7th Question

Why are Estonians called a 'singing nation'?

If you ask an Estonian to sing, you'll meet with an embarrassed refusal. Yet Estonians, with their long tradition of song festivals dating from the time of the National Awakening in the mid-19th century, have earned themselves the title of a singing nation. The typical Estonian willingly sings in a choir; choral music is considered by many to be a symbol of the country at large.

It is hard to find an Esonian who has never attended the national song festival.

The Estonian Literature Museum contains more than 1 300 000 pages of folk songs. As for the size of its folklore collection, Estonia comes second only to Ireland. At the song festivals, people don colourful folk costumes and head in their thousands for the Song Festival Field in Tallinn.

Ever since the period of the National Awakening, Estonians have been eagerly attending concerts and theatre performances. The theatres in smaller cities can by no means be called provincial; they attract viewers from all over the country. It is quite possible to travel from one end of Estonia to the other in a single day. With such light summer nights, huge open air concerts have become all the rage in Estonia.

Country:	Cinema:	Theatre:
Estonia	73	67
Hungary	144	24
Norway	260	30
Iceland	483	55

Visits to theatre and cinema per 100 people.

Estonians have always been regarded as people who are fond of reading books. The first book in Estonian, a Lutheran catechism, was published in 1525; the complete Bible translation in 1739. The enormous number of copies produced during Soviet times have been superseded by a multiplicity of titles. Despite the emergence of new cultural attractions, there isn't the slightest sign that books are becoming obsolete. Only recently, the whole nation kept its fingers crossed for Jaan Kross, nominated for the Nobel prize in literature. The written word seems to be closest to the Estonian heart- the annual meeting of our Writers' Union always receives more attention in society than the meetings of any other.

The Reformation gave the Estonians first books in their own language.

The first Estonian feature film was made in 1914. Besides Iceland, our film industry produces films for one of the smallest audiences in the world. This has not been a limitation; documentaries, feature films and animated cartoons are produced every year. The latter especially have taken the names of Estonian film makers into the international arena; their original cartoons, abounding in acutely ironic metaphors, have attracted keen attention and received many prestigious awards.