All the composers featured
in this release produced by the Estonian
Radio are still in their thirties and
forties. Most pieces here are presumably
fairly recent, so that this disc provides
for a fair opportunity to get some idea
of what Estonian music after Pärt,
Sumera and Tüür may be like.
Judging from what is on display here,
one may safely say that these composers
have hugely varied concerns, which thus
result in a quite contrasted musical
response.
Helena Tulve studied
with Erkki-Sven Tüür in Tallinn
and with Jacques Charpentier at the
Paris Conservatory. She also worked
at IRCAM. Traces is a
short piece for small mixed ensemble
displaying vivid aural imagination and
a good deal of energy, alternating hectic
and calmer episodes. Mirjam Tally is
a pupil of the late Lepo Sumera. Her
Swinburne (narrator, soprano,
baritone, accordion, bass guitar and
percussion) is, so we are told, based
on the eponymous novel by Hasso Krull.
This is theatre-music, with many arresting
sound textures, including some electronically
processed sounds and a couple of pastiche
quotes from Bach’s St Matthew
Passion. Even with the help
of an English translation of Krull’s
poem, it is not always easy to understand
what is going on. The final
section sounds to me like an impassioned
love song, almost verging on hysteria.
The music is inventive and imaginative.
In total contrast to Tally’s sometimes
riotous score, Kōrvits’ Stream
for alto saxophone and vibraphone is
a beautifully wrought, elegantly written
elegy, very moving in its restraint
and apparent straightforwardness. The
saxophone part is far from easy, but
nevertheless calls for a good deal of
musicality rather than mere virtuosity.
One of the longest
works here is Steiner’s Descendants
of Cain, a longish piece for
bowed piano ensemble, which – if I understand
correctly what the notes tell us about
it – actually consists of a concert
grand of which the lid has been removed
and around which a number of players
actively gather producing sounds inside
the piano by using a variety of bows.
It must be rather spectacular to watch
a performance of this piece. The composer
also added a part for speaking voice(s)
as well as some percussion (a wooden
spoon hitting the bass strings of the
piano). The whole piece sounds like
a ritual, in an idiom that might be
described as minimalist, but conjuring
many arresting sonorities, sometimes
making the piano sound like a huge zither.
Sometimes, and often unexpectedly, disarmingly
simple, "traditional" piano
playing emerges. The whole thing is
rather intriguing and can be quite attractive.
However, I do not know whether the ‘medium’
as such is entirely viable (i.e. musically)
on its own. I can however imagine using
some of it to enlarge the timbral palette
of an orchestra or an ensemble.
Kaumann, too, is a
former pupil of Jaan Rääts,
as are Kōrvits
and Steiner; but his music (at least,
as heard in this piece) is quite different
again. Long Play
is a jazzy Big Band piece scored for
winds, synthesiser, percussion and double
bass. It is a very engaging piece of
the kind Mark-Anthony Turnage might
have written, when in his overtly jazzy
mood (e.g. Scorched).
Lill is another pupil
of Sumera. He also studied with Eino
Tamberg as well as with Veli-Matti Puumala
at the Sibelius Academy. He too attended
some IRCAM courses in Paris. Le
Rite de Passage is scored for
ensemble and kannel, the latter being
a folk zither, which the composer chose
not so much for its ethnic association,
but rather for its delicate sound. Lill
also admits some affinities to Far Eastern
court rituals. Anyway, this often delicately
scored piece unfolds as a slow journey
through the ages of Man, from birth
to death, in a restrained, almost reticent
manner. As far as I am concerned, this
is one of the finest pieces in this
disc, and I would definitely like to
hear more of Lill’s music.
Mart Siimer is yet
another Tamberg pupil, but he also studied
in the States with Christopher Rouse,
Augusta Read Thomas and James Willey.
His Water of Life for
flute and cello is a beautiful, warmly
lyrical, at times impassioned, piece
of music of great communicative strength.
These recordings made
by the Estonian Radio are quite satisfying,
and one may assume that the performances
bear the composers’ approval. They all
sounded to me well prepared, neatly
played and generously committed. This
is a very useful and often enjoyable
cross-section of recent works by Estonian
composers of the younger generations,
which also partly answers the question
"Well, Pärt, Sumera, Rääts,
Tüür, what next?".
Hubert Culot
Review
of Volume 1
Ardo-Ran Varres (narrator)b;
Iris Oja (soprano)b; Alar Pintsaar
(baritone)b; Vambola Krigul (percussion)b;
Külli Möls (accordion)b;
Robert Jürjendal (electric guitar)b;
Virgo Veldi (saxophone)c; Madis Metsamart
(percussion)c; The Bowed Piano Ensembled;
Teet Järvi (cello)g; Monika
Mattiesen (flute)g; NYYD Ensemble,
Olari Elts (conductor)aef