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Musics of the Soviet Union - "Estonian Bagpipe Music" [Official Audio]

3,416 views · Published 20 April 2009 · 1:13 · Indexed 17 October 2026

Channel: Smithsonian Folkways · 2009 · Music

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Listen to the official audio of "Estonian Bagpipe Music" from the 1989 album 'Musics of the Soviet Union' on Smithsonian Folkways. The bagpipe was an important instrument in Estonian musical tradition for centuries until, in the 19th century, the growing popularity of polkas and waltzes from Western Europe made the fiddle a more popular instrument. Growing interest in the traditional music of Estonia sparked a renaissance of bagpipe performances. The songs on this album were selected to represent the styles of the Soviet musicians who came to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1988, for the 22nd annual Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife.

'Musics of the Soviet Union' is available on CD and digital.

Stream/download/purchase:
Smithsonian Folkways: https://folkways.si.edu/musics-of-the-soviet-union/central-asia-islamica-world/music/album/smithsonian
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6H9KcfIFuPWIyWjIVHkGII?si=JrbpklgdS5CmoMb3A9XYmg

Very little indigenous music from the former Soviet Union is known to the West. This recording, from 1988, offers a rich sampling from many of the more than 100 ethnic groups within this vast region. The record begins with passionate Lithuanian lullabies and proceeds through ancient seasonal and ceremonial village songs from southern and northern Russia and the asymmetrical dance rhythms performed by Estonian bagpipers. From the distant Mongolian frontier, the amazing art of Tuvan multiphonic "throat singing" can be heard as well as the richly harmonic male choral singing still practiced in Georgia. "...[A] compelling taste of sounds from a country with a huge amount of indigenous music..." — Option

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©2008 Smithsonian Institution

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