The third string quartet (1969) by Sallinen is the most frequently performed of Sallinen's quartets, and it is also known in a version for string orchestra. The subtitle refers to a Finnish fiddler tune, heard at the beginning of the quartet.

In the course of the work, this tune is cast in a variety of settings through modern variation techniques giving the work the character of a modern chaconne. Sallinen spices it with his own wit (an aborted fugue and bastardised baroque cadences for examp...