Folk It!

fri 10 feb 2023 18:00 hrs

Nordic Sounds

We will be traveling to the Baltic country of Estonia in several episodes of Nordic Sounds. The language spoken there belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, which is mainly spread in the northern regions of Scandinavia, such as Finland and Samiland, but also extends deep into northern Russia and even Hungary. Due to the same language family and the fact that Finland and Estonia are direct neighbors, there are many cultural similarities between the two countries, including musically. However, both countries also have unique song and melody types and instruments that are characteristic of their respective cultures. Finland’s national instrument, the kantele, has an equivalent in Estonia called the kannel. In this episode, however, we won’t be featuring the kannel. That will be covered in a later episode. Instead, we will be showcasing the bagpipe, which has an ancient tradition in Estonia but has been relatively less popular among young people in recent times. Sandra Sillamaa and Cätlin Mägi, both grandmasters of the Estonian bagpipe, play a defining role in the band RoToro. The band is not afraid of innovation and ventures into unconventional collaborations between the bagpipe and other instruments. The other three members play the saxophone, electric guitar, and percussion. From Flanders comes the duo Leana & Hartwin, who are currently residing there. Leana is originally from the Estonian island of Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea. She also plays the bagpipe, sings, and composes her own songs. Her husband, Hartwin Dhoore, also composes, but he usually limits himself to melodies. Hartwin is one of the famous Dhoore brothers from Flanders and played with them in the Trio Dhoore. In 2015, the duo released their first album, Tähtede Poole, followed by Kodu four years later. Two years before that, the duo was still living on Saaremaa and released the album Saar (island) with Estbel, a true Flemish-Estonian collaboration that also featured Hartwin’s brother Ward Dhoore (guitar, mandolin, banjo, percussion) and Estonian violinist and singer Sänni Noormets. This episode of Nordic Sounds mainly features lyrical melodies. In the next episode, things will get quite intense…