Eesti Elu / Estonian Life No. 46 | November 20, 2020

Nr. 46

EESTI ELU reedel, 20. novembril 2020 — Friday, November 20, 2020

Estonia one of two EU countries not to criminalize hate speech ERR, November 2020

Gavin Warren and Erik Kreem.

Erik Kreem performs with the Bold New Voice of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music Vincent Teetsov For their first composer con­ cert of the year on Wednesday November 17th, 2020, the University of Toronto’s Facul­ ty of Music put forth six ­emotive performers in front of cameras to showcase a hand­ ful of stimulating, reactive compositions. Four of these performances were interpreta­ tions, and one was of an origi­ nal composition by CanadianEstonian composer Erik Kreem, performed together with clarinetist Gavin Warren. In this concert, Kreem demonstrated his aptitude as a cellist rather than on the piano we have often seen him play as part of Estonian Music Week and other events. The Faculty of Music indicated that his compo­ sition of the evening was “Erik’s first piece for instru­ mental duet without piano.” In the past, he has guest conducted the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra and has had his work performed by a multitude of Canadian ensembles. The concert commenced with the iridescent and progres­ sively darkening piano playing of Sumi Kim, performing Jamie Li’s “Prismatic Dreaming.” The piece broke into rolling, majes­ tic chords. It shifted back and forth with vigour, pushed with piston-like repetition, and finally closed with a sorrowful ending, as a pleasant dream might end. Christian Le played a classi­ cal guitar in the most dynamic of ways for Ian Chan’s “Guizheng”, a title which com­ bines “guitar” and “guzheng”, a Chinese zither. At first, Christian picked the strings of the guitar sitting on his lap like a Guzheng player would do, with hands above the strings. Except the guitar was in stan­ dard classical guitar tuning, with frets. The strings were raked and pulled. Partway through, he switched the posi­ tioning and played more tradi­ tionally, with sweet descents and ascents over the guitar neck. Erik Kreem’s composition, “Passages”, was a contrasting musical conversation between

Kreem’s cello and Gavin Warren’s clarinet. It began with a sweet, floating clarinet solo that glided lightly before being confronted with opposition. Kreem’s cello came in at an angle, counter to the steps of ­ the woodwind melody. The bow swept the cello in deep howls. The song moved like two confident adversaries wrestling with each other. Drawing back and forcing in. As Erik says about the compo­ sition “...grappling with change is central to the human ex­ perience, whether it be adjusting to a new home, starting a fami­ ly, or mourning the loss of a loved one...The piece is perhaps a journey from a small, simple place into a broader world...” Marilena Liakopoulou placed safety and fury side-by-side with her interpretation of “Echo Lontano” by Menelaos Peis­ ti­ kos. She played piano, which was paired with fluctuating lights and scary historical ­ima­gery on screen. She leaned inside the piano and plucked the strings explosively but ­precisely, based on where they were marked. At the end of this musical spiral was “pedale traverso” written by Paulo Brito, and performed by Jin Cho. Cho ­ articulated the baroque flute ­ with electronic sounds in the background. Cho’s whistling high tones, singing through the flute’s air column, and winding finger work showed a seamless connection to his instrument. His digital accompaniment sounded as if it was coming out of a 200 year old music box. It descended further and further, before roaring like the THX Deep Note. Overall, there was a strong theme of dramatic changes. I was not prepared for what was to come, but I came away ­dazzled by what is out there to be explored. It was energizing to see these six dedicated musi­ cians show us what’s ahead in classical music. You can watch the concert on YouTube (https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IlVvGrgH0AA&ab_ channel=UofTFacultyofMusic­ ComposerConcerts).

ESTONIAN LIFE

Your source of news about Estonia and Estonians, home and abroad

The European Commission has started infringement proceedings against Estonia, ­ since the state hasn’t enacted criminal legislation against hate speech. At the same time, several member states are moving to even more strict laws regarding hate crimes. ETV current affairs show “Välisilm” investigated exam­ ples of hate speech and its consequences. A couple of weeks ago, the European Commission an­ nounced that it is starting in­ fringement proceedings against Estonia related to the question of criminalizing hate speech and hate crimes, since the actions have not been cri­ ­ minalized although Estonia has taken that obligation at the level of the EU. While the proceedings have only started and the process will take a long time, it can be predicted from the statements made so far that the current government coalition is unlikely to criminalize hate speech. Estonia and Romania are the only countries in the EU that haven’t met the requirement. What is the hate speech that Estonia doesn’t want to crimi­

Estonian Music… (Continued from page 8)

Palonen. These are sounds that, ac­ cording to Žvinklyte·, might be considered unusual. “It’s a sound that’s not so recognizable here in Canada.” The duo’s music also draws from Palonen’s study of the Kalevala runos at U of T with Professor Muhonen, and the Finnish language course. Palo­ nen remarks that one influential part of his studies was seeing how all of the cultures across Finland and the Baltic region are connected and how “what we’ve come to think of as the quintessential Finnish epic has been influenced by other cul­ tures.” Cross-cultural partnership goes back much further than the formation of Honeypaw. Palo­ nen says “we’ve noticed in the folklore across the Finnic and Baltic Region that there’s a lot of similar imagery and symbol­ ism. For example, birch trees and the cuckoo bird. It’s seen as a sacred bird that can tell ­fortunes.” A respect for nature is intrin­ sic to their music. The band’s name, “Honeypaw”, itself con­ nects to the traditional belief that, with bears being revered creatures, it was bad luck to say the word “bear.” Saying the word could cause a bear to ­enter your village and cause de­ struction. Palonen says “In the Kalevala, they might refer to [a bear] by its brown fur or with the word ‘honeypaw.’” It’s in­

nalize? ETV current affairs show “Välisilm” looked at examples from some other ­ European countries. The closest example comes from Lithuania, where the local media regulator decided to take NTV Mir Lithuania channel off free dis­ tribution in 2015 because the channel allegedly incited hatred between Russian and Lithua­ nian communities after the ­annexation of Crimea in 2014. The head of the Lithuanian investigative commission, Ed­ mundas Vaitekunas, said that at the time there had been an ­increase in humor that mocked the Baltic States, on several lo­ cal Russian-language channels. However, the Com­ mission did not seek to ban them. The aim was to get the shows inciting inter-ethnic ­ hatred off the air. The case ­ finally reached the European Court of Justice, which ruled in favor of Lithuania last year. Currently, the issue is ­strongest in two groups. One of these is the radical right-wing forces who are flirting with a form of national socialism, the show found, on the other, ­alleged terror propaganda spread between Islamist radicals. Even though Estonia and

teresting to note the similarities between the languages of Finland and Estonia, where “honeypaw” would translate to “mesikämmen” in Finnish and “mesikäpp” in Estonian. Like­ wise, “bear” is translated as “karhu” in Finnish and “karu” in Estonian. Furthermore, many sutartine· involve stories of trees or animals and connect them to ­ human life. Singers of sutartine· have often been well-versed in natural and spiritual knowledge. Palonen adds “Certainly in Finland, shamans were also singers and kantele players. There are all kinds of interest­ ing tidbits, so that’s why we work to mix the two cultures together.” Regarding Žvinklyte· and Palonen’s use of archival ma­ terials, Palonen notes “It’s given us permission to think of our­ selves as folk musicians in the living tradition. We didn’t learn the songs from our grandparents like the traditional way. We learned from the archives and all of the people who were folk musicians over the years.” Some recordings that the duo have worked with in preparation for this concert were even ­recorded in Tallinn, Estonia. Where does this music fit among contemporary music? Palonen has played for several years as a TTC musician, through which he was asked to interpret Beyonce and Drake on the Finnish kantele (or kankle·s in Lithuanian), the zither that he plays and makes as a luthier, for a marriage proposal. But

9

Romania haven’t taken on the current directive, several Euro­ pean countries wish to widen it already. The main issue is how to limit freedom of speech as little as possible. But societies of countries with a long history of democracy know well that with freedom, there comes re­ sponsibility, the show reported. Markus Kärner, Deputy Secretary General of the Cri­ minal Policy Department at the Ministry of Justice, outlined the complaints. “In 2008, the European Commission accepted a deci­ sion, which obligates the mem­ ber state to criminalize heavier forms of racism and xenopho­ bia. The proceeding arises from the fact the commission has found that some of our regula­ tions do not meet the decision,” Kärner explained. “In conclusion, the com­ plaints are that incitement to hatred, violence, discriminating related to certain personal ­identifiers, is only punishable as a misdemeanor offense. And this only when there has been a real danger to somebody’s life, well-being or property. One of the gripes is that these actions should be criminalized as such, and at least one year’s prison sentence should be possible to be imposed,” Kärner added. Estonia’s answer to the European Commission is in the making, “Välisilm” reported.

moreover, these two musicians are open to the global and con­ temporary musical elements that a city like Toronto has to offer. Palonen says, “The sutar­ tine· [are] mathematically struc­ tured, so you get some really interesting rhythms. Then when you take that to a modern au­ ­ dience, you can say ‘this song kind of lends itself to having some kind of reggae ­ bass line or groovy element.’ So we’re definitely influenced by stuff that’s going on in Toronto.” There is remarkable physi­ cality in their music, too. Over the last summer on Manitoulin Island, the duo made several videos of songs performed on “treeharps” that they created, which are made up of strings and the resonant trunks of dead trees. Žvinklyte· is a multidiscipli­ nary artist and an alumnus of Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts. She is behind the videography of Honeypaw. Palonen con­ tinues to build kanteles. They both vouch for the idea that in the arts, everything is connected, and so they work together fluidly to create these videos. The re­ sult is something that is genuine and has already started to go ­viral online. Be sure to watch the concert and lectures online; and also keep an eye on Honeypaw’s website (www.honeypawband. com) and Facebook page (www. facebook.com/honeypawband) for the duo’s latest develop­ ments.