This album contains a selection of key a cappella choral works by Erkki-Sven Tüür. For the Estonian composer born in 1959, words and music are intimately linked. The number of syllables in a word, the position of the tonic accent, and the word as a cultural phenomenon with a definite meaning are of essential importance. This can be heard in the Kyrie of his Missa Brevis (2013) where, like a spiral, the polyphony of the voices is transformed into a chordal texture at the beginning of the ‘Christe eleison’, and then dissolves into individual voices at the second ‘Kyrie eleison’. Canticum Canticorum Caritatis (2020) is inspired by St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians. Tüür dedicated this work to Endrik Üksvärav and Collegium Musicale, the performers on this album. The multidimensional Omnia Mutantur (2020) possesses an extremely clear structure, interweaving the famous thoughts of Ovid and Virgil about the transient nature of all things. Triglosson Trishagion (2008), indebted to the Orthodox tradition and sung in Estonian, Russian and Greek, and Wanderer’s Evening Song (2001) complete this programme, which is characterised by a meditative, interiorised approach to the composer.
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Reviews
“…Canticum Canticorum Caritatis provides the listener with the opportunity to appreciate a more intimate side to Tüür’s work. If you are new to this composer, this CD might not be the right place to start, but it certainly is one on which to linger.”
Christian Carey – Tempo Vol. 77 No. 306 – October 2023
“… the Estonians a cappella works are restrained and meditative by nature. Their considerable challenges are deftly met by the supremely disciplined choir.” ****
Jeremy Pound – BBC Music magazine (Brief Notes section) – May 2023
“… An intriguing collection, in recordings that are surely definitive.”
Ivan Moody – Gramophone magazine – April 2023
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