Location

• Tallinn Müürivahe 12, Estonia 10146
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Languages

• Estonian

Name of collection

• Veljo Tormis, collection no. 318

Provenance and cultural activities

• During Soviet times, Veljo Tormis was one of those composers who were not in sharp conflict with the authorities. His works were widely performed. Nevertheless, his tonality and the motifs of his works were clearly national. Some of his works are based on Finno-Ugric folk songs. He constantly found himself stranded between his own views and the canons of Soviet culture. Many of his works carry hidden critical messages about the Soviet regime and its absurdity, which the authorities were not able to identify, or in some cases they had no clear basis on which to make an accusation. This was the case with the cantata Lenini sõnad (Lenin's Words), with parts of texts from Lenin which did not correspond to the actual policy of the Soviet Union.

  The first manuscripts of Tormis' works were given to the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum in 1960, so his manuscript collection was formed in that year. Since then, after a composition was approved by the Ministry of Culture, the manuscript of the composition was transferred to the museum. This way, all the manuscripts by Tormis in this collection were approved and passed the censors. It was common practice to transfer the manuscripts of compositions to the Theatre and Music Museum, which means that an extensive manuscript collection gathered in this museum. The Tormis collection is only part of it.

  Manuscripts were given to the museum by the Ministry of Culture during the Soviet period. After the restoration of independence, Tormis continued cooperating with the museum, and presented not only new manuscripts and copies of old ones, but also other documentation and artefacts. These are catalogued in separate directories, and, unlike the manuscript collection, documentation about the life and work of Tormis is not freely accessible. Some donations to the museum were made by the heirs of Tormis after his death at the beginning of 2017. These donations to this particular collection, which may also include additional manuscripts, are not yet catalogued.

  The collection is used mainly by music students, but also by other researchers. Interest in the collection grew after Tormis’ death.

Description of content

• The collection contains 428 different manuscripts of Veljo Tormis' compositions, donated to the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum over a long period of time. Besides original manuscripts, there are also many copies from later times. When they exist, originals and copies of a manuscript are collected in one file.

Content

• manuscripts (ego-documents, diaries, notes, letters, drafts, etc.): 100-499

Operator(s)

• Estonian Theatre and Music Museum

Owner(s)

• Estonian Theatre and Music Museum

Geographical scope of recent operation

• national

Topics

• music (rock, punk, alternative, classical, etc.)

Founder(s)

• Estonian Theatre and Music Museum

Date of founding

• 1960

Place of founding

• Tallinn, Estonia
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Creator(s) of content

• Tormis, Veljo

Collector(s)

• Estonian Theatre and Music Museum

Important events in the history of the collection

• Exhibition "Klassikud" [classics] in 2010

Featured items

• Manuscript of "Kurvameelsed laulud" [melancholy songs]
• Manuscript of "Lenini sõnad" [Lenin's words]

Access type

• completely open to the public

Author(s) of this page

• Tammela, Mari-Leen
• Tark, Triin

References

Kuljus, Ene, interview by Tark, Triin, Tammela, Mari-Leen , September 12, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection