ECM 1687 CD 465 223-2
The record has got an annual prise
"Diapason d'or de l'année, palmarès 2000" of
a french classical music magazine "Diapason" in the category
of choral music.
...
Un aperçu varié et passionnant sur une musique d'une étonnante
vitalité, d'une grande énergie, authentiquement folk, empreinte
de magie et de surnaturel.
...
DIAPASON / FR - Novembre 2000
...
A choral work like almost everything in Tormis's sizeable
oeuvre, Litany bears the clear imprint of his researches
into Estonian folk music with its hypnotically repetitive
"runo-songs" and shamanistic incantations. There are
echoes of Bartok and Kodaly here in Tormis's search for his
roots, and of Britten in his reliance on an essentially simple
musical language. The debt to minimalism is equally clear. But
the work has a primal power all of its own. Unadorned folk
melodies, baleful chanting, guttural shouts and other vocal
effects and, not least, the terrifying rhythmic beating of the
shamanic drum, combine to produce an experience unlike anything
else in contemporary Western music.
...
THE INDEPENDENT / UK - November 4, 1999 / Paul Richardson
...
Estonian composer Veljo Tormis's second ECM disc is a remarkable
achievment, a varied selection of choral works from Sixties to
the present day whose very simplicity forces the listener to
consider what's going on 'behind' the music.
...
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir gives immaculate, often
breathtakingly beautyful performances throughout the disk in a
close but resonant acoustic.
BBC MUSIC MAGASINE - December 1999 / David Kettle
...
This second ECM release features the same highly capable
performers as before.
...
Tormis argues that he writes "classical choral music"
that tries to preserve the authenticity of the material, and he
give sources for his songs. However, it's also been claimed that
much of the Estonian choral tradition is German in origin. But if
Tormis himself contributes to the invention of folk tradition,
the results are justified by their musical beauty and purity.
CLASSIC CD / UK - Christmas 1999 / Andy Hamilton
...
The music on this CD is strikingly beautiful, and fresh and
challenging like a stiff Baltic breeze. The Estonian choir
performs with incredible virtuosity, and the soloists, mostly
taken from the choir, sing with discipline while retaining a
natural, non-operatic quality. The engineering is superb; this CD
was recorded in the Estonian Concert Hall in Talinn. Strike up
another unusual and artistically thought-provoking disc from
Manfred Eicher and his team at ECM New Series.
CLASSICAL
NET / http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/e/ecm65223a.html
/ Raymond Tuttle.
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