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My father was good at music. I don’t think there was an instrument he couldn’t play. We didn’t have a piano, but when we visited friends and they had a piano, they always asked my father to play. He could play whatever they asked him, whether it was a Beethoven sonata or a popular song. He didn’t use any notes and played from memory.
Once, somebody asked him to play some anthems. My father played a number of various anthems. Then, I remember, everyone came to a standstill, when my father started playing an old Estonian anthem. This was a risk during the Soviet period, in case somebody from the outside could hear it and report it to authorities. This might have led to many problems for the people attending the party. My father said quietly, ‘You don’t have to worry, I’ll tell them this was a Finnish anthem.’ The Estonian and Finnish anthems sound very much alike.
Besides music, my father was very good at languages. He could speak ten European languages, and there was no text in any language that he couldn’t translate. Once we received a letter from Georgia, and my father translated it for me with the help of a dictionary. This wasn’t easy, of course, but he managed. My father subscribed to medical journals and the ‘Literature and languages’ journal.
Once, somebody asked him to play some anthems. My father played a number of various anthems. Then, I remember, everyone came to a standstill, when my father started playing an old Estonian anthem. This was a risk during the Soviet period, in case somebody from the outside could hear it and report it to authorities. This might have led to many problems for the people attending the party. My father said quietly, ‘You don’t have to worry, I’ll tell them this was a Finnish anthem.’ The Estonian and Finnish anthems sound very much alike.
Besides music, my father was very good at languages. He could speak ten European languages, and there was no text in any language that he couldn’t translate. Once we received a letter from Georgia, and my father translated it for me with the help of a dictionary. This wasn’t easy, of course, but he managed. My father subscribed to medical journals and the ‘Literature and languages’ journal.
Period
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Ester Vee