Celebrating the Power of Song and Singing--I'll be writing more about this in the coming days.
The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1990 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Singing for National Independence
"The Singing Revolution" by National Geographic photographer and baby boomer, Priit Vesiland with James and Maureen Tusty describes in documentary and book form of the place of singing and song in Estonia's history and national story. It is a moving story with wonderful photographs that is especially interesting for someone like me who knows nothing about the Baltic States. And certainly had no idea of how central song and singing has been as a culture carrier and social glue www.singingrevolution.com . Geographically close to Finland and Rissia, Belarus and the other Baltic countries, lingistically, like Finland, Estonia has Hungarian language roots which interestingly enough tie it to Chinese. Ghengis Khan got as far as Hungary--thus the language ties.
Estonians Enslaved Alternatively by Russia and Germany for Centuries
Estonia has had a difficult history, as far back as 700 years ago a vassel state of Germany--Estonians serving as serfs on German noble's estates. It has been repeatedly fought over by Russia and Germany--sometimes under Russian or USSR rule and sometimes German and then Nazi rule. Lots of killings, deportations, nights of terror, fleeing abroad or to Scandanavia. Not until 1991 did it restore national independence from Russia which had claimed it under the secret "sphere of influence" Ribbentrop and Molotov treaty between Russia and Germany made in the 1939.
Estonian Fusian Rock and Roll Saves the Day
From the 1980s onward, and especially in the summer of 1988, Estonians used song at national mass singfests to bring about national cohesion and push out Russia. As Paul Goble, Former Public Affairs Officer of the US State Department said, " By denying the Baltics their freedom, Gorbachev condemned the Socviet Union to oblivion." And Estonians contributed to this oblivion singing their rich trove of folk songs, some national "anthem" songs and finally at rock and roll concerts which fused R and R with historical song forms including runic types similar to Finnish rune based songs (http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26999). Estonians ultimately affirmed their national status with a "song and a smile."
The Darker Side--the Holocaust
There is a darker underside to this story of song and light and that is the role Estonia played in the Holocaust and murder of its Jewish population in WWII. It is a complex and contested history in which Russia and Nazi Germany were key players in their battle for world power played out repeatedly on the Baltic lands and especially over Estonia which has the largest and ice free Baltic Sea port. See these sites for varying views on the subject.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1178020745724&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_in_Estonia#Holocaust_in_Estonia_1941_-_1944;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_in_Estonia#Holocaust_in_Estonia_1941_-_1944
While any lives lost to the Holocaust are too many, still it is remarkable that a people were able to peacefully and with singing create a nation. "The Singing Revolution" is in bookstores at $34.00.
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