Short History and Revival of the Estonian Bagpipe 

The bagpipe was probably played in Estonia as early as the 13th century. For centuries, it was one of the most beloved instruments among Estonians, played for dancing and ceremonies, at family gatherings and celebrations, communal work parties and in taverns. The bagpipe also played an important role in wedding rituals – its loud sound was believed to ward off evil spirits, and the instrument was thought to possess fertility-related magical powers.

It is not known exactly how the bagpipe came to Estonia, but according to one legend, the instrument was created by the Devil himself...

Large bagpipes played by Estonian peasants are mentioned in written sources as early as the 16th century. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the bagpipe, which had previously been widely used, began to lose ground, first to the violin and later to the accordion.

The tradition of bagpipe playing remained largely dormant in Estonia for a long time. There were only a few renowned bagpipe players, the best known being Juhan Maaker (1845–1930), a man from the island of Hiiumaa, known as Torupilli-Juss.

Revival of the Estonian Bagpipe

The number of people able to play the bagpipe in Estonia gradually dwindled, and by the middle of the 20th century there was practically no one left who still knew well how to play the instrument. There was, however, a musician named Peeter Sild working in Mulgimaa, who occasionally played his own handmade bagpipe.

In the 1950s, the Riidaja community centre commissioned a bagpipe from him, but this instrument too was left in the attic for years. When schoolteacher and folk musician Johannes Taul brought it home from the community centre, only the chanter remained – rats had eaten away the bag.

In 1972, Johannes's son, Ants Taul, who grew up at the Matu-Tõnise farm, used the chanter from Peeter Sild’s old bagpipe to make his first bagpipe. Thus began a journey that would lead Ants Taul to become a bagpipe maker and player and to help revive the Estonian bagpipe tradition.

Together with his father Johannes Taul, who founded the folk music ensemble Torupill, Ants Taul helped revive the tradition of making and playing the bagpipe in Estonia. Naturally, Ants's children also grew up with the bagpipe and have continued the tradition by playing this traditional instrument themselves.

The Tauli torupill

The craft of bagpipe making has now been passed from father to son – from Ants to his son Andrus, who continues the work begun by his father. For more than half a century, the Tauls have continuously developed and refined the bagpipe, and the instrument they make has become known as the Taul bagpipe – much like the Teppo accordion, named after its maker August Teppo, the most famous Estonian accordion maker of all time.

Nowadays, most Estonian bagpipe players play Taul bagpipes. The Matu-Tõnise farm in Mulgimaa, South Estonia. where the revival of the Estonian bagpipe began, has for many years been known as Torupillitalu (’The Bagpipe Farm’). Ants Taul, who played a key role in reviving the Estonian bagpipe tradition, is sometimes affectionately known as Torupilli-Tont – “the Bagpipe Goblin”.

If you would like to hear the authentic sound of the Estonian bagpipe and hear the stories behind its revival and craftsmanship, you are warmly welcome to visit Torupillitalu!

Watch the story of revival of the Estonian bagpipe in the ETV archive programme „Niimuudu om“ (2012). WATCH IT HERE.