Veljo Tormis, one Estonia's most prominent composers, stopped composing after his 70th birthday in 2000, but over his career he created a massive body of work, the vast majority of it choral. His music draws heavily on Estonian and other Baltic folk traditions, and the pieces on this CD reflect that interest. The texts of all these choral pieces for men's voices are drawn from the Kalevela, the Finnish epic that has resonance in other Baltic countries beyond Finland. The largest piece here is a setting of the Seventeenth ...
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Veljo Tormis, one Estonia's most prominent composers, stopped composing after his 70th birthday in 2000, but over his career he created a massive body of work, the vast majority of it choral. His music draws heavily on Estonian and other Baltic folk traditions, and the pieces on this CD reflect that interest. The texts of all these choral pieces for men's voices are drawn from the Kalevela, the Finnish epic that has resonance in other Baltic countries beyond Finland. The largest piece here is a setting of the Seventeenth Canto of the Kalevala, which lasts over half an hour. Tormis breaks up the text with alternating sung and spoken texts and uses some folk instruments, so the piece sustains a high level of drama, but the limited range and repetitiveness of the modal folk and folk-like melodies make this a piece that can be heavy going on CD for listeners who are not already fans of the composer and acclimated to his unique, archaic soundworld. Devotees, though, are likely to be enthralled with the...
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Add this copy of Vision of Kalevala to cart. $14.95, good condition, Sold by Meadeco Media rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from VINE GROVE, KY, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Alba.
