Memorial stone of song festivals
For the 100th anniversary of Estonian song festivals, a memorial stone designed by architect
Allan Murdmaa was placed on the upper slope of Tallinn Song Festival Ground in 1969. On
the stone, there are lines from the choir song „Dawn” by Mihkel Lüdig, which is the
traditional opening piece of song festivals. The text carved in granite is suitable for the
stone, while also reflecting font design preferences of the period – monumental approach,
simplified letter forms and dense text pattern. Line spacing of letters is minimal, and round
forms consist of bent arches. Such style reached us probably from Finland, where Alfons
Eder used similar letters for cover design of the novel “Here Under the Northern Star” by
Väinö Linna (1959).
Monumental choir stand was completed in 1960, based on the project by Alar Kotli. Its brisk
paraboloid arch was unique at the moment of completion, and wooden screen installed on
roof cables acts as excellent amplifier of music. The stage can accommodate 20,000 singers
and the ground established on the hillside 200,000 spectators. In addition to song festivals,
also rock concerts are held at the ground – in such case, listeners sit on the steps of the
stage and the band is performing in front of them.
