Tõnu Kõrvits: Mirror

Anja Lechner, Kadri Voorand, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tõnu Kaljuste

EN / DE
Mirror is the first ECM New Series album from Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvitz (born 1969), who emphasizes his links to his homeland’s music at several levels. The album begins with a fantasy on a song by Veljo Tormis. Like the older composer,   Kõrvitz 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.  His music is well served here by the Tallin Chamber Orchestra and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber under  Tõnu Kaljuste’s assured direction and by soloist Anja Lechner.  Lechner’s cello is foregrounded in Peegeldused Tasaset Maast (2013),  Laul (2012, rev. 2013) and the album’s largest piece Seitsme  Linnu Seitse Und (2009, rev. 2012), a collaboration with the poet Maarja Kangro, which is both choral suite and cello concerto. In these “seven dreams of seven birds” the choir sings in Estonian and English and the cello conjures both birdsong and swooping flight.  Tasase Maa (“Song of the Plainland”), a fresh arrangement of a Tormis melody has Kadri Voorand as vocal soloist, supported by strings and by Tõnu Kõrvitz on kannel, the Estonian psaltery.  
Mirror ist das erste ECM-New-Series-Album mit Musik des 1969 geborenen estnischen Komponisten Tõnu Kõrvits, der hier auf verschiedenen Ebenen seine Verbindung zur Musik seines Heimatlandes herausstellt. Das Album beginnt mit einer Fantasie über ein Lied von Veljo Tormis. Genau wie dieser ältere Komponist ist auch Kõrvits von Volksliedern und archaischen Musiktraditionen beeinflusst, die ihr Echo in seinen kultivierten, vielschichtigen und labyrinthisch verzweigten  Stücken finden. Seine Musik wird hier vom Talliner Kammerorchester und dem Kammerchor der Estnischen Philharmonie unter Tõnu Kaljustes kundigem Dirigat sowie der Solistin Anja Lechner interpretiert. Lechners Cello rückt in Peegeldused Tasaset Maast (2013), Laul (2012, rev. 2013) und dem längsten Stück des Albums Seitsme Linnu Seitse Und (2009, rev. 2012) in den Vordergrund. Letzteres, hervorgegangen aus der Zusammenarbeit mit der Dichterin Maarja Kangro, ist gleichermaßen Chorsuite wie Cello-Konzert. In diesen „sieben Träumen von sieben Vögeln“ singt der Chor auf Estnisch und Englisch, während das Cello sowohl den Gesang der Vögel als auch ihren Sturzflug heraufbeschwört. In Tasase Maa (“Lied der Ebene”), dem frischen Arrangement einer Tormis-Melodie, ist Kadri Voorand die Gesangssolistin, begleitet von den Streichern und von Tõnu Kõrvitz an der Kantele, der estnischen Kastenzither.  
Featured Artists Recorded

February 2013, Methodist Church, Tallinn

Original Release Date

18.03.2016

  • 1Peegeldused tasasest maast / Reflections from a Plain
    (Tõnu Kõrvits, Paul-Eerik Rummo)
    05:07
  • Labürindid / Labyrinths
    (Tõnu Kõrvits)
  • 2labyrinth I03:11
  • 3labyrinth II01:41
  • 4labyrinth III02:15
  • 5labyrinth IV02:31
  • 6labyrinth V02:42
  • 7labyrinth VI02:31
  • 8labyrinth VII04:35
  • 9Tasase maa laul / Plainland Song
    (Tõnu Kõrvits, Veljo Tormis, Paul-Eerik Rummo)
    04:55
  • Seitsme linnu seitse und / Seven Dreams of Seven Birds
    (Tõnu Kõrvits, Maarja Kangro)
  • 10dream I05:43
  • 11dream II02:42
  • 12dream III03:00
  • 13dream IV02:31
  • 14dream V01:38
  • 15dream VI03:52
  • 16dream VII04:12
  • 17Viimane laev / The Last Ship
    (Tõnu Kõrvits, Veljo Tormis, Juhan Smuul)
    06:26
  • 18Laul / Song
    (Tõnu Kõrvits)
    03:27
Im Dialog mit diesen zutiefst menschlichen und gleichzeitig weit über das Hier und Jetzt hinausweisenden Klängen erhebt sich das wunderbare Cellospiel Anja Lechners zu intensivsten Auslegungen des Unsagbaren.
Johannes Schmitz, Fono Forum
 
Da die Begegnung der vielseitigen Cellistin Anja Lechner mit Tõnu Kõrvits der entscheidende Grundstein für diese CD war, räumen die meisten der hier vertretenen Werke dem Cello bzw. den klassischen Streichinstrumenten einen markanten Raum ein, seien es die poetisch schillernden sieben Sätze der Streichersuite ‚Labürindid‘ (‚Labyrinths‘), welche mit Wiederholungen und faszinierend abwechslungsreichen Klangbildern erzählt, seien es die Begegnungen von Cello und Chor, die von Anfang an sofort eine ganz eigene, bewegende Lied-Lyrik erschaffen oder eben das seinem Titel entsprechend traumhaft schwebende, naturmystische ‚Seven Dreams of Seven Birds‘, das Kõrvits für dieses Programm aus der originalen Form als Konzert für Cello und Kammerorchester um einen Chor erweiterte. […] Das Album ‚Mirror‘ ist in der Interpretation des zuverlässig herausragenden Dirigenten Tõnu Kaljuste, ‚seines‘ Kammerorchesters sowie der Solisten eine exzellente Einführung in das Werk dieses hierzulande unbedingt noch zu entdeckenden Esten.
Ingo J. Biermann, Nordische Musik
 
Wenn Korvits Stücke wie das eröffnende ‘Peegeldused tasasest maast’ (‘Reflektionen von einer Ebene’) scheibt, eine Fantasie über ein Lied von Veljo Tormis, dann ist dies Musik über Musik, die schon ihrerseits aus dem archaischen Schatz der Volksliedtradition schöpfte. Korvits lässt Wurzeln nicht weniger intensiv spüren, doch finden sie sich einmal mehr gespiegelt im subtilen Klanggemisch von Chorstimmen und dem ergreifenden Solocello von Anja Lechner. Die Melodik ist so bezaubernd wie charakteristisch und das Stück verklingt offen in einem gezupften instrumentalen Nachspiel – als warte eine Fortsetzung.
Karsten Blüthgen, Chorzeit
 
This really is quite special, and I hope it does for Tōnu Kōrvits (b. 1969) what early ECM New Series releases did for fellow Estonian composer Arvo Pärt […] Kōrvits, like Pärt, excels in creating music that dwells in a thoughtful, meditative space, and in which more is insinuated than is actually stated. Small gestures count for much; there are no large ones. There is a deep sense of melancholy (but not hopelessness), of nostalgia, of uncompromising weather, and of bleakly beautiful places. The music feels blessedly untouched by the detritus of 21st-century popular culture and technology. […] One can count upon Baltic choirs to deliver unearthly perfection, and such is the case here. As always, Lechner is a sensitive advocate, and Kaljuste is in his element too. The recording, made in Tallinn's Methodist Church, is beautifully atmospheric. In what has been a very good year for new releases, this disc is nevertheless a standout.
Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare
 
Anja Lechner bringt den Celloklang zum Schweben und der Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir spielt seine besondere Gabe aus, in den Bässen ein belastbares Fundament zu schaffen und gleichzeitig die Klänge im Sopran zum Leuchten zu bringen. […] Diese Porträt-CD ist wunderbar zusammengestellt und zeigt einen phantasievollen, sinnlichen Komponisten und Interpreten mit großem Gespür für seine Tonsprache.
Tuula Simon, WDR
 
Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits is presented to full advantage on his ECM Series debut Mirrors. Most composers would be leery of having a live concert (this one from 2013) represent the first entry in their discography. However, the performers recorded here are dedicated and superlatively prepared advocates. And the setting – the Estonian Methodist Church in Tallinn – couldn’t be more ideally suited to the ample resonance that makes Kõrvits’s music sing. While Arvo Pärt is the most famous composer from Estonia in the West, his countryman Veljo Tormis is a compelling creator as well. Pärt has explored the Judeo Christian tradition throughout much of his oeuvre. Tormis’s work is deeply steeped in Estonian folk music. […] In addition to Kõrvits’s own compositions, there are arrangements of songs by Tormis, as well as a piece based upon one, on ‘Mirror’. […] The star of the show is cellist Anja Lechner, whose gorgeous tone and technical command make her an ideal protagonist for Kõrvits’s intensely dramatic instrumental writing. The composer’s talents, coupled with Lechner’s, shine particularly brightly in the piece ‘Seven Dreams of Seven Birds,’ in which the solo cello merges with vocal choir and strings. All manner of ensemble juxtapositions are demonstrated and Lechner’s effortless sounding upper register playing is marvelously displayed.
Christian Carey, Sequenza 21
 
On aimerait plus souvent trouver une musique qui se laisse si facilement écouter, sans pour autant être dénuée de sens artistique ni d’intelligence harmonique. Un bel album pour celui qui souhaiterait sortir de ses habitudes musicales mais qui ne saurait pas par où commencer. […]C’est une balade réconfortante ponctuée de moments sombres, de dissonances inquiétantes. Zig zag entre les tonalités, ambiguïté entre lumière et obscurité… un écho peut-être au climat estonien? C’est en tout cas le point d’interrogation qui fait la fin parfaite de ce voyage musical aux atmosphères embrumées.
Aline Giaux,. Crescendo (Belgium)
Mirror is the first ECM New Series album from Tõnu Kõrvitz (born 1969), who joins a distinguished line of composers from Estonia who have recorded for the label, the list including Arvo Pärt, Heino Eller, Veljo Tormis, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Helena Tulve. Conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, one of the most energetic champions of modern Estonian music has continuously featured music of all these composers in programmes for the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the present recording could be said to have its historical starting point in the Nargen Festival – held on the island near Tallinn – of which Kaljuste is artistic director.
 
Eight years ago, after performances at Nargen with the Rosamunde Quartet, German cellist Anja Lechner met Tõnu Kõrvits for the first time. The following year – when she was in Tallin playing with the Tarkovsky Quartet – Kaljuste showed her the score of Kõrvits’s Seitsme Linnu Seitse Und (Seven Dreams of Seven Birds) and asked her if she’d like to play the piece. Originally scored for cello and choir; additional writing for strings in the 2012 revision gave the work its unique character as part cello concerto, part choral suite. Anja Lechner was immediately interested in the music: “It’s a wonderful piece to play,” says Lechner, “with its deep sense of sounds from nature”, the cello cadenza in Dream III, for instance, drawing forth sounds of bird call and bird movement from choir and orchestra. “And also Tõnu Kõrvits’s writing gives me freedom in some passages to improvise a little, and that’s creatively challenging as well.”
 
Lechner’s cello is also foregrounded in the album’s opening and closing pieces Peegeldused Tasasest Maast (Refelctions from a Plainland) and Laul (Song), the first of these being a fantasy on a theme by Veljo Tormis. Like the older composer, Kõrvitz has been influenced by folk song and archaic musical tradition, and these find their echo in the refined and texturally-rich spectrum of his own, often labyrinthine, pieces.
 
In the intimate works of the present album, as Paul Griffiths notes in the CD booklet, “the focus is on Kõrvitz’s connection with the Estonian choral tradition, particularly as that tradition is represented in the music of Tormis…There is something in this recording of a tradition being received by one generation from another. But there is also more going on. […] A memory is being conveyed at once from Tormis to Kõrvits and from the radiant voices to the instrument. A memory is being conveyed also from a whole population of voices to an individual, from a culture to that individual, from the past to present.”
 
The Kõrvits compositions on Mirror receive first recordings here. The album was recorded at Tallinn’s Methodist Church in February 2013, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
 
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Tõnu Kõrvits’s earliest published works date from his student years at the Estonian Academy from which he graduated in 1994. Since then he has written for the full array of media, including also numerous film scores. His 2007 piece Kreek’s Notebook, for chorus and strings attracted international attention, consolidating his reputation. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Cultural Prize of the Republic of Estonia (2011), and the Estonian Choral Association’s Choral Composer of the Year Award (2014).
 
Anja Lechner’s recordings for ECM since 1996 include music of Tigran Mansurian, Valentin Silvestrov, Federico Mompou, G. I. Gurdjieff, Komitas, and, with the Rosamunde Quartett, Schoeck, Larcher, Webern, Shostakovich, Burian, Haydn, Yoffe, and more. The broad spectrum of her work embraces performances as soloist with orchestras, classical and contemporary chamber music as well as projects referencing diverse improvisational traditions. She has an ongoing association with Argentinean bandoneonist Dino Saluzzi, documented on several recordings and in the film El Encuentro. Her chamber music partners include Pablo Marquez, Reto Bieri and Patricia Kopatchinskaja. She is a member of the Tarkovsky Quartet, led by François Couturier with whom she also collaborates in the Pergolesi project Il Pergolese and in duo. More details at www.anjalechner.com as well as the ECM website at www.ecmrecords.com.
 
Singer Kadri Voorand, heard on Tasase Maa Laul (Song of the Plainland) is best known in Estonia as a jazz singer. She leads her own band as well as the a cappella group Estonian Voices.
 
Conductor Tõnu Kaljuste is the founder of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (1981) and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (1993), the Nargen Opera project theatre (2004) and the Nargen Festival (2006). He has made important contributions to ECM recordings with music of Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Veljo Tormis, Heino Eller, Alfred Schnittke and more, including most recently an album with music of Tüür/Brett Dean/Gesualdo, including Kaljuste’s own transcription of Gesulado for string orchestra. Tõnu Kaljuste received a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for Adam’s Lament by Pärt. More information at www.tonukaljuste.com
YEAR DATE VENUE LOCATION
2025 August 24 Musica Sulle Bocche Castelsardo, Italy
2025 September 19 George Enescu Festival Bucarest, Romania
2025 October 26 Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi Milano, Italy
2025 November 02 National Concert Hall Dublin, Ireland
2025 November 08 EnjoyJazz Festival-Christuskirche Mannheim, Germany
2025 November 15 Bulgaria Hall Sofia, Bulgaria
2025 November 19 Conservatori del Liceu Barcelona, Spain