Estonians keep their musical tradition alive

With a long history of song festivals, Estonia is a country
where singing has served the purpose of both entertainment and
political protest. Today’s young Estonians are keeping up this
tradition.

The small Baltic country of Estonia has hundreds of choirs,
which meet at schools, churches and even factories.

Many towns hold regular music festivals of their own, but the
vocal climax for the country is the Estonian Song Festival, which
takes place every five years. First held in 1869, the event
continued throughout Estonia’s tumultuous history and now attracts
tens of thousands of participants.

Music as a political tool

At 34, accomplished singer Tomi Rahula is too young to remember
the worst of the Soviet rule over Estonia, which lasted from 1944
to 1991, but he clearly recalls occasions when Estonians used song
to defy the Soviet censors.

“There were songs that we were supposed to sing about Lenin and
Stalin, but when that singing ended people didn’t go away – they
started to sing songs that they weren’t allowed to sing,” said
Rahula. “[The authorities] couldn’t do anything because there were
like 80,000 people.”