Estonia

Estonian musicologist Heli Reimann has come a long way, from a country village in Soviet Estonia via Florida to the University of Helsinki. As a musician and a scholar, she immersed herself in Estonian jazz culture in the Stalin era, delving into the reminiscences of musicians of the time and their underground jazz parties.

In the academic world, Finland boasts a high level of expertise in all things Russian. Over the past decade, musicologists too have begun to show an increasing interest in our eastern neighbour and above all in its history.

The Estonian song festival is a concept whose history and significance cannot be assessed with conventional artistic criteria. Since the last century, the song festivals organized in Tallinn have been a demonstration of Estonian culture and national spirit whose power has been strongest at crucial turning points in the nations history. On the other hand, they have also served as a showcase for a rich and original culture of singing and as a demonstration of a rare and heartfelt musical togetherness.

Estonia is near Finland, but Estonian and Finnish contemporary music differ considerably from one another. Composer Kalevi Aho has acquainted himself with Estonian music for instance at Estonian contemporary music seminars in 1995 and 1997 and observed that Estonian composers cannot be bracketed into the same categories as their Finnish colleagues.

The main theme of the first ever FMQ magazine in 1985 was the Kalevala. In the issue composers and researchers like Pekka Lounela, Eero Tarasti, Erkki Salmenhaara, Heikki Laitinen and Olli Kortekangas approached the epic from varying points of view. Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930–2017) wrote in his column how the Kalevala has influenced his work.

Even though a tunnel passing underneath the Gulf of Finland is but a distant dream, there already exists a strong spiritual link between the countries of Finland and Estonia. A bridge built on music started forming right after Estonia became an independent state.

The Estonian and Finnish contemporary music scenes share many similarities but also have considerable differences. I can say this from my own first-hand experience as an Estonian composer who has lived and studied in Finland for a long time. The differences may come as quite a surprise, considering how close our two nations are culturally. But our recent history has shaped us in different ways.