Following his highly successful recordings with the Latvian Radio Choir, Gavin Bryars moves on to a recording with the Estonian National Male Choir, the largest professional men's choir in the world. '... The music of Gavin Bryars falls under no category. It is mongrel, full of sensuality and wit and is deeply moving. He is one of the few composers who can put slapstick and primal emotion alongside each other. He allows you to witness new wonders in the sounds around you by approaching them from a completely new angle. With a third ear maybe. . .' Michael Ondaatje

The CD series of Veljo Tormis's 'Visions' was started by Ants Soots and the Estonian National Male Choir in 2001 with the selection 'Vision of Estonia', the title of the CD came from one song composed of the excerpts of Juha Liiv's poetry. Juhan Liiv was an important Estonian poet of the Early 20th Century and those poems, like other songs in this selection, reflected on the situation of Estonian people. The present fifth selection in this series contains Tormis's visions of the Finnish National epic Kalevala. The significance of Kalevala for Tormis is much more than just a literary masterpiece of the neighboring Finnish culture, that is something like the ancient scripture of all the Baltic-Finnish peoples once inhabiting the coasts of the Finnish gulf.

Three selections of Veljo Tormis music recorded my Ants Soots and Estonian National Male Choir have been published under the title 'Vision of Estonia', the present fourth selection consists of compositions based on the old songs of other peoples, hence the title 'Visions Beyond Estonia'. Though Tormis has always stressed that he's is a national composer, and the previous 'Visions' have clearly introduced him as an Estonian composer, his combative position for Estonian cultural heritage is actually quite open and sympathetic with the defense of nature, traditional cultures and endangered peoples in general.

Veljo Tormis is best known for his preservation of folk songs and folklore in his music. On Vision of Estonia, his concern for the oppression of the Estonian people is mixed with this aspect. These pieces for male choir are fantastic. The title piece 'Vision of Estonia' was written during the fall of the Soviet Union and finished when Estonian independence was declared. Tormis is also known for his orchestral choral sounds. In 'Incantation for the Sea' and 'Litany to Thunder' he translates the dramatic images depicted in the poetry into massive choral sounds. 'Incantation for the Sea' comes from the epic poem Kalevala. Due to international interest in his music, Tormis uses a Latin translation to make his piece widely accessible to non-Estonian speaking choirs. The Estonian National Male Choir, led by Ants Soots, is dynamic in this music which honors their country.

Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930-) emphasizes the role of verbal text and its message in his compositions, directed at the present, past and future of Estonian life. Written for men's chorus, 'Visions of Estonia II' records in music the anxiety that was suppressed through the decades of Soviet repression. With 'The Ballad of Mary's Land,' composed in 1969, Tormis began a series of powerful large-scale choral compositions containing also his most famous work, 'The Curse Upon Iron' for mixed chorus, written in 1972. 'Reflections with Hando Runnel' (1981), is one of a series of short, sarcastic songs of protest he wrote during that period. 'Days of Outlawry,' with the subject of resistance fighting, was written for the banned film 'The Outlaws;' 'Journey of the War Messenger' and 'Let The Sun Shine' take their texts from the Estonian National epic 'Kalevipoeg.' 'Forget-me-not' is a national lament dedicated to former chief conductor Gustav Ernesada. Although none of these 23 songs is in English, we can feel the power and Tormis' deep feeling within this music through the performance of the Estonian National Male Choir.

The third collection under the title 'Vision of Estonia' continues recording the work of Estonian composer Veljo Tormis by the veteran Estonian National Male Choir. All song titles and lyrics of the piece are in Estonian. These lyrics, their meanings, and the history of the composer, the choir, and this dramatic, powerful piece are included in the extensive liner notes. The deeply emotional composition, written under the thumb of the Soviet occupation of Estonia, is divided into 32 movements--from the eight parts of 'Dialektilisi aforisme,' all less than a minute in length, and the 9-minute 'Muistse mere laulud' to the intense 2 -minute 'Sottaminck.' 'Vision III' a difficult, eclectic work that explodes into non-vocal percussion and vocal outbursts of protest and pride. Luckily, it is being sung by one of the best all-male choirs in the world, who perform it with tremendous spirit and feeling. Some accompaniment.

Listen to soovid in RealAudio.

From her emergence in the 1950s onwards, Ester Magi, born in Tallinn in 1922, has quietly built up a body of works that can be seen as among the most directly representative of Estonian national music. Relying on traditions, Ester Magi's idiom has gone through a modernisation process during half a century, yet retaining intrinsic modesty. The persistent features of her work are fine sense of form, transparent texture and subtle or objective mode of expression. Mostly her works are based on brief thematic cores borrowed from or characteristic to Estonian folk melodies. Variational forms or variational treatment of musical material is predominant in her work. Winning her first state prize in 1980 she has firmly established her position among the leading lights of contemporary Estonian music.