Religious and social change in Estonian musical life and music scholarship:

Some of the most noteworthy changes to have taken place in Estonian musical life and music scholarship since the late 1980s have centered around Christian musics.1 Religious song festivals organized by the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church of Estonia, and the Union of Free Evangelical and Baptist Churches of Estonia have re-established a tradition of public amateur music-making. In the Estonian traditional (pärimusmuusika), jazz, and improvised music scenes, musicians have embraced folk chorales and church hymnody to create their own niche in the Estonian music industry. Newly restored churches have become one of the most important venues for concerts of choral music, Estonian traditional music, jazz and improvised musics, symphonic and chamber music, and paraliturgical and evangelistic musics. And projects to revise or publish new hymnals and service books are everywhere afoot