A small Baltic country with a big impact on the world of new music, Estonia has become a hot spot for choral music especially. We'll hear works by Arvo Pärt, Veljo Tormis, Toivo Tulev, Erkki-Sven TTüür, and more. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt has immersed himself in the tradition of religious music of the Russian Orthodox Church, and for this New Sounds, we’ll hear some of his Stabat Mater. After Arvo Part, Veljo Tormis is probably Estonia's most important living composer. He writes a lot of pieces based on traditional Estonian folklore, integrating this rich cultural inheritance by combining original choral passages and with ancient folk tunes. Listen for something from Tormis, along with a work from Erkki-Sven Tüür. Tüür describes his compositional process as being open to both minimalism and more dissonant modernist techniques, while playing with relational amounts of emotional and intellectual energy. Plus, we’ll hear mesmerizingly atmospheric work from Toivo Tulev, another composer who works with a liturgically based, “holy minimalist” approach, and more.

PROGRAM # 2869, New Music From Estonia (First aired on Mon., 11/17/08)

ARTIST(S)	RECORDING	CUT(S)	SOURCE
Veljo Tormis	Casting a Spell	Kiigelaulud (Swing Songs), excerpt [1:30]	Virgin #45185 Out of print, but try Amazon.com*
Arvo Pärt	Arbos	Stabat Mater, excerpt [13:00]	ECM 1325 www.ecmrecords.com
Veljo Tormis / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir	Litany to Thunder	Curse Upon Iron [10:00]	ECM 1687 www.ecmrecords.com
Absolute Ensemble	Architectonics	Erkki-Sven Tüür: Architectonics, III “Postmetaminimal Dream” [10:00]	CCn’C Records 01812 www.ccnc.com
Toivo Tulev / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir	Songs	Leave, alas, this tormenting [10:30]	Harmonia Mundi 807452 www.harmoniamundi.com