Estonia’s Singing Lands

“I’ve long nurtured a dream to get out and finally explore what it was about the forests and seas of Laulasmaa, ‘the land of song’, in Estonia that inspired Arvo Pärt and so many musicians.”

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Join Dash’s Artistic Director, Josephine Burton as she travels to the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, Estonia to investigate the mystical musical relationship between nature and the people of Estonia

From the Arvo Pärt Centre Josephine wanders the forest, swims in the sea and explores Helikula, ‘the village of sound’, where musicians from the Union of Composers were given summer houses during Soviet Times.

We started collaborating in October 2020 during the pandemic with a widely celebrated online event with the Arvo Pärt Centre combining a pre-recorded concert and a conversation with musicians Andres Kaljuste, Sophia Rahman and Arvo’s son Michael Pärt. You can hear this previous episode here.

For more on the trip you can read Josephine’s blog and see more photographs of the incredible Estonian landscape on the Dash Arts website.

In the podcast we’re grateful to hear from:
Josephine Burton - Artistic Director, Dash Arts 
Michael Pärt - Music Editor and Chairman of the Arvo Pärt Centre
Sophia Rahman - Pianist
Andres Kaljuste - Violinist
Rein Lang - Former Minister of Culture of Estonia
Liisa Hirsch - Composer 
Kristina Norman - Artist

Title music by Fakiiritanssi by Marouf Majidi
Compositions by Arvo Pärt played by Sophia Rahman and Andres Kaljuste:
Fratres 
Für Alina
Spiegel im Spiegel

With thanks to the Estonian Ministry of Culture and Estonian Cultural Counsellor in London for enabling Josephine’s trip. 

Artwork : A PHOTO JOSEPHINE’S TRIP

Reference to the previous episode (Jan 2021) - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7pN6oLyNmgxVEqjNjZW8Dg?si=34666bcd1c984ba6 
Blog link - https://www.dasharts.org.uk/blog/arvo-prts-inspiration-discovering-the-magic-of-estonias-forests-and-sounds