Song Festival (Estonia)

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XXVII. Estonian Song Festival in Tallinn (July 7, 2019)

The tradition of the Estonian song festival ( Estonian üldlaulupidu ) was founded in 1869. It is to be seen in the context of the strengthening of Estonian national consciousness. The Estonian Song Festival is currently held in Tallinn every five years (next event: 2024). At the 2014 song festival, over 33,000 singers performed in front of almost 153,000 listeners. The common choir consisted of 22,000 singers. The Estonian Song Festival is one of the largest events for amateur choirs worldwide. In 2003, the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Song and Dance Festivals were recognized by UNESCO as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity , and in 2008 they were included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity .

History of the Estonian song festivals

Beginnings

VIII Song Festival 1923
The leaders of the X Song Festival in 1933. From left: Raimund Kull , Tuudur Vettik , Juhan Aavik , Juhan Simm and Verner Nerep .
The conductor Neeme Järvi on the XXV. Song Festival 2009
Spectators on the XXV. Song Festival 2009
Former President Arnold Rüütel with his wife Ingrid in traditional costume at the 2009 song festival

The singing tradition in Estonia goes back a long way to the written time. In addition to the traditional Regilaulud ("round dance songs ") of the Estonians , spiritual songs were added with the medieval Christianization . After the Reformation in Estonia, they were translated into Estonian by German pastors or even written in Estonian. The first major Estonian male choir was recorded in Laiuse in 1828 .

The Baltic German Liedertafeln in particular have been popular and active since the Revaler Verein für Männergesang , the first choral society in Estonia, was founded in 1849. The first Baltic German song festival took place in Riga in 1836 . In 1857 a similar event followed in Tallinn, which was modeled on Estonian circles during the so-called "National Awakening" of the Estonians.

The first Estonian or Estonian-speaking choral society, Revalia , was founded in 1863. However, a more extensive repertoire of Estonian pieces was still missing, so that mostly German songs were sung. The influential Estonia and Vanemuine choral societies followed in 1865, promoting a more independent Estonian choral tradition with songs in the Estonian language. The first local gatherings of Estonian singers took place in Põlva in 1855 and 1857, among others . In 1863 there was a local song festival with 500 participants near Anseküla , and others in Jõhvi (1865) and Uulu (1867).

First Estonian song festival

The main initiator and leader of the first all-Estonian song festival was the publicist Johann Voldemar Jannsen (1819–1890). He pursued his goal with the support of an influential circle around the Vanemuine association , of which Jannsen was chairman. In April 1867, the association first applied to the Russian authorities for approval for a large Estonian song festival in Tartu, Livonia . The official occasion was the 50th anniversary of the abolition of serfdom in Livonia by the Russian tsar in 1819. In this way, the organizers hoped to be able to overcome tsarist and Baltic German resistance to the holding of the Estonian song festival more easily. But it was not until February 20, 1869, after several interventions by the Estonian side in Saint Petersburg and Riga, that the Russian authorities gave permission for the festival, four months before the scheduled date.

After economic questions could also be solved, the first song festival took place in Tartu in the summer of 1869. Until the III. Song Festival 1880 only male choirs were allowed. Wind orchestras also played. The first day was devoted to spiritual songs, the second to secular ones. At that time, however, there were only two really Estonian songs in the program: " Mu isamaa on minu arm " and "Surmani" , both of which were composed by Aleksander Kunileid and written by Lydia Koidula . There were also two Finnish pieces.

About 850 singers and 15,000 listeners took part in the first song festival, a considerable number for the time. However, due to the lack of rail connections at the time, North Estonia was rather poorly represented, the island of Saaremaa not at all. The first Estonian song festival was broadcast to neighboring Latvians . In 1873 the tradition of national song festivals began in Latvia as well . In Lithuania , the tsarist authorities prevented song festivals out of mistrust after the Lithuanian uprising in 1863. The first national Lithuanian song festival did not take place until 1924 after the state gained independence.

In 1869 Estonians organized other local song festivals, including in Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa, in Tarvastu , Türi and Iisaku . Encouraged by the success of the first general Estonian song festival, the idea of ​​a second large song festival arose in 1871.

Increasing popularity

The second song festival was actually planned for the summer of 1875. However, it had to be postponed from 1877 to 1879 due to the lack of official approval and then again after the beginning of the Russian-Ottoman War . The preparations were accompanied by internal disputes, which were however overcome.

The scores for the 52 planned pieces had already been printed in April 1877, but not all of them were performed. Only two Estonian and two Finnish songs were performed again, the rest were in German. There weren't enough Estonian songs yet, but that should change in the years to come.

The III. The Song Festival 1880 was first held in Tallinn, but again under great suspicion of the Russian authorities. The IV Song Festival in 1891 took place at the height of the Russification of Estonia. It was officially the tenth anniversary of the throne of the Russian Tsar Alexander III. dedicated. Of the 28 pieces, thirteen sacred and nine secular songs were Estonian compositions. In 1894, at the 5th song festival in Tartu, fifteen out of 32 pieces came from Estonian hands. At VI. Song Festival 1896, which was dedicated to the imperial coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in the same year, was first heard at the end of the later Estonian national anthem Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm and then the Russian imperial anthem .

Early 20th century

In 1910, at the VII Song Festival, the last under tsarist rule, the song festivals had already become a permanent fixture in the Estonian cultural calendar. The number of participants had increased more than tenfold since 1869. Until VI. Song Festival (1896) the dates were connected with tsarist feast days. The I, II, IV and V Song Festival took place in Tartu, all others in Tallinn .

With Estonian independence in 1918, the song festivals became a central expression of the Estonian national identity in the young Estonian state. They were an event of great political importance for the unity of the country. The song festivals have also been broadcast on Estonian radio since 1933 . From 1923 to 1938 the Estonian Singers Association (Eesti Lauljate Liit) organized the festivities. In 1934, dance events were added, which accompany the song festival to this day. In the interwar period , until the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, four song festivals took place.

Soviet occupation

Ten song festivals were held during the Soviet occupation of Estonia until 1991. The period between the song festivals was five years. The 1969 Jubilee Song Festival was an exception. At that time, the largest choir at the Estonian Song Festival performed with 24,500 singers.

In 1950 the numbering of the song festivals as "anti-socialist counting" was abolished. The Soviet authorities left nothing to chance with the choreography. The aim was to use the song festival as an instrument for Soviet communist propaganda. Therefore, choirs of the Red Army performed regularly at the song festival. The organs of the Estonian SSR nevertheless viewed the song festivals with suspicion and tried in advance to stop any Estonian nationalist activity. Some songs such as the Estonian national anthem “ Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm ” (German: “My fatherland, my happiness, my joy”) remained completely forbidden. From 1947, non-Estonian songs also had to be included in the program.

Still, the Estonian songs were a form of covert resistance against the Soviet rulers that the KGB could not prevent. During the time of the Soviet occupation, Estonia saw itself as a "singing nation", whose national consciousness was expressed collectively in the Estonian songs. In particular, the closing song of every song festival, “Mu isamaa on minu arm”, to the music of Gustav Ernesaks (mostly conducted by himself) and the text by Lydia Koidula became an unofficial national anthem of the occupied country, to which all listeners rose.

Estonian independence regained

In 1988 the so-called Singing Revolution began under the sign of glasnost and perestroika . Thousands of Estonians made their demands heard on Lauluväljak , Tallinn's singing field, and sang patriotic songs. In June and July 1990 the XXI. Song festival for a powerful demonstration of the Estonian striving for independence and separation from the Soviet Union. The numbering of the song festivals was reintroduced. For the first time, choirs from Estonia took part in the song festival. The majority of the songs sung came from Estonian authors. The popular Gustav Ernesaks, who had directed all the song festivals since 1947, also conducted there for the last time. In August 1991, Estonia regained its independence, which it had lost in 1940.

Song festival today

The Estonian Song Festival takes place in Tallinn every five years. Most recently, thousands of singers came together on July 6th and 7th, 2019. The next song festival will take place in July 2024. The Estonian dance festival (tantsupidu) is held at the same time as the song festival .

Singer Square and Singer Stage

Since 1923 the song festival took place in the Tallinn district of Kadriorg near the Baltic Sea coast . The neoclassical stage at that time came from Karl Burmann . Since 1928 the song festival has been taking place at the current location on the Tallinn Bay. There, Karl Burmann first built a stage for 15,000 singers on Lauluväljak (literally "Liederplatz"),

The current construction of a song shell, the so-called singer's stage (Laululava) , comes from the Estonian architects Alar Kotli and Henno Sepmann . The facility was built between 1957 and 1960. Up to 15,000 singers gather on a staircase that is up to 73 meters wide and, for acoustic reasons, spanned by a network of cables up to 32 meters high in the form of a hyperbolic paraboloid . It weighs 80 tons.

On the north side of the singing stage stands the 42-meter high tower by Allan Murdmaa , inaugurated in 1969 for the centenary of the song festival , on the roof of which there is a fire that is lit at the beginning of the song festival.

Around half a million spectators can look out from Lauluväljak onto the singing stage and the Baltic Sea beyond. The audience increases in the direction of the Lasnamäe district . The memorial for the conductor and composer Gustav Ernesaks (1908–1993) by Ekke Väli , which was inaugurated during the XXIV Song Festival in 2004, stands on the meadow .

Estonian song festivals

Üldlaulupidu
 year
 Period
 place
 groups
 Attendees
I. 1869 18.-20. June Tartu 51 845
II 1879 20.-22. June Tartu 64 1272
III 1880 11-13 June Tallinn 48 782
IV 1891 15-17 June Tartu 179 2700
V 1894 18.-20. June Tartu 263 3951
VI 1896 8-10 June Tallinn 410 5681
VII 1910 12-14 June Tallinn 527 10,000
VIII 1923 June 30th – 2nd July Tallinn 386 10,562
IX 1928 June 30th – 2nd July Tallinn 436 15,049
X 1933 23-25 June Tallinn 500 16,500
XI 1938 23-25 June Tallinn 569 17,501
XII 1947 27.-29. June Tallinn 703 25,760
XIII 1950 21-23 June Tallinn 1.106 31,907
XIV 1955 20.-22. July Tallinn 893 30,321
XV 1960 19. – 21. June Tallinn 875 29,273
XVI 1965 16.-18. June Tallinn 690 25,806
XVII 1969 27.-29. June Tallinn 771 30,230
XVIII 1975 19. – 20. July Tallinn 641 28,537
XIX 1980 6-7 July Tallinn 627 28,969
XX 1985 20-21 July Tallinn 677 26,437
XXI 1990 June 30–1. July Tallinn 690 28,922
XXII 1994 2-3 July Tallinn 811 25,802
XXIII 1999 3rd to 4th July Tallinn 856 24,875
XXIV 2004 4th to 5th July Tallinn 850 22,759
XXV 2009 4th to 5th July Tallinn 864 26,430
XXVI 2014 4th-6th July Tallinn 1,046 33,025
XXVII 2019 6-7 July Tallinn 1,020 32,411
XXVIII 2024 5th-7th July Tallinn
XXIX 2029 June 29–1. July Tallinn

Local song and dance festivals

In addition to the national song festival, numerous local song and dance festivals take place in Estonia. A song festival for youth choirs has been held every five years since 1962. A joint Estonian-Finnish song festival took place in 2000. Since the end of the Second World War , song festivals of the foreigners have been held, including 1946 in Altenstadt and 1947 in Augsburg , as well as in Sweden , the United States , Canada , Australia and other countries.

literature

  • Arvo Ratassepp: Eesti laulupeod . Tallinn 1985.
  • 130 aastat eesti laulupidusid. Tallinn 2002, ISBN 9985-813-24-3 .

Web links

Commons : Song Festival (Estonia)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Tallinn Song Festival Grounds  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ üld = general, comprehensive; laul = song; pidu = festival
  2. ↑ http://www.delfi.ee/news/laulupidu/uudised/pea-200-000-inimest-puudutanud-pidu-numbrites-153-000-piletit-33-000-lauljat-ja-10-000-tantsijat .d? id = 69309653 .
  3. ^ The Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations at unesco.org
  4. ↑ Reval is the historical German name of the Estonian capital Tallinn
  5. ↑ http://www.laulupidu.ee/eng/history/song_celebrations/
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / laulupidu.tartu.ee
  7. ^ Antoine Jacob: Les pays baltes. Un voyage découverte. Paris 2009 ( ISBN 978-2-915752-43-4 ), p. 22
  8. ^ Ilmar Talve : Eesti kultuurilugu. Keskaja algusest Eesti iseseisvuseni. Tartu 2004 ( ISBN 9985-77-030-7 ), p. 484
  9. ↑ http://www.laulupidu.ee/eng/history/song_celebrations/
  10. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / laulupidu.tartu.ee
  11. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / laulupidu.tartu.ee
  12. ↑ Tiiu Viirand (ed.): Estonia. Cultural Tourism . Tallinn 2004 ( ISBN 9949-407-18-4 ), p. 21
  13. ↑ Otso Kantokorpi: neuvosto Tallinn. Helsinki 2006 ( ISBN 951-581-108-2 ), p. 91f.
  14. ^ Thea Karin: Estonia. Cultural and scenic diversity in a historical borderland between east and west. Cologne 1994 (= DuMont art and landscape guide ) ISBN 3-7701-2614-9 , p. 82
  15. ↑ http://www.lauluvaljak.ee/est/lauluvaljak/ajalugu/muutused  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.lauluvaljak.ee  
  16. ↑ laulupidu.ee: Üldlaulupidude ajalugu (Estonian)