Orphei Drangar, Cecilia Rydinger Alin - Tormis: Curse Upon Iron - Works for male choir (2012) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Incantatio maris aestuosi (Incantation for a Stormy Sea)
02. Kord me tuleme tagasi (Once We Will Reappear)
03. Kolm mul oli kaunist sona (Three I Had Those Words of Beauty)
04. Eesti kalendrilaulud (Estonian Calendar Songs), Set 3: Vastlalaulud [Shrovetide Songs]: I. Vistel-vastel
05. Eesti kalendrilaulud (Estonian Calendar Songs), Set 3: Vastlalaulud [Shrovetide Songs]: II. Lina loitsimine [Casting a Spell Upon Flax]
06. Eesti kalendrilaulud (Estonian Calendar Songs), Set 3: Vastlalaulud [Shrovetide Songs]: III. Liulaskmise-laul [Sledging Song]
07. Pikse litaania (Litany to Thunder)
08. Viru vanne (The Viru Oath)
09. Helletused (Herdboy Calls)
10. Raua needmine (Curse Upon Iron)
11. Muistse mere laulud (Song of the Ancient Sea)
12. Hamleti laulud I, II (Hamlet's Songs): I. Meri tombus endasse [The Sea Withdraws]
13. Hamleti laulud I, II (Hamlet's Songs): II. Jah, olla, olla, tingimata alla [Yes, to Be, to Be, By All Means to Be]
14. Kaksikpuhendus (Double Dedication): I. Uhte laulu tahaks laulda [I'd like to Sing a Song]
15. Kaksikpuhendus (Double Dedication): II. Tahed [Stars]


Veljo Tormis, probably Estonia's best-known composer after Arvo Pärt, has devoted the bulk of his energies to choral music, with a catalog of over 500 choral works. He is a real maverick; his primal-sounding pieces can't be easily traced to any previous compositional school or tradition. He often takes Estonian folk song or folk-like material and transforms it into distinctive, powerfully evocative music, usually driven by rhythmic propulsiveness. He uses extended vocal techniques -- shouting, whistling, chanting, whispering, glissandi, throat singing -- in ways that make them sound not modern and innovative but visceral, organic expressions of feelings too primitive and raw to be conveyed through traditional singing. Raua needmine (Curse Upon Iron) is probably Tormis' most frequently performed piece outside Estonia, and it's easy to see why; it's starkly dramatic with a profound monumentality that evokes the enactment of an ancient shamanic ritual, and it has memorable rhythmic drive. Many of the texts the composer sets are in fact incantations taken from Baltic folklore and the Finnish epic, The Kalevala. The album also includes examples of Tormis' more conventional choral works, such as Kolm mul oli kaunist sõna, which uses tonal harmonies and is more strongly melodic than his more characteristic pieces. The recording features performances by Orphei Drängar, a Swedish men's choir founded in 1853, led by Cecilia Rydinger Alin. The choir sings this daunting music with rugged assurance and the high, almost reckless energy it requires. The album makes a good introduction of Tormis' music for men's voices, and should be of strong interest to anyone who loves modern choral music. The sounds of BIS' super audio hybrid CD is clean and detailed, but doesn't have the presence and immediacy to allow music of this magnitude to make its maximum impact.

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