Recordings from the Estonian Folklore Archives 3

Anthology of Estonian Traditional Music

Mari Sarv

Mari Sarv chatting with Greete Jents in her yard in 1961. Photo by R. Hansen. ERA, Foto 5694.

The last carriers of the regilaul singing traditions in the once very rich region of Mulgimaa were the singers of Karksi Parish recorded in the 1960’s. Mari Sarv (1884–1977) was a singer as well as a collector of folk traditions. She began sending the notes that she made to the Estonian Folklore Archives after she had seen an appeal in the newspaper in 1930 and became one of the archive’s best correspondents. Mari Sarv learned her songs in her youth when she lived at home with her family, who were farm hands on the Karksi estate. There were lots of children and young people there. They sang as they tended the herds, they held many dance parties, and they listened to old women singing the older songs at the swing and the midsummer bonfires. Mari studied to be an artisan. She married Anton Sarv and lived in the town of Nuia. Mari Sarv’s songs have been recorded on many occasions starting in 1935 onto wax cylinders and later onto records. Later in the 1960’s and 1970’s here songs were recorded on tape. Her singing style was unusually slow and full of embellishments. Her speech was slow and thoughtful as well.

Singers and Musicians of the Pärnumaa County

Songs:

Eesti rahvalaule ja pillilugusid.
Teaduslik antoloogia. Tekstid ja kommentaarid Herbert Tampere, Erna Tampere ja Ottilie Kõiva. Toimetanud Ingrid Rüütel. Tallinn, 1970.
[+ 5 LP-s: Firma “Meloodia” Tallinna Heliplaadistuudio]
Sound engineering and restoration Heino Pedusaar
Sound recordists Vaike Neeme, Tiiu Oja
Editor of recorded material Joann Juštšuk

Eesti rahvamuusika antoloogia.
Koostanud Herbert Tampere, Erna Tampere, Ottilie Kõiva. Helisalvestusi Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiivist 3. Tartu, 2003.
[3 CD-s and booklet]
Sound engineering and CD mastering Jaan Tamm
Editors Janika Oras (texts), Vaike Sarv (melodies), Ergo-Hart Västrik (translations)
English translation Harri Mürk
Transcription of music Vaike Sarv, Krista Sildoja
Music notation Edna Tuvi
Dialect consultations Ellen Niit, Andreas Kalkun
Commentaries and appendixes Janika Oras, Kadri Tamm, Liina Saarlo
Map AS Regio, Liina Saarlo
Photo design Indrek Tenno, Liina Saarlo
Design and lay-out Hele Hanson-Penu, AS Triip
Project co-ordinator Ergo-Hart Västrik

Eesti rahvamuusika antoloogia.
Online edition.
Editors Janika Oras, Kadi Sarv
English translation Kait Tamm (foreword to the online edition)
Selection of photographs to the online edition Liina Saarlo, photo design Andrus Kalkun
Project co-ordinator Risto Järv

The artwork of the online edition of the anthology is based on Christi Kütt’s tapestry “Wedding Guests” (2002).

The online edition was supported by Estonian Ministry of Education and Science (Project IUT22-4), Ministry of Culture (programme “Heliloomingu tellimine ja muusikaalased väljaanded”, Commissioning and publishing music) and Cultural Endowment of Estonia.



Publisher
Estonian Literary Museum Scholarly Press, 2016
℗ Estonian Literary Museum, 2016
ISBN 978-9949-586-00-4
Web design Lorem Ipsum