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LEELOPÄEV •
Nädalavahetusel toimus Värskas üheteistkümnes setu leelopäev, tunnussõnaks „Elotsõõr”. Leelopäevast võttis osa 18 kollektiivi mitmelt poolt Eestist.
Pärast hommikust jumalateenistust Värska Püha Jüri kirikus, hingepalvet lauluemadele ja leelopäevade elustajatele — kolmele Paulile ning haudade õnnistamist prooviti juba laululaval häält ja hakati siis rongkäiku kogunema, et lõpuks suure leeloga pihta hakata.
Rongkäik oli pikk, värviline, kõlisev ja laulev. Tantsiti, mängiti pilli, hüüti tuttavaid. See oli eriline vaatepilt: kõik setud, kõik ammustest aegadest tuttavad, kõik rõõmsad ja elevil.
Teiste hulgas tilistasid oma ehteid Võrumaa setud. Uhkelt sammus rongkäigus kuulus Obinitsa setu koor Helmekaala eesotsas Anne Linnupuuga. Koor on esinenud mitmel pool välismaal ja teda on tunnustatud muusika- ja kultuuriauhindadega.
Tsibihärblaseq on aga Obinitsa noored setu lauljad. Koor on saanud oma 20. sünnipäeva puhul ja „Taarka” etenduses osalemise eest Eesti Kultuurkapitali preemia. Mõni laulja on kooris ehk nooremgi kui koor ise. Rongkäigus sammuti vapralt kõrvuti laulumemmedega.
Meremäe vallas tegutseva Helbi koori memmed ongi sõpruskond, kes leelutab kohalikke viise ja hoiab alles kohalikke traditsioone. Helbi koor on välja andnud ka heliplaadi. Suur leelutamine algas Setu hümni laulmise ja lipuheiskamisega. Sõna võtsid ülemsootska ja teised setudele olulised inimesed.
Esimene setu leelopäev toimus 30 aastat tagasi, tõuke selleks andis Setu lauluema Anne Vabarna 100. sünniaastapäev. Vahepeal leelopäevad vaibusid vaikselt ja traditsioon elustus taas alles 1977.aastal. Nüüd toimuvad need iga kolme aasta järel Värskas. Ainult 1986.aasta leelopäev peeti Obinitsas, sest möödus 130 aastat lauluema Hilana Taarka sünnist.
Esimese leelopäeva peakorraldajad olid Paul Lehestik (Põlva keskkooli direktor), Paul Haavaoks (luuletaja), Paul Mäeste (Värska külanõukogu esimees) ja Laine Lõvi, Värska kultuurimaja direktor. Leelopäeva vedosnik Laine Lõvi sammus nüüdki rongkäigu peas, Paulid aga ongi need, kellele päeva algul hingepalvet ja tänu loeti.
Leelopäeva juht Ilme Hoidmets ütleb elotsõõri kohta nii: „ Elotsõõr on täis kurbi ja rõõmsaid hetki, meenutusi ja unistusi, rasket tööd ja vaeva ning lõputut lootust ikka paremale elule… Laul ei kao, kuni on elu, ega katke eluring.”
Peoplatsil jagati süüa-juua ja sai osta setude ilusat käsitööd. Kogu pika päeva helises üle Värska ja Setumaa leelo. Õhtul pidutseti, kuniks jõudu jätkus.
(Ivi Kaarna) - Võrumaa Teataja
Discography
album scheduled October 2010
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To call this formation a band would be inappropriate and far too limited. This choir of maidens is a leelo-choir from the heart of Setomaa, Obinitsa. These songbirds started out as children and have been evolving ever since, singing songs of their nation small in numbers, but great in voice to new life. Dignified Seto grandmothers have tought them and given them example. Todays enviroment and listeners have influenced them in another way, but as long as the audience enjoys their music they are not only preservers of the proud leelo-tradition of Seto women, but its convincing bearers.
For the Seto community living in south-eastern Estonia and the Pechory district of the Russian Federation, the tradition of leelo, an ancient polyphonic singing tradition, is a cornerstone of contemporary identity. Performed to traditional melodies and in traditional costume, leelo features a lead singer who delivers a verse line followed by a choir that joins in for the final syllables and then repeats the whole line. Although lyrics are sometimes learned from former great performers, skill in composition is the mark of an excellent lead singer. Most choirs are composed wholly of women, and the most notable lead singer is crowned every year on Seto Kingdom Day as the Kings Mother of Song. Singing formerly accompanied nearly all daily activities in the Setos rural communities; today, although it is increasingly restricted to stage performance, the tradition remains prominently alive in community events as a central, vibrant and highly valued element of Seto culture.
The original Seto culture developed from Eastern and Western cultures (katõ ilma veere pääl - "on the border of two worlds"). The estimated population of Setos in Estonia is 10,000 - 13,000, of which ca 3,000 - 4,000 live on their indigenous land.
Setos are very religious people. Every household has its own icon corner (pühäsenulk) and almost every village has its own small chapel (Tsässon). As a rule, the chapels are locked and the key is held by the village elder or chapel master/mistress. An opportunity to visit a Seto chapel may come on village holidays when its opened for public prayer.
The chapel traditions are sacred to Orthodox Setos. During church holidays people gather to honour the souls of their ancestors. In the morning a service is held, followed by a procession around the chapel. Afterwards people go to their ancestors graves, where they eat and drink. Some food is often left for the souls of the dead.
If you want to hear the archaic Seto language, find an opportunity to listen to a Seto Leelo choir. Leelo is the Seto folk song, where the singer improvises the words and the choir then repeats. Most famous singers were able to sing up to 10,00020,000 rhymes and they earned the title of "Seto Mother of Songs."
You should also certainly see traditional Seto villages. Closed cluster-villages in Setomaa are built in a way that you cannot peek into a neighbours yard. A typical Seto homestead is a closed inner courtyard surrounded by buildings, high gates and partition fences - a "castle homestead."
Seto leelo inscribed in 2009 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO
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