Viljo "Vili" Vesterinen (26 March 1907 – 18 May 1961) was a Finnish

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

ist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Vesterinen was born in

Terijoki Zelenogorsk (), known as Terijoki prior to 1948 (a name still used in Finnish and Swedish), is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located in part of the Karelian Isthmus on the shore of t ...

. He studied

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

at the

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

Music Institute, but as an accordionist he was self-taught. Vesterinen mainly played in different bands and theatres early in his career. Vesterinen made his first recordings in 1929. The most popular recording of Vesterinen is

Säkkijärven polkka Säkkijärven polkka (; "the Säkkijärvi polka") is a well-known folk tune from Finland that is very popular with Finnish accordionists. It was popularized by Viljo "Vili" Vesterinen (1907–1961). The first record of the existence of the tune i ...

in 1939. Even though it is not Vesterinen's own song, his version of the song is the most popular among people. Other popular songs are ''Metsäkukkia'' (1931), ''Hilpeä hanuri'' (1936) and ''Valssi menneiltä ajoilta'' (1939). Vesterinen made a total of 130 recordings during his career. Heavy use of

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s caused his health to deteriorate and affected his ability to play. Vesterinen also appeared in some films. The biopic ''Säkkijärven polkka'' (1955) is the story of Vesterinen's life. Viljo Vesterinen 1930-luvulla

References

External links

List of recordings of Vesterinen

List of compositions of Vesterinen
1907 births 1961 deaths People from Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish accordionists Finnish male composers Finnish military personnel of World War II 20th-century accordionists 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Finnish composers {{Finland-musician-stub