Estonia’s Folk Music and Nature
Did you know the following facts about Estonia?
- 50% of the country is covered by forests
- Estonia’s population is 1,3 million, but the country is larger than Denmark or Holland
- Almost a quarter of Estonia’s land area is nature-protected
- Over 2,000 islands
Vita Pictura’s relationship with the Estonian folk tradition started after filming of Viljandi Folk festivals — the biggest folk music festival in Estonia, held every summer in the remnants of the ancient castle overlooking the Viljandi lake.
This year, however, Vita Pictura’s team was looking forward to meeting with various folk musicians in South Estonia, interviewing them and listening to the south Estonian folk music. After all the interviews have been done, our production crew and musicians moved on to the Viljandi folk festival.
Our producer Serj Rimma and Director of Photography Aleksei Kulikov were taking care of the production process on-site and filming. They decided not to book anything on Airbnb, but rather to immerse into the pristine Estonian nature, bringing only tents to protect them from the usually chilly Estonian nights.
South Estonia is well known for its forests and numerous smaller and larger lakes. The team had a great time enjoying a traditional sauna in the very free atmosphere among the Estonian nature. The goal was to travel around smaller villages, enjoy the real Estonian folklife and nature, and record some of the best moments on camera.
One of the most memorable moments, apart from meeting the artists, was the visit to the RMK zone. RMK zones are the nature zones protected by the government and meant to preserve the area. Forests and bogs cover more than half of Estonia and it is a vital natural resource and cultural inspiration for many Estonians. When you visit Estonia, a trip to one of the RMK zones is a must!
The visit to the second biggest Estonian town Tartu was planned in order to meet one of the groups participating in the festival — the Curly Strings. The Curly Strings base their music on the U.S. bluegrass music tradition, with Estonian vocals and folk tradition.
“Curly strings were wonderful when we met them. Each artist gave a little live performance at their home. This is how folk music should be enjoyed — at home and not at a big concert — it instantly creates a cozy feeling” — added producer Serj Rimma. You can watch the interview with the band in our video. If you do not know what is folk music, then we suggest to watch the video and you will see what it stands for in the Estonian context.
Filming in bogs was unusual and wonderful — the production crew got tired, but everyone was just amazed at nature. Words by our producer Serj Rimma, who just got out of a big city, speak for themselves:
“ We arrived, filmed, set up the tent, enjoyed great food on the fresh air, swam in the lake, had a beer and went to sleep. Then we woke up in the morning and continued enjoying the warm summer and nature — it was awesome!”
After leaving Tartu, the team headed to Viljandi, a smaller southern Estonian town, where the team filmed a famous Estonian folk band Trad Attack. Vita Pictura has already had luck filming the band previously and this has been the moment when it was possible to get to know them better.
The trip then brought Aleksei and Serj to the home of another well-known Estonian musician Mari Kalkun. She introduced the crew to her family, who greeted them nicely, offered cookies with Japanese tea, and set up a smoke sauna for them. Smoke sauna is the traditional sauna in Estonia — the smoke in the sauna is vented out through a window. Mari then showed her skills in playing the Kannel — national Estonian string instrument, similar to a lyre. The drone footage in the video was also done there.
The folk trip then continued to one unique place called Rõuge Kunstikuur, which is an important cultural house, where local handicrafts are sold, and where workshops and exhibitions are held. This is a great place to get acquainted with the South Estonian traditions. This is where the team met and filmed Tuulikki Bartosik, an Estonian accordion player. She also invited them to her home and played the accordion for them. They got some homemade rhubarb juice and Serj got to play the kannel since he already had some experience playing the guitar. More than that, they managed to visit Mihkel Soo, who is the best master in carving kannels out of wood. He showed how it is done by hand and you can see it in our video as well!
Another well-known Estonian folk band was Puuluup — a two-man band, playing folk music, featured in our video. The crew recorded their performance and interviewed them on the way to the Viljandi Folk Festival. Ramo Teder (known as Pastacas solo artist) and anthropologist Marko Veisson offered their insights on the contemporary developments in the Estonian folk music. They play talharpa, which is a special kind of kannel played in the old times. The performers call their music neo-zombie-post-folk since talharpa is the instrument that hasn’t been used for a very long time and its revival in their compositions reminds of a recently awakened zombie. The use of a loop in their music just adds to its unique sound.
On the very last day of the trip, the crew got presented with some homemade Estonian beer, and the road then took them to the Viljandi Folk festival 2019, where the main event was going to take place with the artists they had visited during the trip.
All in all, the conclusion of the trip has been given by the producer Serj Rimma as follows:
“It was vegan south Estonia, with skinny dipping in the lakes, with no one to bother you, and being one with the nature.. Too many mosquitoes though.”
We would like to express our gratitude to the partners who helped us to film: European Union, Finest Sounds and Interreg Central Baltic, Martiina Putnik from Music Estonia and Ele Arder from Tallinn University.
Finest Sounds was a cross-sectoral and cross-border collaboration between music companies and organizations from Estonia and Finland targeting Japan. The project took place between the years 2016 and 2019. You are welcome to enjoy the sounds and footage filmed by the project participants.
Reach us if you want to know more: Vita Pictura
Original article written by Roman Pototski
