RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Veljo TORMIS (b. 1930)
Curse upon Iron - Works for male choir
1. Incantatio maris aestuosi (Incantation for a stormy sea) (1996)
[5:48]
2. Kord me tulemi tagasi {Meie varjud}(Once we will reappear {Our
shadows}) (1969/1991) [3:17]
3. Kolm mul oli kaunist sõna (I had three beautiful words) (1962)
[5:58]
Vastlalaulud (Shrovetide songs) (1967) [5:18]
4. I. Vistel-vastel [1:21]
5. II. Lina loitsimine (Spell upon flax) [2:05]
6. III. Liulaskmise-laul (Sledding song) [1:45]
7. Pikse litaania (Litany to thunder for male chorus, soloists and
bass drum) (1974) [5:15]
8. Viru vanne (The viru oath) (1980) [4:10]
9. Helletused (Childhood memory – Herding calls) (1982) [8:10]
10. Raua needmine (Curse upon iron) (1972/1991) [10:34]
11. Muistse mere laulud (Songs of the ancient sea) (1979) [9:35]
Hamleti laulud (Hamlet’s songs) (1964) [8:22]
12. I. Meri tõmbus endasse ... (The sea has retreated ...) [5:33]
13. II. Jah, olla, olla, tingimata olla ... (Yea, to be, to be, unconditionally
...) [2:43]
Kaksipühendus {Diptühhon} (Double dedication (Diptych) (1983) [3:55]
14. I. Ühte laulu tahaks laulda (I’d like to sing a song) [1:35]
15. Tähed (Stars) [2:18]
Orphei Drängar/Cecilia Rydinger Alin; Andreas Alin (flute) (tr. 3); Gunnar
Sundberg (tenor), Henrik Stolare (baritone), Magnus Einarsson (bass drum)
(tr. 7); Elin Rombo (soprano) (tr. 9); Gunnar Sundberg (tenor), Henrik Stolare
(baritone), Folke Alin (shaman drum) (tr. 10); Magnus Sjögren (tenor) (tr.
11)
rec. February 2012, Uppsala University Hall, Sweden
Sung texts with English translations enclosed.
BIS-SACD-1993 [72:48]
Estonian composer Veljo Tormis has written more than 500 choral songs and
besides that a chamber opera, a ballet-cantata, 35 film scores, a few orchestral
works and music for vocal and instrumental soloists and chamber groups. More
than half of his choral compositions are based on ancient traditional Estonian
songs. Many of the texts are also traditional, but he has also set poetry
by latter-day authors. On this disc there are examples of both. Musically
he has created his own very distinct tonal language, harmonically often daring
and dissonant, clusters, glissandi and other ‘modern’ means of expression
are often encountered, as well as unorthodox effects like whistling, spoken
sections and hissing sounds. Rhythms are often irregular, there are sudden
pauses. Giving a general description of Tormis’s music is difficult, since
it is almost always unpredictable. If all this sounds forbidding, let me at
once add that large portions of the songs on this disc are immensely beautiful
in the traditional sense of the word. The more ‘difficult’ parts of his works
have their own brand of beauty, thrill, tension and magic. This music is never
dull. Let me give a few examples.
The opening number, Incantation for a stormy sea, with texts from
the Finnish Kalevala, but in Latin translation, begins almost inaudibly
– the sea is calm. The storm is on its way, the music grows, not in a steady
crescendo but in waves. Then there are energetic staccato sounds and in the
background we hear whistling noises. Birds? They disappear and then eventually
the storm dies away.
Kolm mul oli kaunist sõna (I had three beautiful words), which is
the earliest composition here, is beautiful and dominated by a jolly flute
that sprinkles cascades of melodious phrases around and above the choir. The
poem is by a young Paul-Eerik Rummo, responsible for several texts on this
disc and a central cultural personality in Estonia. He was Minister of Culture
and Education 1992-1994 and Minister of Population and Ethnic Affairs 2003-2007.
In Pikse litaania (Litany to thunder) Tormis excels in unorthodox
effects. There are two intensely thrilling solo voices and the chaotic middle
section is enhanced with a bass drum. Thunder indeed! The text is based on
a magic spell in southern Estonian dialect. Helletused is a fascinating
arrangement or rather ‘orchestration’ of herding calls, used in times gone
by when children herded cattle. The source here is the first professional
concert singer in Estonia, Aino Tamm, who sang them in her youth in the 19th
century. A high virtuoso soprano solo, excellently sung by Elin Rombo, is
a thrilling contrast to the dark male voices. Beautiful and fascinating.
Raija needmine (Curse upon iron) was composed in 1972 for
mixed chorus and shaman drum and revised in 1991 for men’s or women’s voices.
This is again a text from the Kalevala, adapted and augmented by
among others Paul-Eerik Rummo. It has become a classic and with the partly
rather raw singing and magic sounds of the shaman drum one feels transported
back in time.
Ohoi cursed, evil iron!
Ohoi cursed, evil iron!
Flesh consuming, bone devouring,
Spilling blood, devouring virtue!
Whither comes your cruel cunning,
Haughtiness so overbearing? Fie upon you, evil iron!
Your beginnings reek of malice.
You have risen from villainy.
This is only the first stanza of this very long text but it is enough to give
a hint of the power of the words. The music is just as potent.
The whole programme, which is a cross-section of Tormis’s rich and varied
output, is deeply fascinating and the singing of OD is superb, which was only
to be expected. Founded in 1853 the choir has developed into one of the most
prominent interpreters of the male voice repertoire worldwide. BIS’s recording
allows us to hear every tiny nuance. This is a disc not to be missed by choral
music lovers.
Göran Forsling
Footnote: There are several other collections of Tormis’s choral music available.
A personal favourite is the 2-CD-set Forgotten Peoples (ECM 1459/60)
with the superb Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under Tönu Kaljuste.
This is a disc not to be missed by choral music lovers.
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