Estonian Arts and Music
Estonian music
Estonian music. According to relationshipsplus, Estonian folk music is originally unanimous; early evidence is from the 11th century. An older folk song tradition – songs inrunic verse formor in Kalevala metrum – that originated around a millennium BC is of Baltic-Finnish origin, the younger is part of the European folk song tradition of the last centuries.
In the 19th century people began collecting and recording musical folklore. With a collection of over 133,000 folk songs, Estonia has one of the most extensive documentations of its kind. Also in the 19th century, polyphonic choral singing became widespread. The lay choir movement formed the basis for the development of professional musical art in Estonia. The song festivals, held every five years since 1869 and attended by over 30,000 folk singers as well as dancers and musicians, were of great importance for the development of national musical culture. The founders of the Estonian choral song were Mart Saar (* 1882, † 1963) and K. Kreek. First symphonic works and chamber music composed Artur Kapp (* 1878, † 1952) and Heino Eller (* 1887, † 1970); the first Estonian opera (»The Vikings«, 1928) was written by Evald Aav (* 1900, † 1939). The composer Rudolf Tobias (* 1873, † 1918) went to Leipzig in 1908 and taught at the Royal University of Music in Berlin from 1910. Eugen Kapp (* 1908, † 1996) created the basis for modern Estonian music theater with his music-dramatic works.
Well-known contemporary Estonian composers include Eino Tamberg (* 1930, † 2010), Jaan Rääts (* 1932, † 2020) and Arvo Pärt . Eller, who taught at the Tallinn Conservatory, influenced a whole generation of students, including Jaan Koha (* 1929, † 1993) and Heino Jürislau (* 1930, † 1991). In the 1970s, among others, Ester Mägi (* 1922, † 2021), Peeter Vähi (* 1955) and Urmas Sisask (* 1960) to the public. The choral tradition of Saar was continued by Gustav Ernesaks (* 1908, † 1993) and Veljo Tormis (* 1930, † 2017) continued. The conductor Neeme Järvi became particularly well-known among the numerous internationally active interpreters in Estonia. To promote national music culture, Estonia was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 1992, along with the other two Baltic states.
The Estonian folk scene in particular has seen a great boom in recent years. After there had been no internationally significant folk music scene for a long time, despite the rich folk music tradition, musicians are now drawing attention to themselves who creatively combine the Estonian music tradition with other genres.
Estonian arts
Estonian art, the art in what is now Estonia. The oldest art monuments go back to the 3rd millennium BC. BC back. The Romanesque and Gothic styles were idiosyncratic, especially in the north (smooth shapes, sparse decor). Fortifications with convent houses (Kuressaare) and mighty defense towers (Vastseliina), single-nave fortified churches (Karja) and three-aisled hall churches (Ambla) were built. From the 15th / 16th In the 17th century, winged altars by North German (H. Rode, B. Notke) and Dutch masters have been preserved. The best-known example of Renaissance architecture is the House of the Blackheads (15th / 16th century) in Tallinn. In the 17th century show up in the Baroque Dutch shapes in Narva town hall (1665/71; S. Teuffel), Italian influences in Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn (1718–23; N. Michetti, M.-G. Semzow). Under the influence of Russian classicism, building ensembles were built in Tartu (town hall, 1782–84; university building, 1803/09) as well as numerous mansions and country houses. Around 1900 historicism and Art Nouveau (Estonia Theater in Tallinn, 1909–13; Armas Lindgren) were spread by German, Russian and Finnish architects. The functionalism represented Olev Siinma (* 1881, † 1948) and the Finn Alvar Aalto. The neo-functionalist Tallinn School (Jüri Okas, * 1950 and others) followed on from postmodernism around 1980.
The development of a national fine art was promoted by the painting school founded in 1803 at the University of Dorpat (today Tartu). Connections to Romanticism are shown in the painterly works of Ludwig von Maydell (* 1795, † 1846), Johann Köler (* 1826, † 1899) and August Weizenberg (* 1837, † 1921). Close contacts existed with the art academies in Düsseldorf (E. von Gebhardt had worked there since 1858) and Saint Petersburg. The spectrum of styles influenced by Western Europe, which has been developing since the beginning of the 20th century, is supplemented by the recourse to traditional elements. The Pallas Art School in Tartu, founded in 1919, was of particular importance. Ado Vabbe (* 1892, † 1961), Paul Raud (* 1865, † 1930), Eduard Viiralt (* 1898, † 1954), Jaan Koort (* 1883, † 1935) and Anton Starkopf (* 1889, † 1966) worked. The representatives of the post-avant-garde began under Soviet influence (including Julo Sooster, * 1924, † 1970, active in Moscow since 1956; Andres Tolts, * 1949; Tönis Vint, * 1942; the group »HARKU’75«) since the 1960s to confront national traditions with international concepts (including abstraction, pop art, photorealism). The post-communist retro-avant-garde has been designing since 1991Strategies of privatization and appropriation of international art. Artists such as Jaan Tomik (* 1961), Siim-Tanel Annus (* 1960), Herkki-Erich Merila (* 1964) and Peeter Pere (* 1957) analyze ironically and critically in painting, photography, video, performance art, Netart and others. personal, ethnic and global identity as well as the socio-political environment. A gender discourse is led by Kai Kaljo (* 1959), Mare Tralla (* 1967), Ene-Liis Semper (* 1969) and Mari Laanemets (* 1975). V. a. Marko Mätamm (* 1965) and Kaido Ole (* 1963).
