In order to understand the aesthetics of any musical form, one must first of all make the effort to appreciate the culture which produced it. For this reason, this paper contains a lengthy, although necessarily cursory, outline of the historical development of the Estonian nation. This historical perspective will hopefully acquaint the reader with the cultural background of the Estonians: one of the oldest, yet unfortunately one of the most unknown civilizations of North-Eastern Europe. Although there exist a few renditions of the history and music of this country devoid of propaganda, there is very little in the English language dealing with the historical development, and next to nothing on the music. The most authoritative texts are therefore written in the Estonian language, and for this reason the following paper is based totally on my translation of these sources.

Contemporary musicological analysis of the musical languages and aesthetics of post-Soviet states has largely avoided the effect of independence, political and social integration into the EU, and the unanticipated preponderance of sonic information and exchange on composers working and living in the Baltic States. The diffusion of composers and musicians from the Baltic States in the 1990s and 2000s, the lack of a focal point of artistic contention and backlash after the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as a social and intellectual realignment toward the EU and Western Europe have all distinctly affected Baltic nations' musical identities. This research examines the development of Estonian music over the period of twenty years, 1991-2011; initially, by comparing compositional processes, musical motives, scoring, harmony, and orchestration techniques of the post-Soviet to the Soviet eras; further, by defining aspects of the native Estonian musical identity as relevant to modern classical music and analysing its integration into concert music; next, by detailing the political effects of such integration, if any, during the Soviet period and their continued relevance since independence; the so-called exodus of Estonian composers into Scandinavia and further afield, the arrival of foreign composers; finally, the social effects of internationalism and the extent of Estonian composers' and audiences' focus on distinctly national versus international traditions within the realm of concert music.

In der estnischen Musikliteratur gibt es kaum Texte, die sich direkt mit Ästhetik befassen. Was man regelmäßig findet, sind Überblicke über die Musik und das Musikleben, Rezensionen und programmatische Artikel über die Aufgaben, vor denen die Musiker stehen. Hierin äußert sich eine praktische Ästhetik der jeweiligen Verfasser und eine gewisse Überzeugung, wie estnische Musik sein sollte und welche Aufgaben sie habe. Auf der Basis dieser Ansichten werden Werturteile über neue Werke und musikalische Ereignisse gefällt. Dabei sind diese Ansichten selbst möglicherweise ziemlich schwammig formuliert, sofern man sich ihrer überhaupt bewusst ist. Was für Ansichten waren das? Woher stammten sie? Eine Antwort hierauf können wir in der Musikliteratur, in der Musik selbst und auch im zeitgenössischen Musikleben suchen und dann annähernd beschreiben, welche ästhetischen Ansichten in Estland geherrscht haben.