10/25/2008
A new documentary, A Singing Revolution, has been released, which tells the story of how Estonians stood strong against the Soviet bear through their shared culture, expressed through singing.
This tale of how peaceful crowds managed to fend off Soviet tanks as they attempted to take over the local television station is operatic in its drama, says the married couple. "This is the story of the power of nonviolent resistance to succeed where guns and rock-throwing would have resulted in death and more political oppression," says Jim Tusty. The nation was trying to throw off the Soviet yoke, which ensnared it in 1939, when Hitler and Stalin secretly signed a pact to divide up the Baltic countries. But, says Jim Tusty, it is also the story of a relationship between art and politics. [ … ] The music is a mix of modern and traditional folk songs, many of which have what the team calls the kind of oral traditions that are full of hidden, deeply patriotic meaning that sustained Estonians through centuries of oppression. As they investigated the festival itself, they discovered the role that the traditional songs played during the critical years leading up to the fall of the Soviet Union, 1987 through 1991. Rather than engage the Soviets directly, as Hungary, Latvia, and Lithuania did, all with disastrous results, the various political groups united in song. [How Estonians sang their way to freedom, Christian Science Monitor, Oct 24, 2008]
See also a Youtube interview with the film’s director for historical details.
The trailer below is filled with its stunning choral music. The final line of the voiceover is "This is the story of how culture saved a nation."
Indeed, a united culture is very powerful, a basic knowledge about human nature that has been eroded by the daily multiculturalist propaganda from the liberal press. Hopefully a future immigration historian will not write "This is the story of how the false ideology of multiculturalism destroyed the American nation."
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