Vaistism - The Sense of Estonian Music
Every country has its own tone. To grasp and understand the Estonian
sound is to go on an exciting voyage of discovery: Estonia has
remained "the distant unknown" until now, a musical
landscape full of mysterious beauty, a resonant new territory.
Even its history is fascinating and multi-faceted: centuries
of the dominion and influence of distant masters and lands have
never managed to supplant the characteristic nature and life-style
of the Estonian; at the most they were suppressed. The Estonians
are a strong people; they have withstood the challenges of their
history with admirable self confidence. Their lovingly and jealously
guarded culture has produced musical riches which awaken the interest
of the European music world with increasing intensity.
From the boundaries and almost exotic seclusion in the northern
idyll of the Baltic regions, Estonias' music has taken its profile.
Because of this, it presents itself today as a unique sound,
whose unmistakable and enchanting essence is far from the main
stream of european musical tradition. Estonian music is generally
a stranger to dodecaphony, or experiments in the direction of
the electronic avantgarde. Instead it uses tonality and free-tonality
with vitalic fantasy and characteristic rhythmical power. Whether
we speak of the energetic symphonies of Lepo Sumera or the colorfully
playful concerts of Jaan Rääts; the sharp lines of Raimo
Kangros music, reminiscent of mighty, primitive rock, or the suggestive
astronomical visions of Urmas Sisask--the Estonian sound puts
the listener under its sensuous spell, appeals less to his intellectual
consciousness of structure as to his emotional willingness to
open himself to a strong music experience.
The formula for the characteristic profile of Estonian music is
called "Vaistism", and comes from the Estonian word
"vaist," meaning intuition, empathy. This concept stands
for the ardent feeling of the composer for his country, the indentification
of the Estonian with the nature and the history of his homeland,
so to speak to the soul of the nation. The Estonian music conjures
up not only feelings, but also pictures out of the lives of the
people of Estonia, their roots in the myths of shamanism, the
pull of the sea, the picturesque magic of the lakes, rivers and
woodlands, fairy tales and stories, in short: the amiability
of a small, but self-confident people.
Ulrich Hartmann (Translation: Pamela Hamblin).