Musicology

Data sharing is one of the cornerstones of modern science that enables large-scale analyses and reproducibility. We evaluated data availability in research articles across nine disciplines in Nature and Science magazines and recorded corresponding authors’ concerns, requests and reasons for declining data sharing. Although data sharing has improved in the last decade and particularly in recent years, data availability and willingness to share data still differ greatly among disciplines. We observed that statements of data availability upon (reasonable) request are inefficient and should not be allowed by journals. To improve data sharing at the time of manuscript acceptance, researchers should be better motivated to release their data with real benefits such as recognition, or bonus points in grant and job applications. We recommend that data management costs should be covered by funding agencies; publicly available research data ought to be included in the evaluation of application...

Method For the data collection, Test Battery (Cohen et al. , 2009) from Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing (AI RS) project was applied to Estonian children (N = 26, 1 7 girls and 9 boys, age 4 to 12). All sessions were videotaped. C hildren were tested once. The duration of each test session aver aged 15-20 minutes. Audio samples and feedback during the test s were provided by the researcher using her own voice or a keyboard instrument. In this presentation, results of two co mp nent tasks (no. 7 and no. 8) are presented. For acoustical ana lysis of the obtained vocal material (endings of the presented m lody and invented songs) a Java-based freeware Musical Micro Analysis Tools (MMATools) by Stadler Elmer (2000) were appli ed.

This article describes the author’s informal observations of the development of movement response to music with the added interaction with a musical toy robot. The subject under observation was one child, from the age of 8 to 24 months. Overall, the child’s readiness to move seemed to be motivated by the presence of the interactive toy robot. Observation revealed a variety of movement responses at a very young age, also in attempts to interact with the toy. The child appeared to form an emotional relationship with the toy robot that can be described by different phases from partnership with the toy, to the reduction of the toy’s role, to a passive music box. The toy robot was also used in a mediator role between siblings of different ages. Thus, interactive musical toy robots may have a beneficial effect on a child’s musical development as they provide a repetitive, safe and critique-free space. The human-like features of the toy robot (i.e. happy face, moving arms and legs) seemed to catch this child’s attention, allowing him to interact with the toy similarly to a human dance partner. The robot’s clumsy moves fit the concept of motionese, supporting the development of the child’s motor skills.

Artikkel püüab rehabiliteerida Liedertafel’i mõistet,
millel eesti muusikalookirjutuses on negatiivne tähendus.
Liedertafel’id olid 19. sajandi saksa kultuuriruumis asjaarmastajate
meestelauluseltsid ja nende repertuaaris oli nii häid
kui halbu laule. Artiklis näidatakse, et alaväärtustava hinnangulise
sisu sai see mõiste 19. sajandi lõpu ja 20. sajandi
alguse muusikalookirjutuse kontekstis – muusikast kui kunstist
mõtlemisel ja kirjutamisel oli keskne mõiste meistriteos,
puhast muusikat ja kontsertmuusika žanre hinnati kõrgemaks
ja tarbemuusikast peaaegu ei räägitud. Esimeste eesti muusikast
kirjutajate Rudolf Tobiase, Leenart Neumani jt eesmärgiks
oli ka meie oma muusikas kõrgžanrite ja meistriteoste
loomine ja propageerimine, protest asjaarmastajate kooriliikumise
keskse positsiooni vastu eesti muusikaelus. Artikli
lõpus näidatakse Gustav Ernesaksa paari koorilaulu ja nende
esituste põhjal, et paljud armastatud ja hinnatud koorilaulud
vastavad täiesti vana meestelaulu ehk siis Liedertafel’i
stiilinõuetele, samuti leiame selle traditsiooni esitusstiili elemente
veel sajandi keskpaiga helisalvestistes, kunstiliselt kõrgelthinnatud
esitustes. Liedertafel on asjaarmastajatele jõukohane
neljahäälne a cappella koorilaul, mis ei pretendeerigi
võistlema Beethoveni sümfooniate või Wagneri ooperitega, kuid
ei tähenda ka a priori diletantlikku ja halva maitsega tehtud
muusikat või esitust.
Ilmunud: Paar sammukest XXIV. Eesti Kirjandusmuuseumi aastaraamat 2007, Tartu: EKM Teaduskirjastus 2008, lk. 113–135, ISSN1406-5428.

This essay examines the development of twentieth-century Estonian musicology through the lens of one of the discipline’s central concerns: the study of folk melodies. It suggests that the latter, though closely linked with attempts to define a distinctly Estonian musical language in the 1930s, offered a safe haven for Soviet-era musicologists seeking to avoid engaging in ideological discourse, for it allowed for the application of quantitative approaches adapted from the academically prestigious and ideologically neutral realm of computational linguistics to the analysis of musical materials. Such methodologies of folk-music research furthermore enabled Estonian musicologists to participate in an international community of scholars in the 1970s and 1980s, despite their republic’s political isolation.

In conclusion we can say that the ideological background of Baltic music history writing is a very complex phenomenon. Texts written in the 1960s and later do not represent a uniform Soviet historiography, not to speak about Marxism. Often we must know the terms and rules of the game in order to understand the author. But the good news is that most musicologists have done honest work, they are not political falsifiers. However, neither histories written before the Soviet time nor those of that time cannot be used as methodological basis for further work. They are interesting objects of study as documents of an extensive historical period. Distancing from the national bias in some recent Estonian music-historical projects has brought fresh ideas and young students to the field that was considered dull and petrified.

Among the correspondence of Karl Leichter (TMM, Department of Music: M 159) there are 18 letters from Elmar Arro, written in Vienna from 1972 to 1982. Some of them are very short and practical -- for years Arro planned to visit his homeland and in 1981 he finally succeeded, together with his wife he spent a few days in Riga and Tallinn. But several letters contain interesting and sometimes bitter reflections about the situation of East-European studies in the West, particularly in Germany.
Arro's interests were rather wide, including Russian music, Slavic music in general, and Baltic music history. In his correspondence with Karl Leichter an important theme of discussion is the earlier music history in Estonia and Latvia. Arro was sure, that in his youth in the 1930s he had been the last one to study many important documents later destroyed or lost in World War II. Again and again he wrote, that if he died without publishing his studies, those countries would forever remain without a proper music history.
Published: Universität und Musik im Ostseeraum. Ekkehard Ochs/ Peter Tenhaef/ Walter Werbeck/ Lutz Winkler (Hg.). Greifswalder Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 17, Berlin: Frank&Timme 2009, 263--270.

Muusikat armastanud kirjanike teostes leidub sageli olustikuliselt väga täpseid kirjeldusi omaaegsest muusikaelust. Muidugi pole jutustusena mõeldud lugu otseselt dokumentaalne materjal, kuid Randvere J[ohannes]e “Ruth” oma pikkade programmiliste kirjeldustega sisaldab tihedat infot noore Aaviku ettekujutustest, kohaliku (Tartu, üldse eesti) elu kriitikat ja noore mehe unistusi. Ruthi osavust klaverimängus on mainitud korduvalt, kuid pikemalt puudutavad ta muusikaharrastust kaks lõiku –  tutvustav lõik teises peatükis ja improviseerimist kirjeldav lõik kuuendas.
Miks Ruth just klaverit mängib ja mitte näiteks ei laula, ehk miks ta ei mängi viiulit? Tollases muusikatraditsioonis võimaldas ainult klaverimäng olla täielik suverään, laulja oleks vajanud mingit harmoonilist saadet. Kuni raadio ja heliplaatide laiema levikuni oli klaver ainus muusika tundmaõppimise vahend ja klaveriseades mängiti läbi igasuguseid teoseid, ka sümfooniaid ja oopereid. Klaverit mängiv Ruth jääb keskklassi naiste maailmas piiresse, selles tegevuses on võimalik vastandada tema arenenud oskusi ja muusikamõistmist “tavaliste naiste” piiratud võimetega.
Huvitavad on kaks heliloojaterühma, keda Aavik on võtnud nimepidi nimetada: vanemad komponistid Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Tšaikovski (selle reaga viitab Aavik tollasele traditsioonilisele saksa kontserdirepertuaarile) ja käesoleva aja komponistid Saint-Saëns, Grieg, Franck, Richard Strauss, Vincent d’Indy, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Reger (rahvuslike ja moodsate heliloojate rida, mis vastandub traditsioonilisele saksa klassikale). Aavik ilmselt tahab rõhutada Ruthi klaverimängu suurt mastaapi ja jätab vanade meistrite reast välja Haydni ja Mozarti. Märkimisväärne on ka Mendelssohni ja Wagneri puudumine loetletud heliloojate hulgast.
Kohe esimeses katkendis rõhutati Ruthi fantaasiat ja ta võimet kujutada noodipilti ette ilma klaverit puutumata. Just 19. sajandil, koos looja-esteetika ja looja-kultuse arenguga, hakati muusikalist kujutlusvõimet meeste pärusmaaks pidama, mida muidu ehk muusikaliselt väga andekatel naistel ikkagi pole. Seepärast on märkimisväärne, et Ruthi klaverimängu on pikemalt kirjeldatud ainult seoses improviseerimisega – seegi on peegelpilt reaalsusest, sest isegi väga head luust ja lihast naispianisti ei saaks nii kujutada.
Natuke kurb on aga lugeda viimast Ruthi klaverimänguga seostuvat lõigukest, milles räägitakse Ruthi vastumeelsusest avaliku esinemise vastu ja rikka seltskonna kunstilisest harimatusest. See reedab see kirjutaja teatud seltskondlikku alaväärsustunnet. Millegipärast tuleb pähe, et Aavik oleks ehk soovinud ise viiuli asemel klaverit mängida, kuid selleks puudusid tal nooruses võimalused ja seetõttu vaatas ta selle pilli poole nii kõrgele üles. Samast allikast oli vimm seltskonna vastu, kes kontsertidel paremad kohad täidavad ja pileti hinna pärast muretsema ei pea. Aaviku unistuste Ruth asetatakse neist kõrgemale, nad pole väärtki tema mängu kuulama. Ruth soostub mängima ainult väljavalitud ringi noorukitele, kelle “asjatundlik arusaamine talle kõige kõrgem austus, kõige suurem hommage on.”
Ilmunud: J. Randvere “Ruth” 19.–20. sajandi vahetuse kultuuris. Koost. Mirjam Hinrikus, Underi ja Tuglase Kirjanduskeskus, Tallinn 2006, lk. 65--79.

Through the Estonian history song festivals have had politically ambiguous background, beginning with the first festival in 1869 that served as a powerful stimulus of national awakening although it was officially dedicated to the anniversary of finishing the serfdom by the Czarist authorities. The 12th song festival was to take place in 1943 and its program was already printed when the Soviet reforms finished the activities of Estonian Singers’ Union and the beginning war stopped planning such mass gatherings. After the war, in Soviet Estonia, the 12th song festival took place in 1947 led by Tuudur Vettik, Riho Päts, Alfred Karindi, and Gustav Ernesaks. It followed old traditions, though severely guarded by new authorities. My argument is that the fact that they succeeded to organize a song festival before the decisions about musical formalism (1948) and bourgeous nationalism (1950) saved our tradition of song festivalst creating a precedent under Soviet rule.
Published in: Musik in Diktaturen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Internationales Symposium an der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal, 28–29.02.2004. Hrsg. Michaela G. Grochulski, Oliver Kautny, Helmke Jan Keden, Are Musik Verlag, Mainz 2006, SS. 194–213. ISBN 978-3-924522-23-0

Wie in anderen Bereichen der Kultur, war auch in der Musik die Zwischenkriegszeit die Zeit der Etablierung einer eigenen professionellen Kunst. Obwohl alle Personen im kulturellen Bereich im Allgemeinen national eingestellt waren, gingen die Vorstellungen darüber, was nationale Kunst sei, weit auseinander. Eine simplifizierte Konzeption von nationaler Kunst sah traditionelle Werke mit erkennbaren nationalen Kennzeichen vor, einerlei ob es sich um Melodien oder Sujets handelt. Der Traditionalismus der Kunstsprache rief bei Menschen mit einem entwickelteren Kunstgeschmack jedoch Protest hervor, und zurecht fand man, dass es sich hier um Pseudo- oder äußerlichen Nationalismus handelte. Hinter komplizierteren und moderneren Mitteln, d. h. in einer dann originelleren Musik wurde das „Eigene“ aber nicht immer erkannt, was zu Widerstand beim konservativeren Publikum führte. Das direkte Zitieren von Volksmelodien war ein wenig zweifelhaft, es war zu leicht und daher ein Kennzeichen von äußerlichem Nationalismus. Höher angesehen war Bartóks Ideal: Der Komponist soll sich so tief in seine Volksmusik eingelebt haben, dass er gar keine konkreten Motive mehr zu verwenden braucht. Als Verkörperung dieses Ideals betrachtete man in Estland aber vor allem die Musik von Sibelius, den man viel besser kannte und der geistig den Esten offenbar auch näher stand.
Helmut Loos, Stefan Keym (Hrg.), Nationale Musik im 20. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Gudrun Schröder Verlag 2004, 342--368.

Eine der düstersten Perioden in der Geschichte des Tallinner Konservatoriums war die vom Jahre 1948 bis ungefähr zur Mitte der 1950er Jahre. Die Reformierung des dortigen Musiklebens nach den sowjetischen Modellen hatte zwar bereits im Jahre 1940 begonnen, als Estland als Ergebnis des im Vorjahr geschlossenen Molotow-Ribbentrop-Paktes in die Sowjetunion eingeschlossen worden war. Damals unterbrach der Krieg die Änderungen, doch nach 1944 setzten diese fort. Direkt nach dem Krieg war die Aufmerksamkeit dortiger Machthaber mehr auf die Brechung militärischen Widerstandes und auch auf den wirtschaftlichen Wiederaufbau gerichtet, der geistige Druck begann im Winter 1947/48 wesentlich zuzunehmen. Es gab auch internationale Gründe dafür, warum die Sowjetmacht im ganzen Baltikum aggressiver wurde – in 1948 hatte sich Jugoslawien, geführt durch seinen damaligen Leader Jossip Broz Tito, von der Einflusssphäre von Moskau und Stalin losgelöst. Die Reaktion von Moskau daraufhin umfasste auch verstärkte Angriffe gegen Nationalkulturen und besonders gegen die Machthaber, lokale Kommunisten in den neuen Sowjetrepubliken.

Estonian National Men’s Chorus or RAM (Eesti Rahvusmeeskoor) has been one of the representative institutions of Estonian musical life all through the Soviet years. The problem discussed is the following: RAM was founded as a “professional amateur” chorus –  many of the singers were professionally trained musicians and they worked full-time, but its repertory came from the tradition of amateur men’s choruses. To develop as a professional chorus RAM needed new and more demanding choral compositions. 
When Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, existing choral societies and the Singers’ Union were replaced by new state institutions. Reorganization continued immediately after the return of the Soviets in the fall of 1944. One of such new institutions was a state philharmonic chorus. The task to organize a new professional chorus was given to Gustav Ernesaks (1908–1993), who had been the conductor of the Tallinn Men’s Choral Society (Tallinna Meestelaulu Selts) and several other amateur choruses before the war. The repertory and the image of RAM in the beginning was that of a men’s choral society, although the singers were employeed as professional musicians. After about 20 years Ernesaks felt somewhat exhausted. By that time many singers had already higher musical education – mostly they had studied choral conducting or singing, but some instrument players were also represented. The traditional repertory of an amateur men’s chorus was too simple to engage full-time singers. In 1964/1965 Ernesaks gave the practical direction of the chorus over to younger conductors Olev Oja (born in 1935, joined with RAM as a singer in 1960) and  (a year later) Kuno Areng (born in 1929). To obtain new repertory RAM initiated composition competitions. At the first competition the second prize was given to Veljo Tormis’ (born 1930)  Tasase maa laul (The Song of a Level Land) and later on Tormis has picked most of the prizes at those competitions.
In the 1970s Tormis had become the in-house composer for RAM, participating sometimes also in their tours when his works were performed. He became most distinguished for his large-scale a cappella choral compositions for RAM – feeling the most urgent need of this chorus for adequate concert repertory. As an example of a large-scale choral composition by Tormis The Seventeenth Rune of the “Kalevala”, written in 1985 for the 150th anniversary of the famous Finnish epic, is discussed. As a composer, Tormis is most famous for his modern and powerful use of the old Baltic-Finnic folk songs – runic or kalevala-songs, although he has been interested also in the archaic music of other peoples. Tormis was also very sensitive to the political undercurrents in Estonian life and many of his pieces carry more or less open ideological meanings. When studying now Tormis’ list of works, we see that most of the socially sensitive pieces are composed for men’s chorus, while pieces for women’s chorus are predominantly lyrical. I believe that he felt (maybe not thinking about it) the political undercurrents of men’s choral singing. It was clear already from Ernesaks’ times that RAM, being a Soviet state institution, was also an instrument of national resistance like the Estonian choral movement in general.
Proceedings of the International Musicological Symposium of the 18th Slovenian Musical Days:
“Choral music and choral societies and their role in the development of the national musical cultures”, Wednesday, April 23 – Friday, April 25, Ljubljana.