The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing and dancing dates back to
Saxo Grammaticus'
Gesta Danorum (c. 1179). Saxo speaks of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for an epic battle. The Estonian folk music tradition is broadly divided into 2 periods. The older folksongs are also referred to as
runic songs, songs in the poetic metre
regivärss the tradition shared by all
Baltic-Finnic peoples. Runic singing was widespread among Estonians until the 18th century, when it started to be replaced by rhythmic folksongs. Professional Estonian musicians emerged in the late 19th-century at the time of
Estonian national awakening. Nowadays the most known Estonian composers are
Arvo Pärt and
Veljo Tormis.
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