Music of Estonia
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The Estonians are related to the Finns, and their music shares some similarities. Zithers are perhaps the most popular musical instrument, while runo-song is the distinctive national folk music.
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[edit] History
Estonian runo-song has been extensively recorded and studied, especially those sung by women. They can come in many forms, including work songs, ballads and epic legends. Much of the early scholarly study of runo-song was done in the 1860s by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, who used them to compose the Estonian national epic, Kalevipoeg. By the 20th century, though, runo-song had largely disappeared from Estonia, with vibrant traditions existing only in Setumaa and Kihnu.
Traditional wind instruments derived from those used by shepherds were once widespread, but are now more rarely played. Other instruments, including the fiddle, zither, concertina and accordion are used to play polka or other dance music. The kantele (Estonian: kannel) is a native instrument that is now more popular among Estonian-Americans than in its homeland. Nevertheless, Estonian kannel musicians include Igor Tõnurist and Tuule Kann.
[edit] 20th century
In the 1960s, the Soviet government began encouraging folk art from its constituent republics. Local ethnographic bands were formed after Leiko, a choir from Värska, came together in 1964, while a less regionally-distinct form of Estonian folk music was soon promoted, beginning with the formation of Leigarid in 1969. The 1950s and 60s also saw the publication of Herbert Tampere's Eesti rahvalaule viisidega (Estonian folk songs with melodies), a collection of folk songs. The first LP of traditional music, Eesti rahvalaule ja pillilugusid (Estonian folk songs and instrumental pieces) was released in 1967. In the 1980s, a series of festivals took place that helped stimulate increasing agitation for freedom of expression; these included the 1985 conference of CIOFF, the 1986 Viru säru and 1989's Baltica.
Estonia also produced a number of classical composers of high repute during the twentieth century, including Rudolf Tobias (1873-1918), Heino Eller (1887-1970), Artur Kapp (1878-1952), Mart Saar (1882-1963), Lepo Sumera (1950-2000), Eduard Tubin (1905-1982) and the living composers mentioned below.
[edit] Today
These celebrations of traditional life have inspired multiple later composers who modernized traditional music, including Olev Muska and Coralie Joyce, Kirile Loo, Veljo Tormis and the Estonian-Australian choir Kiri-uu. Other modern Estonian musicians include the influential composers René Eespere (1953-), Ester Mägi (1922-), Arvo Pärt (1935-), Urmas Sisask (1960-), Veljo Tormis (1930-) and Erkki-Sven Tüür (1959-).
There are several yearly music festivals of Estonia. The girl band Vanilla Ninja are probably the best-known Estonians in popular music, having had success in several Central European countries.
Metsatöll is a folk-metal band combining runo-song and traditional folk instruments with metal.
The group Laudaukse Kääksutajad provides the world with modern interpretations of ancient Estonian songs.
| Nordic music |
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Denmark - Faroe Islands - Estonia - Finland (Karelia - Sami) - Greenland - Iceland - Latvia - Lithuania - Norway - Sweden |
| Finno-Ugric music |
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Estonia - Finland (Karelia - Lapland) - Hungary - Khantia-Mansia - Komi Republic - Mari El - Mordovia - Nenetsia - Udmurtia |
[edit] References
- Cronshaw, Andrew. "Singing Revolutions". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 16-24. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
