Eduard TUBIN (1905-1982)
Works for violin and piano - vol.1
Capriccio for violin and piano no.1 ETW 50 [3:55]
Sonata for violin and piano no.2 in Phrygian Mode ETW 56 [23:51]
Sonata for solo violin ETW 57 [10:49]
Ballade for violin and piano ETW 52 [9:03]
Dance tunes for violin and piano ETW 53 [17:50]
Sigrid Kuulmann (violin), Marko Martin (piano)
rec. Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, December 2005
ESTONIAN RECORD PRODUCTIONS ERP 3009 [65:43]
For those whose only knowledge of Estonian composers is the music of Arvo
Pärt or possibly Erkki-Sven Tüür, Veljo Tormis and Heino Eller this disc will
be revelatory. Eduard Tubin is one of the really big names among Estonian
composers within the country but I fear little known outside. It will be revelatory
not because the others are not first rate composers – they are, but because
Tubin is a towering musical figure in Estonia and wrote a large corpus of
works that can be put alongside anything written anywhere during the period
he wrote them. I came upon his piano music in my local library in the mid-1990s
and was mightily impressed and now regret not having sought more of his music
out at that time. There are 10 symphonies and a large amount of chamber music
of which the music on this disc is part, plus much else.
You get an impression of how good he was right from the very beginning with
the brief but highly tuneful Capriccio for violin and piano no.1.
This dates from 1937 and incorporates the tarantella rhythm that apparently
was often used by him in early works. It is a tour de force for both
musicians but especially for the violin and would tax all but the very best
violinists; Sigrid Kuulmann is clearly one of those.
Having listened to this disc several times the overriding impression I’ve
been left with is that Tubin’s music is highly infectious. It had me singing
along both at the time of listening and for long after, some melodies becoming
my latest ‘ear worms’. Described by pianist Vardo Rumessen - who has recorded
all of Tubin’s piano music on 3 cds BIS 414-416 - in the accompanying booklet
the Second Sonata for violin and piano is “...the most remarkable Estonian
work in the genre, as well as one of the most technically demanding”. This
three movement work was finally completed in January 1949 eight years after
Tubin had begun to write it. It is indeed remarkable. The full title includes
the words “in Phrygian Mode” referring to a scale used by the ancient Greeks
and which, with certain variations, was also used in medieval and modern music
and has made its appearance in many works from Orlando di Lassus to Vaughan
Williams and Philip Glass, in jazz by Gil Evans in an evocation of Spain in
his Solea, and in film music by Howard Shore in the opening sequence
of The Fellowship of the Ring from The Lord of the Rings
film series. This work can easily be favourably compared to any of the great
sonatas for violin and piano written in the 20th century with strong
main themes powerfully stated that give equal weight to each instrument and
containing some brilliant writing.
Another remarkable and technically demanding composition is the Sonata
for solo violin premiered in 1963 in Stockholm where Tubin had lived
with his wife as an exile since 1944. Again it is an extremely powerful work
that fully explores all the violin’s capabilities in terms of range, texture
and timbre and Sigrid Kuulmann rises to the challenge and produces a thoroughly
wonderful, convincing and thrilling performance. The Ballade for violin
and piano dates from 1939 and was orchestrated the same year becoming
Tubin’s first work for violin and orchestra though Vardo Rumessen says he
considers the original version for violin and piano the more successful as
it emphasises more cogently the “... symphonic effect of the development of
the piece, in which every successive phrase and section adds more tension
until the music reaches its culmination followed by a solo cadenza”. It is
certainly a highly effective and affecting work that contains a lot of fascinating
material in its short nine minute length.
The disc ends with a series of four exhilarating tunes based on Estonian folk
dances that work brilliantly for these two instruments. Tubin’s father was
a fisherman and tailor (!) who must also have had a few animals as he sold
a calf in order to buy his son a piano when he realised how interested Eduard
was in music. Tubin’s father played trumpet and trombone in the village band
and following his eldest brother’s death at 21 the seven year old Eduard inherited
a violin and piccolo flute and several scores. He enjoyed playing the flute
while herding swine and at school learned to play the balalaika. He was a
member of the school’s balalaika band so it’s easy to see where folk tunes
came into his life. These charming tunes had me dancing around the kitchen
one morning listening on cordless headphones whilst preparing breakfast as
they are so infectious reminding me of some of Copland’s Old American
Songs and also Bartók’s variations on Romanian themes . Zither player
is a particularly successful one that you can’t help but smile at but they
are all lovely and proof that folk tunes are a wonderfully rich source of
inspiration.
This was a disc to savour and to marvel at and I can’t wait for the rest of
this repertoire to appear – I shall be straining to get copies as soon as
it does. Both Sigrid Kuulmann and Marko Martin do a superb job in bringing
these great works to life in a really thrilling way and are clearly musicians
to look out for.
Steve Arloff
A disc to savour and to marvel at.