On December 20, 1964, the Estonian Academy of Sciences Female Choir, conducted by Arvo Ratassepp, sung for the very first time Autumn Landscapes at the Estonia Concert Hall. 60 years later, this choral work is still relevant and lives its own life in concert halls and on numerous records.

Veljo Tormis's seven-part choral series Autumn Landscapes (text by Viivi Luik) is in the repertoire of many choirs both in Estonia and abroad. This music has successfully stood the test of time.
The work was completed by composer in the summer of 1964 for a female choir, and already when writing it, Tormis had the Estonian Academy of Sciences Female Choir and their conductor Arvo Ratassepp in mind as the performer. In the following years, Spring Sketches, Winter Patterns and Summer Motifs were also completed, and together with Autumn Landscape" they form the more extensive cycle Nature Pictures.
In the mid-1970s, a version of Autumn Landscapes for mixed choir was published, which significantly expanded the circle of performers. In 2009, Tormis himself wrote an instrumental arrangement of the work for a chamber orchestra.
Currently, Autumn Landscapes has been released on more than fifty records and the work has received thousands of performances.

In Veljo Tormis' work, Autumn Landscapes is of paramount importance. The composer himself confirmed that he received impulse the which gave rise to Autumn Landscapes from the work and thoughts of the Hungarian Zoltán Kodály. It encouraged him to start search for the musical mother tongue of Estonians, and it was then that his attitude towards folk music was radically changed.

The premiere of Autumn Landscapes was a very important event in the history of Estonian music as well as in Veljo Tormis' path as a composer.

Photo: Veljo Tormis in 1964, sitting on his bicycle in Peedu, outside the former Writers' House, preparing to compose "Autumn Landscapes” (© Tõnu Tormis).