Veljo Tormis
The elemental power of ancient folk music was the life force that drove the compositions of Veljo Tormis (1930-2017). As the great Estonian composer famously said, “I do not use folk song. It is folk song that uses me.” This sentiment is echoed in definitive performances by the Estonian Philharmonic Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Tõnu Kaljuste, for decades one of Tormis’s closest musical associates. Four orchestral cycles celebrate the changing seasons: Autumn Landscapes, Winter Patterns, Spring Sketches, Summer Motifs. And three pieces – Worry Breaks The Spirit, Hamlet’s Songs and Herding Calls - feature new arrangements by Tõnu Kaljuste, continuing and commemorating Tormis’s work.
Track Listing:
1 The Tower Bell in My Village
2 Worry Breaks the Spirit
3 Melancholy Songs - I. The Singer's Childhood
4 II. Maidens' Sorrow
5 III. Orphan's Lament
6 Reminiscentia - Autumn Landscapes - I. It is Late Summer
7 II. Clouds Racing Across the Sky
8 III. Pale Light
9 IV. Painfully Red Leaves
10 V. Wind Along the Heath
11 VI. Cold Autumn Night
12 VII. Sad Purple Heather
13 Reminiscentia - Winter Patterns - I. Winter Morning
14 II. Cold
15 III. Blizzard
16 IV. Northern Lights
17 Reminiscentia - Spring Sketches - I. Spring Wind
18 II. Buds Leafing Out
19 III. Evening Sky
20 IV. Under the Bird Cherry Tree
21 V. Yellow Flame
22 VI. In Late Spring
23 Reminiscentia - Summer Motifs - I. Dry Weather
24 II. Thunderstorm
25 III. Summer Night
26 Reminiscentia - Three I Had These Words of Beauty
27 Hamlet's Songs I
28 Herding Calls - Childhood Memories