Holst Singers: Veljo Tormis

Early summer's fairy tale Soundlessly somewhere murmurings homeward The grindstone game The finger-binding game The ship games O, my gentle tender mother Daughters of the Meadow Matron " The wave Rolls" Waking the birds At Pasturee Shrovetide Wee winkie mouse Sang the father, sang the son Singing aboard ship It is late summer s Clouds are racing Pale Light Painfully red are the leaves Wind over the barrens Cold autumn night Heather s I sing for my child It's time for the little berry to sleep Let the cradle swing! Lulling Childhood memory

The Holst Singers are acclaimed as one of England’s greatest non-professional choirs. The talent and commitment of the individual members and the leadership of their mercurial conductor, Stephen Layton, ensure that their performances are always of the very highest standards. Veljo Tormis (born 1930) is - along with Arvo Pärt - Estonia’s most famous living composer, holding an almost mystic status in his home country. He is also the passionate and practical torch-bearer for folk-singing revival, and the integration of an ancient cultural inheritance into thoroughly modern, post-Soviet lives. Interestingly, he trained at the Moscow Conservatory and was steeped in Soviet instruction during his early musical life. His music is almost all written for choirs; few other composers have been so committed to one genre. Tormis’s choral specialization marks him out from Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams and Grainger, whose pioneering interest in folksong was ultimately limited to the use of textless tunes in instrumental or orchestral works. For Tormis, the words and the music are inseparable. The Holst Singers have recently been invited to Estonia to perform Tormis’s music - a great honor, and a mark of their mastery of this repertoire.

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir: Veljo Tormis, Litany To Thunder

How Can I recognize My Home Singing Aboard Ship Curse Upon Iron The Singer's Childhood Songs Of The Ancient Sea The Bishop And The Pagan Litany To Thunder The Lost Geese

Veljo Tormis's timeless compositions draw inspiration from Estonia's ancient history, and these evocations of the past, influenced by folk musics of the Baltic region, are often mesmerizing in sheer physical power. There is nothing else in contemporary choral music that can be compared with "Curse Upon Iron", where the fierce declamations of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir are underpinned by the pounding pulse of a shaman's drum. At such moments, Tormis's music seems possessed, and even the quieter episodes - such as the runo-songs performed by two young sopranos - have an hypnotic insistency.

Portland State University Chamber Choir: Veljo Tormis on American Shores

St. John's Day Songs: -Call to Midsummer Bonfire I -Call to Midsummer Bonfire II -Can't be Caught with a Gun -Why St. John is Awaited -St. John's Steed -The Curse for Iron -St. John's Song Helletused Three Estonian Game Songs: -The Grindstone Game -The Fingerbinding Game -The Ship Game Two Songs after Ernst Enno: -Early Summer's Fairy Talk -Soundlessly, Somewhere Murmuring Homeward s Three Songs from the Epic: -Oh, My Gentle, Tender Mother -Daughters of the Meadow Matron -The Wave Rolls Autumn Landscapes: -It is Late in Summer -Clouds are Racing s -Pale Light -Painfully Red are the Leaves -Wind over the Barrens s -Cold Autumn Night -Heather The Songster's Childhood

Every recording has a story behind its genesis. In 2003 Estonian Composer Veljo Tormis heard the Portland State Chamber Choir while they were on tour in his country. Tormis was so taken with the brilliant artistry and expressive power of the ensemble he requested that Bruce Browne and his singers do a recording of his music sung in English. For almost two years the Singers, their conductor and the composer worked together on this project. Tormis was very prominent in the interpretation. He supervised the learning of the music in preparation for the Chamber Choir's appearance at the Northwest Convention of the American Choral Director's Association 2006. Veljo Tormis, On American Shores is a recording with a significance of strong integrity by both Composer and Artist. Bruce Browne is emeritus Professor of Music and Choir of the Vocal and Choral area at Portland State University. He is also Conductor Emeritus of the Portland Symphonic Choir and founder and director of the professional choir, Choral Cross-Ties. The Portland State Chamber Choir is recognized as one of the top University Chamber ensembles in the United States.

Karelian Destiny