Volume 25 Issue 3 - November 2019

Puuluup
The National Youth Orchestra of Canada
and the European Union Youth Orchestra join forces for
ESTONIAN MUSIC WEEK – NOVEMBER 14 TO 17
In addition to the two EMW concerts already mentioned here is
another concert pick, providing a taste of the rest of the festival’s
several performances.
On November 15 (Artscape Sandbox, Toronto) and November 16
(Cotton Factory, Hamilton) you can hear the quirky duo Puuluup
(“wooden magnifying glass” in Estonian), from Viljandi, a town
in southern Estonia. They’ve developed a unique musical hybrid
variously dubbed “Estonian neo-folk” and ‘folktronica.” Their
talharpas – horse-hair four-stringed bowed or plucked lyres –
featured in the Estonian folklore revival, provide essential textures
in their music, along with live electronic looping, electronic pedal
effects, alternative bowing and amplified drumming techniques.
Finnish jouhikko (a closely related bowed lyre) are also part of the
mix. The duo’s catchy vocal melodies, harmonies and raps in the
Estonian language draw inspiration from the village leiks (songs) of
Vormsi island, Russian or Ukrainian chastushkas, and from more
distant global music traditions. The tone is wry and unconventional,
with lyrics about wind turbines, Polish TV heroes, fat cakes,
and the “uncomfortable feeling that your neighbour’s dog might try
to bite you while you take out the trash.” The old mashes with the
new in their live performances and music videos, or as described in
seasonally appropriate Baltic imagery, “sticking together like water
and sleet.”
Estonian Music Week is co-presented with Latitude 44 a digital
conference which introduces Estonia as the “world’s first digital
society.” How did this Baltic country, about 24 times smaller than
the province of Ontario, become such a digitally advanced society?
Estonian e-engineers and managers share their success stories at
the WE Global Learning Centre, 339 Queen St.E. Toronto.
latitude44to.ca/tickets
“Estonia, a small country, big traditions.” This country with a
population of 1.3 million has over two million yearly concert visits.
Massed national song and dance festivals have played an important
role in the development and preservation of Estonian identity.
During the “Singing Revolution,” for example, many thousands
of Estonians gathered for massed choral demonstrations between
1986 and 1991, putting pressure on the USSR government to end
decades of Soviet occupation. In 1991 Estonia achieved independence,
nonviolently.
World music fans double the population of the town of Viljandi
during the Viljandi Folk Music Festival which presents world music
acts from all over the world. Jazz is prominent in the popular
Tallinn Music Week and at the Jazzkaar Festival. Estonia also
boasts a number of top composers, such as Arvo Pärt, among the
world’s most performed living composers, and Veljo Tormis, who
based some of his successful works on ancient regi songs. The
country has also produced several fine conductors such as Neeme
Järvi, Tõnu Kaljuste and Paavo Järvi, the latter having conducted
Canadian musicians on a 1994 all-Kasemets CD on the Koch
International label.
Tuesday, November 12, 7:30 pm
Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. W
Blake Pouliot, violin
Tickets - $23 / $33
Sascha Goetzel, conductor
Tickets available at rcmusic.com
or 416-408-0208
Music by Stravinsky, Wagner,
and John Estacio’s Frenergy for orchestra
Made possible by the European Union Delegation to Canada
FOR MORE INFO VISIT NYOC.ORG
thewholenote.com November 2019| 15