MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Plain text for smartphones
and printers


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Support us financially by purchasing this disc from:

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]

Experience Classicsonline


 

 
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.
 
Support us financially by purchasing this disc from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Error processing SSI file