"" 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 ...

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

, originally adopted in 1920 (readopted 1990). The lyrics were written by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and are set to a melody composed in 1848 by Fredrik Pacius, which is also that of the Finnish national anthem "

Maamme "" (), known by its original Swedish language, Swedish title as "" () and in English language, English as "", is the ''de facto'' national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German people, German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with orig ...

", then the unofficial anthem of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

. 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 cl ...

and the repetition of the last four lines of each verse in the Finnish anthem. The melody is also used as an ethnic anthem of the

Livonian people The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to the Livonian Coast, in northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. It was believed that the last pers ...

, titled " Min izāmō".

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. "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, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

. In 1944, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupied Estonia, and "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" was subsequently banned by the Soviet government. The

Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit (Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the Occupation o ...

had its own official

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 ...

. However, the

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

could often hear their former national anthem, as Finland's state broadcaster

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

isradio, 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
- webpage 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:Estonia, National anthem of National symbols of Estonia European anthems Estonian patriotic songs National anthems Compositions in D major Compositions by Fredrik Pacius

History

Lyrics

See also

Notes

References

External links