Tallinn, a UNESCO City of Music

Music has been the way Estonians sustain their culture and sense of belonging from the very beginning. Before writing became prevalent, it was oral stories, often performed in song, that carried our culture forward in time. The Song Festivals were born from a feeling of connection to our land and unity as a people as part of our national awakening, which in turn led to the creation of our independent nation in 1918. Ever since Tallinn became home to the Song Festivals in 1928, the city has carried and preserved our culture in one of the most important ways possible.

This was echoed during the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, when hundreds of thousands of Estonians gathered to the Song Festival Grounds in Tallinn to peacefully protest the regime through song.

Tallinn is also a city of composers and new music, having witnessed the emergence of several unique music styles. It was while working in Tallinn that Arvo Pärt achieved his own personal style tintinnabuli, which has made the composer the world’s most widely-performed living classical music composer. Thanks to composer Veljo Tormis, a dying tradition of the runic song was given a fresh form with a relation to art music. Today, the runic song has influenced various musical styles, from classical to pop and rock.