The most well known Finnish folk musician and composer, Konsta Viljami Jylhä, was born August 14, 1910 in Kaustinen to a family with a tradition for playing the fiddle. Jylhä's father, who died quite young, was regarded as one of the best fiddlers in Central Ostrobothnia. However, Jylhä did not have time to become his father's apprentice, as he was only three years old at the time of his father's death.

A folk musician who learned to play by ear

Konsta had his first experiences with fiddle music at his mother's workplace, the Santeri cafe. The cafe was a meeting place, cultural center and the news agency of the village. Jylhä learnt to play the harmonium and the fiddle by ear by listening and accompanying the old fiddlers who played in the cafe.

A lorry driver who served in the Army Service Corps during the war

Jylhä was a lorry driver by profession. He learned to drive a lorry while transporting building materials to construction sites as a schoolboy. After returning from the army, Jylhä bought a lorry together with a friend, initially to transport milk and timber. During the war, Jylhä served in the Army Service Corps as a lorry driver.

Jylhä had to retire from driving a lorry in March 1961, after a load of logs fell on him as he was unloading them from the lorry. He suffered a skull fracture and a concussion from the accident, which resulted in a permanent tinnitus in his ears.

The popular Purppuripelimannit of Kaustinen

After the wars, Jylhä and a group of other folk musicians in Kaustinen started a fiddler band, which was called Purppuripelimannit. The band toured annually after 1946 and was formed as a quartet: two violins, a harmonium and a contrabass.

The touring of Purppuripelimannit picked up when record companies became interested in folk music in the 1950s and began playing it on the radio. Many of the songs in the band's repertoire became radio hits loved by the Finns.

In the late 1960s, Purppuripelimannit got to play at increasingly larger arenas, and the band appeared frequently on television. The band became famous throughout the country at the end of the decade and they also performed at Ruisrock in the 1970s.

The composer's career began at the age of 54

After suffering serious injuries in the early 1960s, Jylhä could no longer continue working as a lorry driver. Jylhä got married to Rebekka Hautakoski in 1951. They had five children so he had a family to support. Encouraged by the cantor Aaro Kentala of Kaustinen, Konsta Jylhä began to compose on his own.

Of the songs composed by Jylhä, the "Konstas Major Waltz" and the "Mute Violin" brought him a lot of publicity. Konsta Jylhä's skill as a composer was one of the reasons for the popularity of the Purppuripelimannit.

The award-winning master fiddler stays in the hearts of the people

Jylhä's health deteriorated and his final public performance was at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival in 1978. He continued to compose songs during his last years. Konsta Jylhä died after a long illness on September 13,1984.

The entire musical production of Jylhä consists of nearly one hundred folk music melodies and around 50 spiritual songs. Konsta Jylhä was named a master fiddler in 1969. He received the title Director Musices in 1971 and the Pro Finlandia medal in 1978.