Statue for Kreeta Haapasalo

Haapasalontie Veteli

The kantele player and singer Kreeta Haapasalo (1813–1893) was born in Kaustinen and lived in Veteli for almost twenty years. Instructed by a neighbour at Järvelä in Kaustinen, Kreeta learned to play the kantele already as a child. Eleven children were born into the family of Kreeta and the crofter Joonas Virkkala, but two of the children passed away from illness at a young age in 1857.

Intending to earn some money, Kreeta left for her first performance trip in Kokkola in the mid-1800s. She earned more than ten roubles for the performance. “The high society” of Kokkola recommended her to perform also in Helsinki, which finally occurred a couple of years later once she had finished breastfeeding her youngest child. The performance trip in Helsinki was successful, even though the horse cart ride from Haapasalo in Veteli was naturally hard. The gentry of Helsinki, above all Sakari (Zachris) Topelius, recommended Kreeta to perform in the other towns of the Grand Duchy of Finland as well. Newspapers spread Kreeta’s fame as an interpreter of sorrow, poverty and humility. Her singing and playing was mainly heard in the homes and parlours of the gentry. She also started to earn considerable sums of money on the tours. Kreeta performed as far away as St. Petersburg and Stockholm. On the months-long tours, the ensembles also included Kreeta’s family members, such as her daughter Kreeta Sofia and her niece Sanna-Liisa, both of whom played the kantele and sang. Sometimes Kreeta’s husband and some of the younger children would also join the tours. Kreeta died in 1893 after having lived near her daughter in Varkaus. She spent her last years in Jyväskylä, where she still performed with her relatives at music festivals.The crofter’s wife Kreeta Haapasalo from the Perhonjoki river valley became a folk music legend and an innovator on the kantele who made the instrument known throughout Finland.

The crofter’s wife Kreeta Haapasalo from the Perhonjoki river valley became a folk music legend and an innovator on the kantele who made the instrument known throughout Finland.