TWO CENTURIES OF CHORAL SINGING AND WIND-BAND MUSIC The development of Estonian choirs and wind bands started at the beginning of the 19th century. Estonians patterned their choirs after the Baltic-German choirs and it was closely connected with the development of local educational life. The choirs were mainly formed by the schools and churches and their leaders were mostly school masters and parish clerks. We can mention Põltsamaa chorus (founded in 1840) and Torma chorus (founded in 1844). Choral singing became popular in towns only when Johann Voldemar Jannsen moved to Tartu. With the formation of "Vanemuine" and "Estonia" Societies in 1865 the choirs got organized basis. Brass bands were formed mostly by brotherhoods. One of the most remarkable one was the Estonian Wind Band (founded in 1818) which consisted of 14-18 musicians. It was there where Adam Jakobson (the father of C.R.Jakobson) from Torma and Taavet Wirkhaus (the father of D.O.Wirkhaus) from Väägvere got their first music lessons. Those men founded wind bands in their neighbourhoods which inspired the others for many decades. Similar wind bands were formed also in Kärkna, Kursi, Põltsamaa etc. Sõrvemaa Song Festival in Anseküla (1863) was one of the first joint singing events which was followed by song festivals in Jõhvi (1865), Simuna (1866), Uulu (1867) etc. The national movement in the 60ies of the 19th century comprised also choirs. Jannsen understood the importance of all-Estonian joint singing and he carried successfully out the idea of a national singing festival. The first All-Estonian Song Festival in 1869 gave a strong impulse to the development of choral and wind band music. Gradually the national repertoire developed and new choir types emerged. To get a better idea of this development we could look at it through the prism of song festivals. In the first three song festivals (1869, 1979, 1880) only male choirs and wind bands took part. Mixed choirs were allowed to participate starting from the 4th song festival (1891) - this marked the end of the female singers' discrimination by the organizers. Women's choirs were added in the 10th festival in 1938. Children's choirs participated for the first time in the 7th festival in 1923, after which there was a long break. Starting from the 12th festival they have been permanent participants. Boys' choirs participate since the 15th festival (1960). Russian choirs participated in a certain category from the 14th to the 20th festival. Now Russian singers participate according to their choir type together with other singers. Little children's choirs made their debut in the 1st Schoolchildren's Song Festival in 1962. In 1999 they participated in the 23rd all-Estonian Song Festival as an independent choir type. The number of participants in the 1st All-Estonian Song Festival was 845 and by the last song festival held in tsarist time in 1910 the number had grown up to 10,000. The most numerous participation - 16,500 singers/players - during the first Estonian Republic was in the 10th all-Estonian Song Festival (1933). After the XII the number of partcipants grew up to 26,000-30,000. As there were limits of how many singers could participate, it was decided to start organizing schoolchildren's song festivals between all-Estonian song festivals - the first one was held in 1962 by the initiative of Heino Kaljuste and Aksel Pajupuu. Up to now there have been 8 schoolchildren's festivals, each with 20,000 participants. Up to 1918 the choirs were united under cultural societies like "Vanemuine" and "Estonia". In 1919 the conductor of Tallinn Union of Male Singers Konstantin Türnpu made a suggestion to form The Union Of Estonian Singers (ELL) which would have been responsible for the choral movement in general. It was founded 1921 with the aim to organize song festivals, promote choral singing and wind band music. The Union was led by the Council which consisted of the representatives of member choirs and orchestras, its Board and Directorate. Many known conductors participated in its work, such as J.Aavik, R.Kull, J.Vaks, T.Vettik, E.Aav, G.Ernesaks etc. Under the conduction of the ELL the 8th and 9th festivals were held. The importance of the monthly "Muusikaleht" is difficult to underestimate. The Union published new pieces of music and music books, the scores for song festivals and series such as "Rahvakoorid" ("People's Choirs") and "Eesti laul" ("Estonian Song"). The Union was the biggest publisher and distributor as well as the user. ELL organized competitive singings and workshops for conductors. By the end of the 30ies the ELL comprised about 25,000 members. During the dramatic days of 1940 when the Soviets demolished the structure of the Estonian culture, The Union of Estonian Singers was liquidated. The state gave the task to organize choral and orchestral music to Rahvaloomingu Maja. The attempts to re-establish the Union during the short period of German occupation were not succesful. Many choirs continued to sing during the war. Thousands of Estonians were forced to leave their homeland, but they kept the singing tradition alive also in exile. 50 years later, in the 21st All-Estonian Song Festival in 1991, they had the chance to sing together in Estonia again. After the war the life returned to normal tracks. Estonia had lost its independence. There must have been contradictory opinions about the continuance of song festivals. Fortunately the idea of conservation preserved. Gustav Ernesaks wrote in 1947: "Welcome the singers who have gathered to the first all-Estonian roll call after the big and devastating war. Let's come together in order to conquer new peaks and hold high the level of our choral singing. Let us show the world for the twelth time: we want to be a singing nation, a hard working nation, who aspires to new ascent and better tomorrow with primeval force and stubborn perseverance. Let the twelth branch of our song tree be vigorous and let it give us comfortable shade from where we could get fresh power for new victories and battles". Song festivals were organized by the Song Festival General Committee, but the actual work was done by the music department of Rahvaloomingu Maja. Since 1962 the organizing centre was the all-Estonian Song Festival Bureau. Gradually the role of repertoire departments working under the auspieces of the General Committee grew more important. The choral and orchestral sections were formed which united the best specialists in the field of choral and orchestral conducting as well as composers. The chairmen of the sections belonged to the Board led by Gustav Ernesaks. The need for better organizing and bigger independence created the urge to establish an organization of its own. The consistent work of Gustav Ernesaks and Arvo Ratassepp led to the formation of Estonian Choral Society (Eesti Kooriühing). At the foundation congress on March 27 and 28, 1982 the statutes were passed and the leaders elected. Gustav Ernesaks was elected the Chairman. At the 2nd Congress (1986) Venno Laul was elected the new Chairman. Choral Society started to work very actively. Several competitions were organized for orchestras and choirs - for male choirs in 1983, 1988; for women's choirs in 1987; for mixed choirs in 1987; for chamber choirs in 1986, 1988, 1992; for vocal quartets of the choirs in 1986, 1987 etc. The biggest achievements have been international choral festivals "Tallinn...".