Oivan Ilo

Oiva Anderson was born to the small Finnish-speaking immigrant community of New Ipswitch, New Hampshire, just north of the border with Massachusetts. Some years later, his daughters Christine and Sharon formed a small musical group called Oivan Tytöt (Oiva's Daughters) that played traditional Finnish folk music. After a while, many of their friends got involved, and some of them were male, others were his granddaughters, and the name didn't fit so well. Oiva approved the renaming to "Oivan Ilo" (Oiva's Joy), to express his happiness that his family and friends were playing this music. Oiva is gone now, but his daughters and their friends play on.

Oivan Ilo is a somewhat motley gang of friends who play this music together. We play for several dances each month, and at assorted other events. This is our first CD, a memorial to Oiva. You can download the MP3s from here. The tunes are also presented in software . You can get a copy of the CD from Marianne Cygnel mcygnel@gmail.com.

The people playing here are:

Christine Anderson (one of Oiva's daughters): fiddle
Marianne Cygnel: accordion, vocals
John Chambers: mandolin, fiddle, recorder, accordion, toy piano
Joe Sylvia: guitar

Recorded at The Zone Studio in Taunton, Massachusetts.
Recorded by: Charlie Ball
Mastered by: Mike Higgins
Graphic design: John Rosenfelder (whose wife Sharon is another of Oiva's daughters)

Joe, Christine, John, Marianne

01	MP3	ABC	Words	Koiviston Polska	3:00
				A traditional polska tune. It has been spotted recently as a "ringer" tune on some Nokia cell phones.
02	MP3	ABC	Words	Emma	3:05
				"Why do you treat me so bad when I love you so?"
03	MP3	ABC	Words	Kahdeksan miehen enkeliska	4:37
				Eight-man "English" quadrille
04	MP3	ABC	Words	Sappu Kirvusta	3:17
				Sappu (a kind of dance) from Kirvu
05	MP3	ABC	Words	Nuuskapolkka	2:34
				Snuff polka. A somewhat silly dance in which a boy introduces a girl to snuff.
06	MP3	ABC	Words	Du är så vacker	2:22
				"You are so pretty"
07	MP3	ABC	Words	Katariinan polkka	3:24
				Katrina's polka. Written by Richard Koski, of the Crumtown Ramblers in Ithaca, New York.
08	MP3	ABC	Words	Minun kultani kaunis on	2:45
				My lover is beautiful. Although his eyes are crossed, he has buck teeth, and horses laugh when he walks by, still he is beautiful. (Since Finnish has no gender, you can replace he/his with she/her if you prefer.)
09	MP3	ABC	Words	Hannun ja Riitan häävalssi	3:46
				Hannu and Riita's wedding waltz. This tune was written by Konsta Jylhä, who was one of Finland's best-known traditional fiddlers. He was one of the people who got the Kaustinen Festival going. He also inspired a lot of young people to take up the fiddle.
10	MP3	ABC	Words	Satumaa	3:30
				Fairyland, a tango by Unto Mononen. There is a long tradition of tangos with dreamy, surrealistic lyrics about another, better world.
11	MP3	ABC	Words	Isä-Jussin sottiisi	4:32
				Daddy Jussi's shottish. This is another of Konsta Jylhä's tunes.
12	MP3	ABC	Words	Taivas on sininen ja valkoinen	3:07
				The sky is blue and white. A song about the beauty of the Finnish land.
13	MP3	ABC	Words	Polska från Lappfjärd	2:40
				A traditional polska tune from Lappfjärd, a town on the west coast of Finland.
14	MP3	ABC	Words	Kulkurin valssi	3:11
				Vagabond's waltz. A song about the joys of being homeless and unemployed, and free to wander anywhere.
15	MP3	ABC	Words	Penttilän sillalla	2:10
				At the Penttilä bridge. Another of Konsta's tunes, a shottish. There are words, but we play it as an instrumental tune. Back before everyone had autos, it was common to have dance parties on bridges in good weather. The surface was good (though not as good as a wood floor), and who wants to be indoors when the midnight sky is bright?
16	MP3	ABC	Words	Konstan perempi valssi	3:32
				Konsta's better waltz. This is possibly the best-known of Konsta Jylhä's tunes. The name was given to the tune by his friends.
17	MP3	ABC	Words	Vaiennut viulu	3:24
				And another of Konsta's tunes, a song about a violin hanging silent on the wall, unplayed because the player is gone.
18	MP3	ABC	Words	Tallikalan markkinoilla	2:34
				At the market in Tallikala.
19	MP3	ABC	Words	Knapsaus polkka	1:54
				Plucking polka. Some fiddlers play this with a lot of plucking of strings.
20	MP3	ABC	Words	Saisinko, saisinko	2:28
				May I?
21	MP3	ABC	Words	Männikössa	3:16
				"In the pines", a traditional shottish tune.
22	MP3	ABC	Words	Raatikkoon	2:25
				An old dance tune.