2016
CD
Germany
Like Tormis, Kõrvits has been influenced by folk song and archaic musical tradition, which find their echo in the refined and texturally-rich spectrum of his own, labyrinthine pieces. You can hear fresh arrangement of Tormis ‘Tasase Maa Laul’ here.
Tallinna Kammerorkester, Eesti Filharmoonia Kammerkoor
Tõnu Kaljuste
ECM (ECM 2327)
Anja Lechner (violoncello), Kadri Voorand (voice), Tõnu Kõrvits (kannel)
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Bukletis heliloojast, teostest inglise keeles, laulusõnad eesti ja inglise keeles
Kujundaja Sascha Kleis
Fotod: Kaupo Kikkas, Anja Lechner, Tõnu Kõrvits
Esitus eesti ja inglise keeles
Buklet 24 lk.
Maido Maadik: Mixing
Tanel Klesment: Recording Engineer
Kaupo Kikkas: Photography
Paul Griffiths: Booklet Text
Fidel Sclavo: Cover Art
Sascha Kleis: Design
Manfred Eicher: Producer
Recorded February 2013, Methodist Church, Tallinn
Tõnu Kõrvits
Song of a Level LandISRC: DEB331332701
Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Tõnu Kõrvits
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Veljo Tormis, Paul-Eerik Rummo
Arr. Tõnu Kõrvits
Comissioned by Nargen Opera for the production Eesti Meeste Laulud
Kadri Voorand (vocal)
ISRC: DEB331332709
Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro
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Veljo Tormis, Juhan Smuul
Arr Tõnu Kõrvits
Comissioned by Nargen Opera for the production Eesti Meeste Laulud
ISRC: DEB331332717
Tõnu Kõrvits
ISRC:
26
Review9
Interview1
Website8
Database5
Music3
et_EE
Mirror on Spotify
Spotify
en_US
CD info on record company web
ECM Records Homepage
en_US
Product info
Amazon
en_US
Available only to YouTube Music Premium members
YouTube
et_EE
Klassikaraadio plaadisaade. Albumist räägivad helilooja Tõnu Kõrvits ja saatejuht Johanna Mängel.
Klassikaraadio
en_US
With Estonia's Arvo Pärt ascending to the status of elder statesman of Baltic minimalism, several composers have been jockeying for position (if one is permitted to use such a term in such essentially spiritual surroundings) to supplant him. Among them is Tõnu Kõrvits, a student not of Pärt, but of a lesser-known figure in the Estonian choral tradition, Veljo Tormis. As such, Kõrvits writes music that seems to hang between minimalism and an earlier world of compact, tonal choral music. (James Manheim)
AllMusic
en_US
Product info
Presto Classical
en_US
Tõnu Kõrvits (interview): ‘I've always admired the music of Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis, who are two grand old men of Estonian music. And on my new CD, there is a kind of homage to Veljo Tormis's music — there are two arrangements of his choir songs which I have re-arranged, and so this music, this beautiful melody, now has kind of different colors and harmonies. The first is 'The Last Ship'. And another is 'The Song of the Plains'. (New Classical Tracks host Julie Amacher, 2016-07-13)
mpr.org
en_US
The music as a whole, notes Paul Griffith in the liners, has much to do with Korvits' own channeling of the Estonian choral tradition, especially as practiced by his predecessor Veljo Tormis. Be that as it may we who are on the outside of that tradition get some remarkably open, spacious, cavernous strains in which the sound of the hall plays an important part in framing the sounds themselves (something of course that all cathedral-centered music shares in various ways--with Korvits it would seem to be essential to the presentation of his vision). (Posted by Grego Applegate Edwards, 2016-05)
classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.com
en_US
CD info
Discogs
en_US
Mirror documents a specially curated performance of music by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits given on February 6, 2013. From a composer of great variety, here we find a microscopic array built around Estonia’s choral heritage. With particular emphasis on the music of Veljo Tormis, whom Paul Griffiths in his liner notes affirms “was evidently a father figure for Kõrvits, and there is something in this recording of a tradition being received by one generation from another,” the program treats human voices as expressions of soil and soul. Griffiths goes on to describe Tormis’s instinct to fortify what makes Estonia’s choral music unlike any other—a politically subversive move in a country wrapped in Soviet chains for much of the elder composer’s life. (Tyran Grillo, 2019-06-20)
ECM Reviews
en_US
CD info
ArkivMusic
en_US
Kõrvits draws extensively on Estonian folk melodies and much of his writing is shaded by Estonia’s recent choral prowess, which itself has roots in the country’s long tradition of massed singing. From the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and others, we now recognise the sound as a professional one: blend that hardly distinguishes between male and female voices; an ease with extremes of volume; and a rich, sonorous delivery that’s a choral cousin of Leopold Stokowski’s ‘free-bowing’ principle. Kõrvits’s choral works are built on these things, and on that typically Estonian keening atmosphere, potent modality, deep history and present pain. (Andrew Mellor)
Gramophone
en_US
Stream now on IDAGIO
Idagio
en_US
Für Kõrvits sind die oftmals einfachen, über Jahrhunderte weitergegebenen Melodien von Volksliedern ein wichtiger Einfluss. Man erlebt seine Bezüge zu Tradition und Überlieferung auf dieser CD außerdem in Form von direkten Bearbeitungen mehrerer Stücke des estnischen Altmeisters Veljo Tormis (geb. 1930), wobei Kõrvits unter anderem die zehnsaitige Kantele zum Einsatz bringt (und sie auf dieser Aufnahme selbst spielt).
Nordische Musik
en_US
Stream on Deezer
Deezer
en_US
Kõrvits is a talent; one of the next generation of Estonian composers who, while paying homage to elder statesmen such as Tormis and Pärt, is carving out his own compelling voice. Mirror is well worth a sterling recommendation. (Christian Carey, 2016-06-22)
Sequenza 21
en_US
Stream on Primephonic
Primephonic
en_US
Product info
Apple Music
en_US
Conductor Tonu Kaljuste and his Tallinn players are well versed in evoking picturesque, moody expanses and in Labyrinths the pale strings circle and shift in and out of focus, all very icy and at times quite pretty. The misty chant of Plainland Song and the whispering choir of Seven Dreams of Seven Birds are less easy to stomach; the best thing about this album is Anja Lechner’s deft cello playing in the brief and tender final piece, Laul. (Kate Molleson, 2016-04-07)
the Guardian
en_US
Product info
Google Play
et_EE
Tõnu Kõrvits on küll ise rõhutanud (ning on ka teised) rahvamuusika olulisust oma muusika puhul, kuid ometi viitab sellel plaadil salvestatu millelegi muule. Nimelt on selle kindlaks keskmeks Veljo Tormise looming – ja just originaallooming. Kui nüüd lähtuda teadmisest, mida muusikaõppeasutustes järjepidevalt korratakse, et Moskva konservatooriumis õppides olevat Veljo Tormis tunnistanud end olevat Kreegi usku, mõjub Kõrvitsa valik omamoodi austusavaldusena komponeeritud meloodiale. (Saale Konsap, 2016-04-22)
Sirp
en_US
CD info
RateYourMusic
en_US
CD info
MusicBrainz
en_US
A key figure in Estonia's rich singing heritage is the 85-year-old composer Veljo Tormis, whose works range from folk songs and opera to politically potent choral pieces. His influence extends to a new generation of composers — like Tõnu Kõrvits, who is keen on upholding the vocal traditions. In "Tasase maa laul," translated as "Plainland Song" (or "Song of a Level Land"), Kõrvits reworks a Tormis piece from 1964 into a haunting expression that would not sound out of place on the new Radiohead album. (Tom Huizenga, host of Deceptive Cadence, 2016-05-20)
NPR.org
et_EE
Albumi kirjeldus Eesti raamatukogude ühiskataloogis
ester.ee
en_US
With Estonia's Arvo Pärt ascending to the status of elder statesman of Baltic minimalism, several composers have been jockeying for position (if one is permitted to use such a term in such essentially spiritual surroundings) to supplant him. Among them is Tõnu Kõrvits, a student not of Pärt, but of a lesser-known figure in the Estonian choral tradition, Veljo Tormis. As such, Kõrvits writes music that seems to hang between minimalism and an earlier world of compact, tonal choral music. (James Manheim)
AllMusic
en_US
The music as a whole, notes Paul Griffith in the liners, has much to do with Korvits' own channeling of the Estonian choral tradition, especially as practiced by his predecessor Veljo Tormis. Be that as it may we who are on the outside of that tradition get some remarkably open, spacious, cavernous strains in which the sound of the hall plays an important part in framing the sounds themselves (something of course that all cathedral-centered music shares in various ways--with Korvits it would seem to be essential to the presentation of his vision). (Posted by Grego Applegate Edwards, 2016-05)
classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.com
en_US
Mirror documents a specially curated performance of music by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits given on February 6, 2013. From a composer of great variety, here we find a microscopic array built around Estonia’s choral heritage. With particular emphasis on the music of Veljo Tormis, whom Paul Griffiths in his liner notes affirms “was evidently a father figure for Kõrvits, and there is something in this recording of a tradition being received by one generation from another,” the program treats human voices as expressions of soil and soul. Griffiths goes on to describe Tormis’s instinct to fortify what makes Estonia’s choral music unlike any other—a politically subversive move in a country wrapped in Soviet chains for much of the elder composer’s life. (Tyran Grillo, 2019-06-20)
ECM Reviews
en_US
Kõrvits draws extensively on Estonian folk melodies and much of his writing is shaded by Estonia’s recent choral prowess, which itself has roots in the country’s long tradition of massed singing. From the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and others, we now recognise the sound as a professional one: blend that hardly distinguishes between male and female voices; an ease with extremes of volume; and a rich, sonorous delivery that’s a choral cousin of Leopold Stokowski’s ‘free-bowing’ principle. Kõrvits’s choral works are built on these things, and on that typically Estonian keening atmosphere, potent modality, deep history and present pain. (Andrew Mellor)
Gramophone
en_US
Für Kõrvits sind die oftmals einfachen, über Jahrhunderte weitergegebenen Melodien von Volksliedern ein wichtiger Einfluss. Man erlebt seine Bezüge zu Tradition und Überlieferung auf dieser CD außerdem in Form von direkten Bearbeitungen mehrerer Stücke des estnischen Altmeisters Veljo Tormis (geb. 1930), wobei Kõrvits unter anderem die zehnsaitige Kantele zum Einsatz bringt (und sie auf dieser Aufnahme selbst spielt).
Nordische Musik
en_US
Kõrvits is a talent; one of the next generation of Estonian composers who, while paying homage to elder statesmen such as Tormis and Pärt, is carving out his own compelling voice. Mirror is well worth a sterling recommendation. (Christian Carey, 2016-06-22)
Sequenza 21
en_US
Conductor Tonu Kaljuste and his Tallinn players are well versed in evoking picturesque, moody expanses and in Labyrinths the pale strings circle and shift in and out of focus, all very icy and at times quite pretty. The misty chant of Plainland Song and the whispering choir of Seven Dreams of Seven Birds are less easy to stomach; the best thing about this album is Anja Lechner’s deft cello playing in the brief and tender final piece, Laul. (Kate Molleson, 2016-04-07)
the Guardian
et_EE
Tõnu Kõrvits on küll ise rõhutanud (ning on ka teised) rahvamuusika olulisust oma muusika puhul, kuid ometi viitab sellel plaadil salvestatu millelegi muule. Nimelt on selle kindlaks keskmeks Veljo Tormise looming – ja just originaallooming. Kui nüüd lähtuda teadmisest, mida muusikaõppeasutustes järjepidevalt korratakse, et Moskva konservatooriumis õppides olevat Veljo Tormis tunnistanud end olevat Kreegi usku, mõjub Kõrvitsa valik omamoodi austusavaldusena komponeeritud meloodiale. (Saale Konsap, 2016-04-22)
Sirp
en_US
A key figure in Estonia's rich singing heritage is the 85-year-old composer Veljo Tormis, whose works range from folk songs and opera to politically potent choral pieces. His influence extends to a new generation of composers — like Tõnu Kõrvits, who is keen on upholding the vocal traditions. In "Tasase maa laul," translated as "Plainland Song" (or "Song of a Level Land"), Kõrvits reworks a Tormis piece from 1964 into a haunting expression that would not sound out of place on the new Radiohead album. (Tom Huizenga, host of Deceptive Cadence, 2016-05-20)
NPR.org
en_US
CD info on record company web
ECM Records Homepage
en_US
Product info
Amazon
en_US
Product info
Presto Classical
en_US
Stream now on IDAGIO
Idagio
en_US
Stream on Deezer
Deezer
en_US
Stream on Primephonic
Primephonic
en_US
Product info
Apple Music
en_US
Product info
Google Play
en_US
CD info
Discogs
en_US
CD info
ArkivMusic
en_US
CD info
RateYourMusic
en_US
CD info
MusicBrainz
et_EE
Albumi kirjeldus Eesti raamatukogude ühiskataloogis
ester.ee