The Estonian bandwagon shows no signs of letting up – indeed, in the last 12 months it has if anything accelerated, with recent releases devoted to Arvo Part, Tuur (ECM, 7/96) and Sisak (Finlandia, 11/96). Above all, though, is Veljo Tormis (b.1930), whose works, particularly those for voices, seem altogether more natural than the better-known output of Part which strikes me as artificial by comparison. A work like The Curse of Iron (Collins Classics, reviewed last September) resonates in the mind long after actual listening has ceased, something shared by the present collection of songs inspired by the rituals of the Estonian folk calendar.
Tormis has a predilection for cycles and sets – indeed sets of cycles; these 32 songs (all composed 1966-7) are grouped into six sets, ranging from simple triptychs (the Shrovetide and Game Songs – the games all relating to Christmas) to fully fledged cycles for Martinmas (nine songs) and St John’s Day (seven). The Martinmas Songs, like most of its companions here but unlike the Forgotten Peoples cycle (10/92), are tiny – none exceeds 100 seconds and six last under a minute. The St John’s Day Songs, however, are a different matter: bigger-boned if mostly brief (“Fire Spell”, with their insistent declamations, is electric), although the final “St John’s Song”, at over five-and-a-half minutes, is more a small cantata or motet than a ‘mere’ song.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir under their Chief Conductor, Tonu Kaljuste, do themselves and the music proud in beautifully sung renditions. A lovely disc.'