"" (; "My Fatherland, My Happiness and Joy") is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. It was adopted as the national anthem () in 1920. The lyrics were written by

Johann Voldemar Jannsen Johann Voldemar Jannsen ( in Vändra, Kreis Pernau, Livonia, Russian Empire – , in Tartu) was an Estonian journalist and poet active in Livonia. He wrote the words of the patriotic song "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm", which later became the ...

and are set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik (Friedrich) Pacius which is also that of the

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

: "

Maamme "" (; sv, Vårt land, ; both meaning "Our Land") is the de facto national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German people, German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with original Swedish language, Swedish words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg, a ...

" ( sv, Vårt land, which was the unofficial anthem of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

). The only differences between the two anthems are their

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at ...

and the repetition of the last four lines of each verse in the Finnish anthem. It is also considered to be an ethnic anthem for

Livonian people The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...

with text "

Min izāmō "Min izāmō" ("My Fatherland"; lv, Mana tēvzeme) is the ethnic anthem of the Livonians. The song was written by Kōrli Stalte (1870–1947), a poet and spiritual leader of Livonians, to a melody composed by Fredrik Pacius (the same melody used ...

History

The song was first presented to the public as a choral work in the Grand Song Festival of Estonia in 1869 and quickly became a symbol of the

Estonian National Awakening The Estonian Age of Awakening ( et, Ärkamisaeg) is a period in history where Estonians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves. This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights bein ...

. "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" was officially adopted as the national anthem of Estonia in 1920, after the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

. In 1944, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia, and "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" ended up being banned by the Soviet government. The Soviet Estonia had its own

regional anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

. Yet the people of Estonia could often hear their former national anthem, as Finland's state broadcaster

Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

, whose radio and television broadcasts were received in northern Estonia, played an instrumental version of the Finnish national anthem, identical to this song (except for an additional repetition of the last verse in the Finnish version), at the conclusion of its broadcast every night.

Lyrics

Notes

References

External links

The Estonian national anthem
- web page of the State Chancellery, an audio stream. The anthem is played by The Defence Forces Orchestra, vocals by the National Male Choir.
Streaming audio, lyrics and details of the Estonian anthem.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mu isamaa, mu onn ja room National symbols of Estonia European anthems Estonian patriotic songs National anthems National anthem compositions in B-flat major National anthem compositions in C major

History

Lyrics

See also

Notes

References

External links