News
"Rhythm and Pulse"
01.11.2010
The theme of XIX Viljandi Folk Music Festival which takes place on July 28-31 is "Rhythm and Pulse" through which the organisers hope to create a bond stronger than ever before between the performers and the audiences.
The head of the programme Tarmo Noormaa said that the focus this year is on rhythm. "It doesn't matter how the rhythms are created, on a melodic instrument, through singing, dancing or on a drum. It is important to find the rhythms on the instruments and inspire the listeners and dancers. Estonian traditional music has been mainly melody-centred, rhythm instruments have not traditionally been that popular in Estonia. Thus, Estonians have a remarkable skill of creating patterns of rhythm on melodic instruments and through song. These skills are worth preserving and developing," he explained.
In addition to that, Noormaa said that the organisers of the festival have decided to draw attention to the foreign origin rhythm instruments like djembe, cajon and daburka which are becoming increasingly popular in Estonia. "Let's see if we can play our own songs like labajalg, kargus, polka and waltz on these instruments without losing the focus on the melodic instruments which is characteristic to us."
The head of the festival Ando Kiviberg explained that while choosing the topic, the organising team of the festival decided to keep going in the direction which was taken last year. During the last festival, people were encouraged to move their feet and become friends with traditional dancing and improvise on the dance floor while trying to establish a dialogue with the instrument player. This year, the emphasis is on playing and singing for dancing purposes which is the essence of traditional music.
According to Kiviberg, traditional music is viable as the musical national tongue only if it lives and develops naturally meaning inside and around people. "It is natural that musicians in a band feel the pulse in a similar way because otherwise it would not be possible for them to play together. In order to make everyone feel good on the dance floor, it is important that the sense of pulse is shared between the musician and the dancer too."
The demo round for finding performers for the festival and the competition for the design of the logo open on October 12. Additional information is available on the festival website.
Festival passes will be available with reduced prices starting from the beginning of December.
Similarly to the previous years, the main programme of XIX Viljandi Folk Music Festival will include around 70 concerts plus numerous dance performances on the Green Stage and on the street corners. In addition to the concerts, all the visitors are welcome to attend workshops, exhibitions and PÖFF (Black Nights Film Festival) movie sessions.