海角大神

On a recent spring day in Rugodiv auditorium in Narva, a city on Estonia鈥檚 eastern border with Russia, 280 children are singing: 鈥淭his is what I hear/ This is what I see/ This is what I feel/ This is my homeland.鈥�

Standing shoulder to shoulder, they all sing in Estonian, a surprise in this Russian enclave of 58,600 on the dividing line between the European Union and the Russian Federation. Once a thriving manufacturing center in Soviet times, Narva has become one of Estonia鈥檚 most depressed and forgotten corners. At home, most of the children still speak Russian.

But on this day the children sing in Estonian about identity, and about what they like and do not like about the country they live in. 鈥淢y country is beautiful, and ugly, too,鈥� they sing, their voices rising high in beautiful harmony.

Their conductor, Aarne Saluveer, is on a mission here: to bring Estonia鈥檚 Russian- and Estonian-speakers together the way he knows best, through song.

A well-known singer and keyboard player in Soviet times, Mr. Saluveer now heads the Georg Ots Music College in Tallinn, Estonia鈥檚 capital. As he hops down from the stage, he looks his young singers in the eye: He has a talent for making each singer feel as if he or she is being spoken to directly. Conversing now in Russian, now in Estonian, both with ease and comfort, he gets to the core of what the song 鈥淢inu Isamaa,鈥� or 鈥淢y Homeland,鈥� which he crafted together with a composer and lyricist, is all about.

The history of every society, he tells them, includes both good and bad things: Estonia鈥檚 does. Russia鈥檚 does. 鈥淲e could have less arrogance and fewer wars if we could only learn from history,鈥� he says.

Every five years since 1869, Estonians have come together around a unique choral event called Laulupidu. This year more than 33,000 singers performed for an audience of 153,000. Laulupidu has been a force for helping this country of 1.3 million endure occupation and oppression. In 1988, defying their Soviet rulers, half a million Estonians sang a forbidden hymn in a peaceful 鈥渟inging revolution鈥� that helped bring down communism here.

Most Estonians feel emotionally attached to Laulupidu. But for a long time, many Russian-speakers had never even heard of it. For them, the singing revolution ended badly: They lost the favored status they鈥檇 had when Estonia was part of the old Soviet Union. In independent Estonia, many felt like a disliked minority and part of Estonia鈥檚 underclass.

From the banks of the Narva River here one can see the Russian flag waving from Ivangorod, a medieval fortress across the river 84 miles from St. Petersburg, Russia.

The simmering mistrust between Estonia鈥檚 Russian- and Estonian-speakers played out right here in Narva, Estonia鈥檚 third largest city. In 1944, the Soviet Army pushed the German Nazis out. But the Soviet victory heralded a dark chapter of Soviet occupation. Most of Narva鈥檚 Estonians were displaced 鈥� many perished in Siberian labor camps 鈥� and were replaced by workers from other Soviet satellite states.

In 2007, the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial from the center of Tallinn triggered violent rioting among Estonia鈥檚 Russians. Relationships have normalized somewhat since, and many younger Russian-speakers have become very successful, but politicians still 鈥減lay with the Russian votes and use the national card during the elections,鈥� says film director Alyona Surzhikova, whose parents came from Uzbekistan and Ukraine, two former Soviet states.

Today Narva remains a place apart.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like Russia,鈥� Ms. Surzhikova says. In her film 鈥淣ot My Land,鈥� she focuses on Russian-speakers鈥� perception of living in post-communist Estonia.

Meanwhile, Narva officials say that only recently, with the Ukraine crisis, have Estonia鈥檚 politicians started coming to Narva and paying attention to its Russian-speakers. 聽

A quarter-century after the Soviet Union crumbled, the challenge of sewing up the rifts between Estonia鈥檚 Russian-speakers and the rest of Estonia remains one of the most emotionally charged 鈥� and important 鈥� issues of the post-Soviet era.

On July 5-6, about 500 Russian-speaking children from the Narva region joined the highly competitive Laulupidu event singing 鈥淢y Homeland鈥� along with 7,500 Estonian children. As they joined聽 in singing 鈥淟and of my fathers, land that I love,鈥� they moved a little closer to adopting Estonia as their own.

鈥淲hat Aarne is doing is very important, and he is successful,鈥� says Valeri J盲盲ger of the Rugodiv cultural center in Narva.

鈥淭wenty years ago it would have been unthinkable for children in Narva to sing about how beautiful a land Estonia is,鈥� Mr. J盲盲ger says. His own mother came from Leningrad (today St. Petersburg) to work at Narva鈥檚 Kreenholm聽 textile factory, which had 13,000 workers in Soviet times but has since gone bankrupt.

In the early 1990s, a group of Russian-speakers plotted Narva鈥檚 secession from Estonia. There was little place for an Estonian national event like Laulupidu.

鈥淏ut now it鈥檚 become a huge goal to get to the song festival,鈥� J盲盲ger says. 鈥淧arents know that it helps to learn Estonian to get on with life. It鈥檚 very important because it allows Russian-speaking people to accept the song festival as their own.鈥�

Saluveer is playing his part in the reconciliation effort. 鈥淎arne has charisma, and he has a vision,鈥� says Laine Randj盲rv, a former culture minister who was born in Moscow. 鈥淲hen he says, 鈥榊ou all come with me,鈥� people do go with him.鈥�

Back in the early 1980s, the Soviet Army gave Saluveer a choice: Go fight in Afghanistan or teach music. That鈥檚 how, at age 20, he came to work in a school near Tallinn, home to the Soviet Baltic submarine fleet. In Soviet times the popular band he started was required to perform hundreds of times a year in Estonia and in cities across the former Soviet Union from Moscow to Odessa.

鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 like being a puppet of the Soviet Union,鈥� he recalls. He did manage to record a song called 鈥淪ilently,鈥� which 鈥渋s about inner feelings, about the fact that most things in life happen inside your heart.鈥�

One day, he says, children will sing it at Laulupidu.

Focusing attention on Estonia鈥檚 Russian-speakers is important because it breaks down stereotypes, says Katri Raik, president of Tartu University鈥檚 Narva College, whose new building is often dubbed 鈥淣arva鈥檚 Estonian embassy.鈥� 鈥淲hen Aarne Saluveer goes to Narva, others will want to come, too,鈥� she says about the conductor who鈥檚 been named musician and conductor of the year several times in Estonia. 鈥淚n such a tiny little country like ours, role models are important.鈥�

Saluveer鈥檚 main asset is his conducting style, J盲盲ger says. 鈥淎arne is successful because he is able to communicate well. He鈥檚 got a repertoire that touches current issues, not just traditional old songs.鈥�

鈥淲hen he is in front of children, he鈥檚 like a big child who wants to play, and all the children feel it,鈥� says Tauno Aints, who composed the music for 鈥淢y Homeland.鈥�

Saluveer always seems to be in motion, his brown shoulder-length hair waving. He disagrees when people say children should only sing 鈥渃hildren鈥檚 songs.鈥�

The song festival 鈥渋s a holy event,鈥� he says, with an earnest look in his eyes. 鈥淭his is not your voice which is singing. This is your mind.鈥� At one point he asks his young singers, 鈥淲hat is the best part about your country?鈥� One answers in Russian. Another in Estonian.

Music fills the gigantic auditorium. Jazz. Rock. String quartets. Opera. A cappella singing. 鈥淭here are lots of sounds in the world,鈥� Saluveer says.

Estonian Maris Hellrand says she felt 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥� recently when she listened to the Narva children sing 鈥淢y Homeland.鈥�

鈥淭hey were really open in sharing their emotions,鈥� she says. It might seem difficult for Russian-speaking children to sing the praises of Estonia, but Saluveer helps them 鈥渦nderstand that it鈥檚 acceptable not to like everything,鈥� she says.

鈥淭he kids listen to him. I鈥檓 convinced that those kids in Narva, having them participating in Laulupidu, are our strongest guarantee of security.鈥�

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