkoo
polkka (Working Bee) |
20s
|
|
| Kuun
virran sillalla (Nidelven) |
20s
|
|
| Meinasin,
meinasin olla(Not single anymore) |
20s
|
|
| Ilalla
(Tula tullalla) (In The Evening) |
20s
|
|
| Tahti
ja meripoika (Star & Sailor) |
20s
|
|
| Kallen
valssi (Carl's Waltz) |
20s
|
|
| Saarijarven
Liisa (Saarijarven-Waltz) |
20s
|
|
| Sataa
vetta, sataa lunta(Its raining & Snowing) |
20s
|
|
| Finnish-Sweish
Schottish |
20s
|
|
| Ellin
polkka (levan polkka) |
20s
|
|
| Two
Row Accordion |
20s
|
|
| Taika
yo |
20s
|
|
| Meilla
ei taalla ole (Vieraalla maalla)(We Have No Home) |
20s
|
|
| Kullallein
mina kaffia keitan(Cooking Coffee For My Girl) |
20s
|
|
| Sydammestani
rakastan (I Love you Truly) |
20s
|
|
| Suomalainen
sottiisi ja Kivijarven polkka |
20s
|
|
|
20s
|
|
| Description: American Hanuri Prinsessa Volume 4 1949-1951 CD by Viola Turpeinen |
Viola Turpeinen Biography Other Viola Turpeinen CD's
Viola
Tupeinen (1900-1958) was the best-known Finnish-American accordionist
of her time. The fourth volume of her complete recordings
takes us through the final years of her recording career,
1949-51, when she was recording regularly for Standard Records
in New York.
Viola
Turpeinen and her husband Wiliam (Vili, Bill) syrjala had
been playing regularly at the Finnish Workers' Hall (Tyovaentalo)
in New York since the 1930s. Viola had made her first records
in 1928, and now she was the only Finnish-American artist
who was still recording regularly. After the war, she had
moved from RCA Victor to Standard Records, ans she was the
label's leading Scandinavian artist along with Walter Eriksson,
a New York-based accordionist whose parents were ethnic Swedes
from Finland. Eriksson's Finnish recordings were usually credited
to "Pohjolan Pojat" (The Nordic Boys).
Between
1949 and 1951, Viola was still recording a dozen sides annually.
Her repertoire reflects the changing tasted of Finnish-Americans.
Many of the titles were traditional dance tunes from Scandinavia,
much like the ones she and other Finnish- American accordionists
like Willie Larsen had been recording in the 1920s. Wood of
Finland (Livet i Finnskogarna) is one of the best-known Scandinavian
waltzez of all time. The "woods of Finland" actually
refer to "the Finn forests". a huge wooded area
on the border of Sweden and Norway, which was orifinally populated
by immigrants from Finland in the 16th century. Finnish was
still widely spoken amng the farmers and woodsmen of the area
in the 19th century. The tune is generally credited to the
famous Swedish accordionist Carl Jularbo, who first recorded
it in 1915, but a court later found that it was actually an
older folk tune arranged by Jularbo. Workign Bee is a Finnish
dance tune (Nujulan talkoopolkka) which had earlier been recorded
by the Finnish comedian J.Alfred Tanner in 1926.
However,
it is obvious that Viola was also following new musical trends.
Saarjarven Liisa and Meilla ei taalla are Finnish pop songs
from the 1930s. Tahti ja meripoika (The star and the sailor)
had been a big hit in 1948, after it had been recorded by
te up and coming Finnish singer Olavi Virta. Kuun virran sillalla
(Nidelven was a Norwegian song which was also hugely popular
in Sweden - six competing versions of the song were recorded
in that country in 1949. The first Finnish recording of the
songs was made by Henry. Theel in the same year. The overall
sound of Viola's recordings is mordern, and reflects the current
popularity of "polka musci" in the United States.
Tetos Demtriades, who had earlier been a popular Greek-American
singer, and it is unlikely that he had contributed much to
these works.
Sydamestani
rakastan (I love you truly), made in 1951, was Viola's last
recording. the ethnic compostion of Manhattan was now changing.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Harlem had been one of the centers
of the Finnish-American population, with two large Finnish
halls, a Finnish newspaper, and even a Finnish-language theater
group appearing regularly at the Workers Hall, ut now the
Finns were moving out. the Finnish Workers Hall at 5th avenue
and 127th Street was sold to a Black congregation and converted
to a church. In October 1952, Viola and Bill decided to move
to Lake Worth, Florida, which now had a rapidly expanding
Finnish population.
There
were already two Finnish halls in the Lake Worth area, Turistihaali
(Touris Hall) in Lantana and Kenttahaali (Field Hall) in Lake
Worth. As the Tourist Hall already had a regular orchestra,
Viola and Bill started promoting dances at the Field Hall,
which was owned by the workers Educational Association. It
now became their regular venue, although they also made tours
to the Midwest and New England in the summers. Viola and Bill
played at the Field Hall regularly until Viola's final illness.
The dances became very popular, and they soon had to expand
the hall. Te couple had originally lived in a rented apartment,
but in 1955 they purchased a house on Riedel Avenue. Viola
called it "the house that polka built".
Soon
afterwards Viola learned that she had cancer. Despite the
illness, she continued to play as long as possible, and when
she was eventually forced to stop performing, she obtained
a lighter instrument which she could play on their porch.
Viola Turpeinen-Syrjala died at Lake Worth Hospital on Friday
evening, December 26th 1958. At her memorial service, they
played Bill's composition Kukkjan suviaamu (The wandered on
a summer morning), which had been one of Viola's favorites.
Her body was cremated, but Bill kept her ashes at home in
a urn, to be eventually buried with him.
After
her death, the newspaper Raivaaja (Fitchburg, MA) wrote that
"the acordion most widely known among Finnish-Americans
will now be quiet forever'. The writer also recalled Viola's
first appearance at the Saima Hall in Fitchburg in the 1920s,
when she had filled the 625seat auditorium to capacity, and
many fans had to be turned away.
Bill,
now officially William Syralia, continued to play at the Field
Hall untill the 1980s. His last accompanist was accordionist
Jorma Vuorinen from New York. Over the years. they still used
the old bass drum with the legend VIOLA TURPEINEN ORCHESTRA.
Bill finally retired in 1989, after playing regularly for
almost 80 years. The last time he played was in 1991, when
researcher Toivo Tamminen met him in Lake Worth and encouraged
him to open again his violin case and play the old melody
Mustalainen on the single remaining string.
William
Syralia died at Kennedy Hospital in Lake Worth, Florida on
Sunday, April 4th 1993. He had just celebrated his 95th birthday
at Field Hall. He, and the urn containing Viola's ashes, were
buried a few weeks later at Shell Lake Cemetery, Wisconsin.
Although
she made her last recordings in 1951, Viola's recordings continued
to be available in the United States for a long time. They
were issued several times on LPS in the 1950s and 1960s, and
on cassettes in the 1970s. In some cases, old recordings by
the Walter Eriksson orchestra were also erroneously reissued
under her name on vinyl, causing some discographical confusion.
However, most of her recordings have never been available
in Finland, although she has a legendary reputation in Finnish
folk music circles. It is high time that all of her recordings
are again available on CD.
The
final track on the CD is an air-check from April 19,1936,
which was recently discovered at the Library of Congress.
It features Viola as guest performer on the popular radio
show "Major Bowes Amateur Hour". Acter a brief interview,
she plays her own composition Kivijarven polkka in front of
a New York studio audience. The polka has not been recorded
otherwise, but there exists a sheet music copy from the 1930s. |
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