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Music in Estonia
THE BEGINNING OF ESTONIAN MUSIC TRADITION AND SONG FESTIVALS
The art music tradition in Estonia is primarily a 20th century phenomenon. Our
national music traditions started with the first song festival in 1869 during the period
of the Estonian national awakening. At this festival the choirs sang “My Native Land,
My Joy, My Delight” for the first time. The song became later the national anthem of
Estonia.
The festival has grown within the years. During the 1930ies the tradition of dance
festival was started and the first Youth Song and Dance Festival took place in 1962.
Today all-Estonian song festivals are held every five years on The Tallinn Song
Festival Grounds. The next festival takes place in 2014.
(There are also Gaudeamus (for students of the three Baltic states); Finnish-Estonian song and dance
festivals; men’s dance festivals and in 2008 a Punk Song Festival was held in Rakvere.)
IMPORTANT COMPOSERS
There have been many composers who have developed our musical tradition.
The first pre-eminent composer was RUDOLF TOBIAS (1873-1918) who founded
Estonian instrumental music. He is depicted on our 50-kroon banknote.
MART SAAR (1882-1963) and CYRILLUS [ki-] KREEK (1889-1962) collected folk
music and used its elements in their work.
HEINO ELLER (1887-1970) wrote symphonic music and was a great composition
teacher who trained a generation of new composers, including Arvo Pärt.
ARVO PÄRT
Arvo Pärt (1935) is the best-known Estonian composer throughout the world. He
spent his childhood in Rakvere, worked as a recording engineer with Estonian Radio
and later as a free-lance composer. At the beginning of 1980ies he emigrated to
Austria, then moved to (West) Berlin where he still lives.
He has created his own unique style called tintinnabuli, which means “little bells”. The
music is characterised by simple harmonies, often single unadorned notes. Also, the
works are rhythmically simple and do not change tempo. His famous works include:
Fratres, Summa, De Profundis, Symphony No.3, Für Alina and many others.
His music has been used in more than 50 films (e.g Fahrenheit 9/11, There Will Be
Blood), in documentaries and TV programmes.
He was commissioned to write music for the festivities of the 750th anniversary of the
Cologne Cathedral (Kanon Pokajanen) and he wrote music for the funeral of the
Estonian president Lennart Meri (For Lennart).
He has received several awards, including „Contemporary Music Award“ in 2003 and
in 2008 one of the most recognized award of classical music – the Sonning Award.
Other notable contemporary composers include Erkki-Sven Tüür (1959), Helena
Tulve (1972) and many others.
MUSIC FESTIVALS IN ESTONIA
There are several music festivals held annually in Estonia. There are Jazzkaar,
International Contemporary Music Festival NYYD, Birgitta Festival, David Oistrakh
Festival in Pärnu etc. Other music festivals include Rabarock in Järvakandi, Võru
Folklore Festival, …
In VILJANDI and in its surroundings there are three important festivals. Suure-Jaani
Music Days take place in June, to celebrate the musical works of Kapp-family and
Mart Saar. Viljandi Early Music Festival is held in the first half of July, it is the oldest
early music festival in Estonia. The biggest festival is Viljandi Folk Music Festival,
which takes place at the end of July. It attracts around 20,000 visitors during the four
days and is cherished for its quality music and relaxed atmosphere.
The venues for classical music in Viljandi are St John’s and St Paul’s Church and
halls in Cultural House and in Estonian Traditional Music Centre.
Vocabulary:
National awakening
“My Native Land, My Joy, My Delight”
Youth Song and Dance Festival
The Tallinn Song Festival Grounds
Folk music [fəuk]
Contemporary music
Early Music Festival
Cultural House
Estonian Traditional Music Centre
Rahvuslik ärkamine
„Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm“
Noorte Laulu- ja tantsupidu
Tallinna Lauluväljak
rahvamuusika
Kaasaegne muusika
Vanamuusika Festival
Kultuurimaja
Pärimusmuusika Keskus