Estonian National Research Articles

Changes in pension take-up and retirement in the context of increasing the pension age: the case of Estonia in the 2000s

This article looks into the effects of increasing the statutory pension age on pension take-up and on employment before and after pension take-up in Estonia in 2002–11. We use individual-level administrative data from the pension register of the Estonian National Social Insurance Board and a set of analytical indicators to capture the pension take-up and employment exit processes. The results reveal a relatively successful adjustment to the increase in pension age. The age gap between take-up of normal and early retirement (old-age) pension has not widened and the increase in the statutory pension age has moved exit from employment proportionally towards a later age. At the same time, a marked increase in the take-up of incapacity pensions, accelerated during the economic recession, has significantly reduced the overall effect of pension age reform.

The Impact of Introduction of Funded Pension Schemes on Intragenerational Inequality in Estonia: A Cohort Microsimulation Analysis

This paper uses a cohort microsimulation model to analyse intragenerational distributional effects of a shift from a defined benefit pay‐as‐you‐go pension system that includes flat rate component and length of pensionable service component to a pension system with contribution based insurance components in the PAYG scheme and an additional compulsory funded pension scheme. Estonia was among the first European countries to shift partially from a pure PAYG scheme to fully funded financing in 2002. In addition, contribution points reflecting total life‐time earnings were introduced into the PAYG scheme in 1999.We use the contribution history for 1999‐2010 and information on the participation in the funded pension scheme of a full cohort of men, born in 1980, from the Estonian National Social Insurance Board to simulate the distribution of future pensions under alternative pension schemes taking into account economic and demographic changes. Our results show that in case of large inequality of labour earnings and high long‐term unemployment rates, such as in Estonia, introduction of very strong link between contributions and future pensions leads to considerably higher inequality of pensions.Simulation results suggest that the inequality of old‐age pensions more than doubles when the reforms mature. The inequality in replacement rates on the other hand decreases.

Home Environments, Memories, and Life Stories: Preservation of Estonian National Identity

This paper examines the means by which Estonian national identity was preserved during 50 years of Soviet occupation. The study upon which it is based explored such factors as family environments; memories, in the form of oral narratives; and life experiences. This research was informed by the sociocultural approach to mediated action, and it employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In 1993, a quota-sampling technique was used to interview a cross section of Estonian society (N = 930). Descriptive statistics, and factor and multiple regression analyses were performed. Fifteen qualitative interviews were also conducted. When woven together, these personal histories create a fabric that is representative of the greater Estonian history during the occupation. The implications of these findings may reach beyond the Estonian context to further inform our understanding of the complexities and the vicissitudes of human action.

Changing Values of Wild Berries in Estonian Households: Recollections from an Ethnographic Archive

This article examines the historical importance of wild berries in the archival sources of the Estonian National Museum. The studied materials suggest that wild berries as food were insignificant for Estonian ethnologists-researchers as well as for correspondents due to disciplinary conventions and the ways of recollecting about food traditions. However, considering the Estonian remembrances in the context of international studies the consumption and gathering of wild berries for private use becomes a practice with diverse meanings. Wild fruits as food may have ambivalent values, which relate to socioeconomic factors, but likewise to continuities and discontinuities in individual and collective memory.

NETWORKING THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE ESTONIAN DIASPORA: ATTEMPTS AND EXPERIENCES

Estonian National MuseumVeski 32, 51014 Tartu, EstoniaE-mail: piretnoorhani@gmail.comAfter leaving the homeland at times of World War II Estonians started collecting their cultural heritage. Special archives and libraries were organized in Australia, Sweden, USA and Canada, some of them, still active. Since the end of 1980s memory institutions in Estonia also have been collecting the cultural heritage of expatriates. Large collections have been formed and a lot of research has been done by them. Numerous contacts and cooperation projects have been developed between the archivists, librarians and museologist in Estonia and world wide Estonian communities. The article gives an account of our experience and discusses the further possibilities for networking the cultural heritage of both the Estonian and the Baltic Diasporas

Count us! Ethnic Activism in South-Eastern Estonia, and the Census of 2011

The ethnic activists of south Estonia (the Seto and Võro movements), challenging traditional concepts of the Estonian nation, tried to exploit the last national census (2011) for their cause, but were only partly successful because of opposition from decision-makers at Statistics Estonia, who have demonstrated a spontaneous conservatism in regard to questions of ethnicity and language. The government’s response to the initiatives of the ethnic activists was inconsistent, passive, and reactive. This matter has simply not been thought through at the state level.

Controlling for increased guessing enhances the independence of the Flynn effect from g: The return of the Brand effect

The cause of the Flynn effect is one of the biggest puzzles in intelligence research. In this study we test the hypothesis that the effect may be even more independent from g than previously thought. This is due to the fact that secular gains in IQ result from at least two sources. First, an authentic Flynn effect that results from environmental improvements and should therefore be strongly negatively related to the g loading (and therefore the heritability) of IQ subtests. Second, a “Brand effect”, which results from an increase in the number of correct answers simply via enhanced guessing. As harder items should encourage more guessing, secular gains in IQ stemming from this Brand effect should be positively associated with subtest g loadings. Analysis of Estonian National Intelligence Test data collected between 1933 and 2006, which includes data on guessing, g loadings and secular IQ gains, corroborates this hypothesis. The correlation between gains via the Brand effect and g loadings is .95, as predicted. There is a modest negative association between raw secular gain magnitude and subtest g loadings (−.18) that increases to −.47 when these are controlled for the Brand effect. Applying five psychometric meta-analytic corrections to this estimate raises it to −.82 indicating that the authentic Flynn effect is substantially more independent from g than previously thought.

The Splendors and Miseries of Constitutional Reasoning in Times of Global Crisis: A Critical Look from the Realist Perspectives of Semiotics

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is the rescue fund that may grant loans to struggling euro zone governments by issuing bonds, collectively by the euro zone members. The implementation of the ESM spawned a lot of legal challenges brought to higher judicial authority in Ireland, Austria, Estonia, Germany and Poland. In the fall of 2012 the ESM was subject to legal analysis in the Estonian National Court, the German Constitutional Court, and in the European Court of Justice. Delivering much anticipated rulings in legal challenges to the legal provisions establishing the ESM, courts avoided upsetting the complex arrangements in question by producing legal decision of direct political import and letting EU bailout measures go forward. In looking over different critical responses, we have seen an argument raised by media and legal scholars, according to which courts’ capitulation before the power of financial markets in the EMS rulings represents “a sign of judicial crisis” that marks the weakness of modern European jurisprudence. In light of their importance, we undertake a preliminary semiotic analysis of the ESM rulings of the Estonian National Court, the German Constitutional Court, and in the European Court of Justice. Our analysis aims at discerning the crucial aspects of those rulings is performed on the basis of different semiotic methodologies combined with the refined ideas of the Scandinavian analytical school of the doctrinal study of law. In traditional legal studies there seems to be a taken for granted assumption that there is one analytical way to dissect judicial reasoning of the supreme courts. This paper argues that the manner of analyzing the constitutional reasoning needs to be congruent with the particular research methodology.

Ärkamisaeg, Noor-Eesti ja miski nende vahel. Eesti kirjandusloo küsimusi Juhan Kunderi näitel

According to the long-standing periodisation of Estonian literary history, the Estonian National Awakening that started in the mid-19th century was followed by a period of lesser creativity and originality, which ended only with the breakthrough of the modernist Young Estonia group in 1905. In the canon of Estonian literature, Juhan Kunder (1852–1888), today known primarily for his fairy tales, one play and lyrics of one song, is placed in this intermediate period. This article first introduces the significance of Kunder in his time. He was a popular writer and a wellknown pedagogue, and a younger contemporary of the great figures of the National Awakening. As a critic, magazine editor and literary historian, his most important contribution to literary history was in the development of literary thought. It seems that several precedents that have been attributed to the Young Estonia group, e.g., valuing originality, writing well-argued criticism, etc., actually originated from an earlier period. Based on these observations, the author of this article believes that the current structure of Estonian literary history is not adequately justified, and she points out a semantic shift in the terms in use. It is true that Kunder was largely an epigone of his predecessors, but in the positive sense of the term, meaning that he continued their mission. Similarly, Kunder’s predecessor, the ‘first Young Estonian’ Kreutzwald, and a representative of his 20th-century successors, Friedebert Tuglas, were also epigones. During the period of Russification that started during his era, Kunder’s attitudes could be considered progressive. Kunder was also a 19th-century contemporary of the Young Estonia group and a true Young Estonian in the original sense of the term which emerged in this period: a Young Estonian introduced new initiatives and was a leader of the national movement. Epigonism and membership in Young Estonia can be seen as the keys to cultural continuity and processionality. Kunder is a link between his predecessors and successors; his ambiguous position between the Young Estonians of the 19th and 20th centuries enables us to treat it as a complicated relationship between fathers and sons. The notion of Young Estonia and its justified use as the basis for literary historical periodisation in the still-valid canon of Estonian literature deserves some re-thinking.

Estonian Folklore Archives

Estonian Folklore Archives Risto Järv (bio) The Estonian Folklore Archives was established as the central folklore archives of Estonia in 1927.1 The original collections of the archives were built upon manuscript reports and accounts of Estonian folklore, consisting of over 115,000 pages of material contributed primarily by the noted Estonian folklore collector Jakob Hurt (1939-1907) and his more than 1,400 informants in the late nineteenth century. Today the Estonian Folklore Archives holds nearly 1.5 million manuscript pages as well as a collection of photographs, videos, and audio recordings. After the death of Jakob Hurt in 1906, the tomes of manuscripts collected and systematized by him were transferred to the repository of the Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura) in Finland. One reason for the move was the lack of appropriate preservation conditions for such valuable material in Estonia; another was the Finnish folklore researcher Kaarle Krohn’s long-term interest in the materials. Following this transfer, a large-scale copying of Hurt’s collections was initiated in Finland (see further Järvinen 2008:57-58). Negotiations about the return of the collections were started in 1924 with an aim of establishing folklore archives in Estonia. Folklorist Oskar Loorits (1900-1961) was largely the brain behind the idea, and he was assigned the task of managing the retransfer of the collections. The central archives were to be established on the example of the Finnish Literature Society in Finland and were directly inspired by the establishment of the Latvian Folklore Archives in 1924 as the first of its kind in the Baltic region. Following lengthy discussions about which institution would control the central archives, the collections were successfully retransferred to Estonia in 1927. The archives started operations at the beginning of September, but on September 24, 1927, at the first meeting of the governing committee, the Estonian Folklore Archives was officially established as an independent institution under the Estonian National Museum. The archives were housed in 1927 at a former residence on Aia (now Vanemuise) Street in Tartu. The Archival Library of the Estonian National Museum, which had been established in 1909 and originally intended as an Estonian national library, was also brought there at that time. Two years later in 1929 the Estonian Cultural History Archives was founded in the same building. The main objective of the newly-founded archives was to bring previously existing folklore collections together into one place in order to facilitate research, to organize extensive fieldwork throughout Estonia, and to begin broad research on the folklore collected. Institution-initiated collecting of folklore in Estonia was started in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, resulting in a total of over 8,000 pages housed in the collection of the Learned Estonian Society and in the folklore collection of the Estländische Literärische Gesellschaft literary union, both located in Tallinn. These collections were incorporated into the Estonian Folklore Archives, as were many others (for instance, Hurt’s collection and the Estonian Students’ Society’s Collection), including the voluminous collection of the folklorist Matthias Johann Eisen (1857-1934) from the University of Tartu. Archival Work The archives’ primary purpose has always been to make the manuscript materials as easily available to researchers as possible. Thus, on the initiative of Oskar Loorits, who was at that time head of the archives, an appropriate system of registers and card files was developed to enable researchers to find and gain access to every single folklore piece in the handwritten volumes. In order to preserve the volumes for the sake of better analysis, copies of folklore texts were typed and organized in folders, and shorter texts were copied and organized into thematic card files. Folklore material was also copied from the collections of other institutions, where it was sometimes found among other material (for example, language corpora). Ever since the founding of the archives, special emphasis has been placed on the idea that the archives’ workers must be involved not only in facilitating access to the materials but also in researching the material from one perspective or another. Oskar Loorits focused on Livonian folklore and particularly on Livonian religion, Herbert Tampere explored folk songs and tunes...

Digital preservation of knowledge in the public sector: a pre-ingest tool

This paper describes the need for coordinating pre-ingest activities in digital preservation of archival records. As a result of the wide use of electronic records management systems (ERMS) in agencies, the focus is on several issues relating to the interaction of the agency’s ERMS and public repositories. This paper indicates the importance of using digital recordkeeping metadata to meet more precisely and at the same time semi-automatically the criteria set by memory institutions. The paper provides an overview of one prospective solution and describes the Estonian National Archives’ universal archiving module (UAM). A case study reports the use of the UAM in preserving the digital records of the Estonian Minister for Population and Ethnic Affairs. In this project, the preparation and transfer of archival records was divided into ten phases, starting from the description of the archival creator and ending with controlled transfer. The case study raises questions about how much recordkeeping metadata can be used in archival description and how the interaction of the agency’s ERMS and ingest by the archives could be more automated. The main issues (e.g. classification, metadata elements variations, mapping, and computer files conversions) encountered during that project are discussed. Findings show that the Open Archival Information System functional model’s ingest part should be reconceptualised to take into account preparatory work. Adding detailed metadata about the structure, context and relationships in the right place at the right time could get one step closer to digital codified knowledge archiving by creating synergies with various other digital repositories.

Religion, the Russian Nation and the State: Domestic and International Dimensions: an Introduction

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size AcknowledgmentsEarlier versions of the articles in this special issue were presented at the international workshop ‘Religion, Politics and Policy-Making in Russia: Domestic and International Dimensions’ organised by the Centre for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS) at the University of Tartu, Estonia, 6–7 June 2012. The editors of this issue are grateful to CEURUS for sponsoring the workshop, to Piret Ehin, CEURUS director, to Siiri Maimets, Varje Kuut, and Britt Ressar for efficient administration of the workshop, and to all who submitted papers to this volume. We are also grateful to Alexander Agadjanian, Kaarina Aitamurto, Jelena Avanesova, Elina Kahla, Igor’ Kotin, Christopher Marsh, Victor Shnirelman, Marat Shterin, Meagan Todd and Aleksandr Verkhovsky, whose participation at the workshop greatly contributed to bringing this collective effort to completion. Jerry Pankhurst’s participation in the workshop and its preparation, and subsequent work on preparation of this introductory essay, took place while he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tartu in spring semester 2012. Finally, we are extremely grateful for the patient support, strong reviewing and clear editing of the contributions by Philip Walters and the anonymous reviewers. We deeply appreciate the opportunity to publish selected papers from the 2012 Tartu workshop in this issue of Religion, State & Society.Additional informationNotes on contributorsJerry G. PankhurstJerry Pankhurst is a professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and director of the programme in Russian and Central Eurasian Studies at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, USA. He has pursued a long-term interest in the sociology of Russia and the post-Soviet realm, with growing focus on the broader European context. He has co-edited scholarly collections on Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age (AltaMira/Rowman and Littlefield, 2005) and Family, Religion and Social Change in Diverse Societies (Oxford University Press, 2000), as well as two volumes on the sociology of Soviet society. His articles have appeared in Journal of Church and State, Journal of Family Issues, Sociological Inquiry and numerous edited collections.Alar KilpAlar Kilp is a lecturer in comparative politics at the University of Tartu, Estonia. In 2012 he defended his doctoral thesis Church Authority in Society, Culture and Politics after Communism at the University of Tartu. His academic research deals with religion and politics, secularisation and church–state relations in postcommunist Europe. He has co-edited the volumes Extremism Within and Around Us (Tartu University Press, 2011) and Religion and Politics in Multicultural Europe (Tartu University Press, 2009). He has published articles in Kultura i Polityka, Forschungen zur Anthropologie und Religionsgeschichte (Ugarit Verlag), Studies in Church History (Annuals of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science) and Proceedings of the Estonian National Defence College. Email: alar.kilp@ut.ee.

Lutheran and Russian Orthodox Church Buildings as Symbols of Cultural Identity in the Estonian Parliamentary Elections of 20111

In the 2011 parliamentary election campaign in Estonia, two church buildings fulfilled the function of inclusion by integrating the sentiments and identity of the members of cultural constituencies, and the function of exclusion by drawing symbolic boundaries between the current national government and the opposition and between the Estonian cultural mainstream and the Russophone minority, which cannot be drawn legally. For the parties of the national government St John’s Lutheran Church in St Petersburg was a symbol of Estonian nationalism. For their main political opponents the Orthodox church in the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn symbolised the cultural identity of Estonian Russian-speaking residents and electorate. While this development exemplifies ‘desecularisation’ in the dimension of collective cultural identities, I argue against a too simplistic interpretation of ‘desecularisation’ and for a more nuanced understanding of how religion may play a role even in a very secularised society and polity like Estonia. I theorise ‘desecularisation’ in Estonian politics by distinguishing the types of religion and nationalism that were involved and critically analysing the relationship between religion and nationalism in this process. I argue that the electoral campaign of 2011 testifies to a small shift towards a more religious definition of social identities, which may not re-occur with the same passions and intensity in future. After the accession to the European Union in 2004, the pre-electoral symbolic sacralisation of ethnic identities, however, has become an established practice during the Estonian parliamentary elections.

Wooden objects in museums: Managing biodeterioration situation

In this article we discuss the situation concerning biodeterioration in museums. For example we consider the collections of the Estonian National Museum (ENM). The Estonian National Museum in Tartu is a national museum charged with responsibility for, amongst other things, the preservation of a great number of wooden objects. Wood is represented in the ENM collections in furniture, working tools, household utensils, basketry etc. To study the condition and damaging factors of wooden objects, a collections survey was performed. Many wooden objects in the EMN collections have been found to suffer from varying degrees of insect and fungal deterioration. The biodeterioration of objects provides information about their previous environmental conditions and the use patterns of these objects. The actual biodeterioration situation in the storerooms of the ENM is continuously monitored and managed. The risk of biodeterioration of wooden objects is small but nevertheless present. The need for integrated pest management supported by well-managed information is important in collecting institutions.

Continuity or Discontinuity: On the Dynamics of Remembering “Mature Socialism” in Estonian Post-Soviet Remembrance Culture

Remembering the early Soviet period is still one of the main anchor points for identity building in Estonian society. The experience of the Soviet occupation is used as a filter through which meani...

Hetiidi impeeriumi ja Assüüria suurriigi suhted u 1365-1180 eKr

Keywords: Ancient Near East, Hittite Empire, Assyria, Middle Assyrian kingdom, war, conflict. This article addresses the complicated issues of Hittite-Assyrian relations and military conflicts from the second half of Middle Assyrian period (ca. 1365–1180 BCE) until the fall of the Hittite Empire (ca. 1180 BCE). The article is based on the analysis of Akkadian and Hittite cuneiform texts. We have some historical records (cuneiform texts) like treaties, letters, legal documents, etc., which show quite clearly the relations between the kings of Hatti and Assyria. The key events of these relations are mentioned in Hittite-Assyrian international correspondence (diplomatic letters), royal inscriptions, and annals. The article aims to reconstruct possible Hittite-Assyrian relations at the end of the Late Bronze Age on the basis of remaining written sources from this period. This is of course only a hypothetical image or mosaic that was proposed by the author; other reconstructions and hypotheses are also possible. In this article, some issues related to the establishment of the power of the Middle Assyrian kingdom during the fourteenth to thirteenth centuries BCE, and at the beginning of Assyrian expansion into northern Mesopotamian and North Syrian regions. These events caused several Hittite-Assyrian diplomatic crises and military conflicts and even wars between these two superpowers of the Late Bronze Age, during the thirteenth century. It seems that Assyrian-Hittite wars and military conflicts had begun already at the beginning of the first decades of the thirteenth century BCE, when Assyrian kings, including Adadnarari I and Salmanassar I, conquered and destroyed the powerful kingdom of Khanigalbat, which belonged to the Hurrians and had been for several years a satellite state of the Hittites. Before this event Khanigalbat was partly conquered by the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I in the fourteenth century BCE. The aim of this state (it was turned into a vassal state) was to be a zone for protection of the Hittite empire’s territories from possible foreign invasions from southern and northern Mesopotamia. During the thirteenth century, Assyrians destroyed the remains of the kingdom of Khanigalbat (Mitanni), conquered it, and the Middle Assyrian kingdom got a border with the powerful Hittite empire, which controlled Anatolia and North Syria. This became the reason for many diplomatic and military conflicts between these two great powers during the thirteenth century BCE, until the Middle Assyrian kingdom weakened after the death of despotic Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta (1242–1206 BCE). At the same time, the weakened Hittite empire collapsed – it was conquered by invaders from the Aegean region, so-called “Sea Peoples”. This event took place in ca. 1190–1180 BCE. Struggles and conflicts between the Hittite empire and the Middle Assyrian kingdom during the thirteenth century BCE were partly documented (international correspondence, royal inscriptions, etc.), but there are not enough written sources from this period and this is a serious issue for reconstruction of Hittite-Assyrian relations. These relations were not strictly hostile, as we know from records that some of the period’s Assyrian and Hittite kings communicated as equal and probably friendly partners. There was also active trade and other relations (diplomatic, dynastic, etc.) between the Hittites and Assyrians. Vladimir Sazonov (b. 1979) is an Associate Professor at the Estonian National Defence College and a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Oriental Studies, University of Tartu.

The Scandinavian Connection in Early Estonian Nationalism

This article outlines the context and genesis of the idea of a Scandinavian-Estonian connection in early Estonian nationalism. Mnemopolitical (the role of the myth of ‘the good old Swedish times’) and geopolitical (Sweden understood as an alternative regional power to Germany and Russia) aspects of Estonian nationalism's engagement with Scandinavia are considered as factors that produced and reinforced this image of Nordic identity that has remained a persistent part of Estonian nationalist discourse.

Development of Estonian nutrient discharge standards for wastewater treatment plants

In order to comply with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive's, Water Framework Directive's, Helsinki Commission and Estonian National Wastewater Treatment requirements to reveal the wastewater pressures and impacts on the receiving water, the aim of this work was to develop optimal Estonian Nutrient Discharge Standards for wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plants treatment efficiency, total pollution load coming from different size of treatment plants and feasibility for stricter treatment requirements and accompanying socio- economic impacts are evaluated with consideration of environmental benefits, brought by the investment. Limit values for small-scale (below 2000 population equivalent) treatment plants were proposed.

Taste sensitivity to PTC and colour blindness in Estonians

The article discusses the genetic characterisation of Estonians on the basis of the traits of PTC and colour blindness in Estonian population samples from various parts of Estonia. The taste sensitivity to PTC was studied in 2559 Estonian schoolchildren from 24 localities and of colour blindness in 4300 males from 33 localities. Results: The frequency of nontasters was 25.4% on average; t gene frequency (50.4% for Estonians) varied between 36% and 65%. PTC nontasters frequency is higher on West-Estonian islands and in Western Estonia compared to other parts of Estonia. The frequency of colour blindness cb gene (5.3% for Estonians) is higher in North, North-East and East Estonia (6–8%); its mean frequency on the rest of the territory is lower. The genetic diversity in various traits seem to be a trace of the historical development of the Estonian nation.

Voice Teachers’ Strategies to Overcome Performance Anxiety

Increasing competition among musicians on the contemporary scene implies additional requirements for them in terms of versatility and competitiveness. Performance anxiety usually manifests itself in negative changes in mental and physical sense of self before a performance. In recent years increasingly more attention has been paid to problems influencing musicians’ performance. Performance anxiety is undoubtedly one of the negative factors each performer has to face to a greater or lesser degree. As a rule, performers are sensitive and emotional in nature and it is not likely that the audience would enjoy watching a dull or completely rational performance. The purpose of this study is to learn how professional classical singers and voice teachers cope with performance anxiety. We are interested in how they maintain well-being and mental balance needed for a successful performance, which pre-performance anxiety suppressing activities they find most efficient and which ones they have suggested to their students. The study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with 12 recognised classical singers and vocal pedagogues, who were working or had worked as soloists at Estonian National Opera, or as oratorio or chamber singers. To allow organisation, categorisation and analysis of the received information, the texts were processed with the qualitative research software Nvivo 7. Coping successfully with performances all singers had developed a daily schedule which had often become their lifestyle to which they did not attach special importance on a daily basis. Support of the family was considered important and it was seen as natural that family members follow and respect the singer’s rhythm of life. All singers stressed that most difficult for them was to maintain vocal health throughout the season and emotional balance in stressful situations.