Christmas Songs in Finnish and Estonian

Text Timo Raussi
Photo Airi Altnurme

The Finnish community of Tallinn will head out to what many Estonian Finns consider their regular hangout, a bar called Living Room ät, located next to the Balti Jaama railway station, on Wednesday, 17 December at 18:00. At that time, you can either sing along to or simply listen to Finland’s most beautiful Christmas carols, during an evening event jointly created by restaurateur Jukka Tenhunen, who settled in the city eight years ago, and the Finnish diaspora.

If during the Advent weeks you happen to attend one of Estonia’s Christmas concerts, whether ticketed or free, you will very likely experience an aha moment: the melodies are completely familiar, only the words differ. For example, “Kilisee, kilisee kulkunen” in Estonian becomes “Tiliseb, tiliseb aisakell”, and “Talven ihmemaa” is “Talve võlumaa”.

But how can you be in the right place at the right time to hear Christmas music, either in choral arrangements or lighter versions? We share tips on these every Monday in Baltic Guide’s “Exciting Events in Estonia This Week” column. You can also browse concerts by top artists and choirs in the calendars of the Piletilevi and Fienta online ticket shops. And today—11 December—Facebook’s Events page shows more than 40 results for the keyword jõulukontsert, or “Christmas concert” in English, just in Tallinn alone.

You can listen to Christmas carols for free at the Finnish community’s usual gathering place, St. Michael’s Swedish Church, for example on Tuesday, 16 December from 19:00 onward. At that time, the city’s oldest amateur mixed choir, Raudamm founded in 1922, will perform in the church hall on Rüütli Street in the Old Town. The evening’s programme includes Estonian-language versions of familiar melodies such as “How Fair the Earth”, or “Maa on nii kaunis”, “Quietly, Quietly the Christmas Bells”, and Sibelius’s “Give Me No Splendour, Gold, or Pomp”.

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