Haapavesi Waltz

Another obsessively played fiddle tune these days: the Haapavesi Waltz.

Here is the version my teacher, Cathy Clasper-Torch, taught our class at the Blackstone River Theater.

Unlike the version below, the version she played starts on A, but in all other ways is a direct transposition, no change in fingering.

I know nothing about Haapavesi, Oulu, Finland, other than that it maxes out at about 61 degrees Fahrenheit in July, but in other ways looks a bit like Northern Minnesota.


About the waltz, I found out not much more.

It appears to have been written in 1991 by Keith Murphy, a distinctly unFinn name, and yet it reminds me of the Varttina music I have grown to love.

And a touch of the tight, odd rhythm of the Steve 'n' Seagulls version of AC/DC's “Thunderstruck”.



I get a huge smile every time I listen to this. I was never an AC/DC fan, but now...

Here is more on traditional fiddle in Finnish music.

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