Säkkijärven polkka

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Säkkijärven polkka (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsækːiˌjærʋen ˈpolkːɑ]; "the Säkkijärvi polka"), also called the "Karelian-Finnish Polka," is a well-known folk tune from Finland, very popular with Finnish accordionists. It was especially popularized by Viljo "Vili" Vesterinen (1907–1961). The tune was first recorded in Säkkijärvi (now Kondratyevo in the Leningrad Oblast, Russia), and the lyrics sometimes sung with the tune, stating that while Säkkijärvi itself might have been lost (ceded to the Soviet Union in 1940), the Finns at least still had the polka.^[1]

Military use[]

Map of regional changes in the Säkkijärvi region. From Säkkijärvi in 1946 the areas connected to Miehikkälä and Ylämaa are marked with numbers 2 and 3

During the Continuation War, the Finnish Army discovered that the retreating Soviets had scattered radio-controlled mines throughout the re-captured city of Viipuri. These mines were set off when a three-note chord was played on the frequency the radio was tuned to. The most famous and historical is the recording made on June 17, 1939 with former members of the Dallapé Orchestra. The recording took place in the ballroom of the German school in Helsinki. The recording became not only the savior of Viipuri, but also the most famous performance of all time about the Säkkijärvi polka.

In the Continuation War, the Russians stationed radio mines in Vyborg that were tuned to be triggered at a certain frequency. The mines exploded after resonance if a certain triad was played on the radio frequency; each mine had three sound irons that oscillated at specific frequencies unique to each mine. Immediately after the conquest of Vyborg, the Finns wondered at the strange mine explosions. At first, the pioneers suspected they were time-triggered mines. On August 28, 1941, the pioneers found triggers packed in rubber bags in Antrea from a 600 kg explosive charge installed under the Moonlight Bridge. The pioneers quickly delivered those devices to Headquarters in Mikkeli, which delivered them to the Communications Department. The Communications Department ordered Captain of Engineering (later Professor) Jouko Pohjanpalo to take them to Helsinki as a matter of urgency, and with the help of YLE, they were dismantled and investigated. It was subsequently found that mines had been located throughout the city. The Finns found out the places of the mines from the Soviet soldiers imprisoned in the Soviet Union.

On September 1, the General Staff received one broadcast car from YLE, which was driven to Vyborg.^[2] It could transmit the transmission frequency on the mines frequency. The car in question was a REO 2L 4 210 Speedwagon taken from Nuijamaan auto Oy. The car was used by N. Sauros.^[3]

Säkkijärvi polkka was chosen as the record from the car's record collection. Thus, in order to thwart the enemy's goal, they started playing the Säkkijärvi polka - and specifically the version recorded by Vesterinen - without any pauses, so that the frequency of the triads used by the enemy were interfered with to the point that the mines were completely unusable. On September 4, it was noticed that Soviet troops were constantly transmitting in triplicate on the same transmission frequency. Thus began the battle with the radio waves. This broadcast was continued for three consecutive days until Aunus received another car from Vyborg.^[4] In the meantime, an examination of the dismantled triggers had revealed that Soviet troops had radio mines operating on three different radio frequencies. The great fear was that the internal combustion engines running the transmitters' generators would disintegrate, and therefore the military quickly ordered additional 50-watt transmitters^[5] from Helvar, which were delivered as early as September 9, 1941. These then transmitted interference transmissions until February 2, 1942.^[6] The military had calculated that the mine batteries were depleted within three months at the latest.

Lyrics[]

The lyrics to the polkka are seen here in Finnish and English:

Other usage[]

• Säkkijärven polkka is also the title of a film directed by (1908–1992) in 1955.
• The Leningrad Cowboys play the song in the 1989 movie Leningrad Cowboys Go America. An additional mambo rendition is played during the end credits and included in the soundtrack album.
• Säkkijärven polkka was included as one of the ringtones for the Nokia 2110 (1994), the first mobile phone to feature them.^[7]
• An electronic version of the song, titled Hardcore of the North, appears in the music video game In The Groove, commercial multi player machine dance game iDance and iDance2.
• An instrumental piece of the music was featured in the anime movie Girls und Panzer der Film.
• Canadian folk punk band The Dreadnoughts does a version called "The Skrigjaargen Polka" on their 2009 album Victory Square.
• "Delicious Destinations" Sweden episode.
• A Eurobeat remix of the song by a user under the name Turbo has become popular on YouTube.^[8]

See also[]

• Ievan polkka

References[]

External links[]

• A MIDI of Säkkijärven polkka