Recordings from the Estonian Folklore Archives 3

Marta Vist

Marta Vist in 1961. Photo by R. Hansen. ERA, Foto 5504.

Marta Vist (1898–1986) from the Suure-Jaani Parish was recorded during the 1961 expeditions of the Literary Museum. Marta had already been a regular correspondent for the archives. The majority of her contributions were rhymed folk songs that she had learned from her mother, including round games and dance songs. Ingrid Rüütel has described Marta’s home, where the members of the expedition were graciously received, as being extraordinarily clean and very urban. At the time of the recordings Marta Vist lived near Navesti, where she and her husband had gotten farm land in 1922. In 1949 when the collective farm was established there, Marta took some courses and became a livestock specialist and farm director. Later as a pensioner she went back to live in her place of birth in Suure-Jaani.

Songs: