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Early Music of 3rd Millenium

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EARLY MUSIC OF 3RD MILLENIUM
Knaifel, Tüür, Vähi, Pärt, Silvestrov, Kancheli

Hortus Musicus, kunstline juht Andres Mustonen

CD
2011
ERP 4611

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Knaifel, Tüür, Vähi, Pärt, Silvestrov, Kancheli
Hortus Musicus

Released on Aug 23rd, 2011

1 Alexander Knaifel Утешителю / O Comforter 4:05
2 Erkki-Sven Tüür Salve Regina / Hail, Holy Queen 7:08
3 Alexander Knaifel Душе истины / O Spirit of Truth 7:11
4 Peeter Vähi In Memoriam HM 4:42
5 Arvo Pärt Palgest palgesse / Face to Face 3:45
6 Valentin Silvestrov Икона / Icon 5:15
7 Alexander Knaifel Царю Небесный / O Heavenly King 4:00
8 Valentin Silvestrov Колыбельная / Lullaby 6:45
9 Valentin Silvestrov Баркарола / Barcarolle 3:37
10 Valentin Silvestrov Колыбельная / Lullaby 2:15
11 Giya Kancheli Helesa 9:18

player Comforter, fragm, 142 sec, mp3
player In Memoriam HM, fragm, 157 sec, mp3
player Helesa, fragm, 154 sec, mp3

Imagetext   Imagetext   Imagetext

Ensemble Hortus Musicus:
Andres Mustonen – violin, artistic director
Joosep Vahermägi – tenor
Jaan Arder – tenor / baritone
Riho Ridbeck – bass, percussion
Olev Ainomäe – bombardone, shawm, recorders
Tõnis Kuurme – dulcian, recorders
Valter Jürgenson – trombones
Peeter Klaas – viola da gamba
Imre Eenma – violone
Ivo Sillamaa – positive organ, piano

Guests:
Helen Lokuta – mezzo soprano (# 5)
Toomas  Vavilov – clarinet (# 5)

Booklet in Estonian, English and German

Recorded at Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
In co-operation with Estonian Broadcasting Corporation
Engineered by Tanel Klesment
Liner notes by Inna Kivi
Translated by Tiina Jokinen
Photos by Peeter Vähi
Designed by Mart Kivisild
Recording producer – Peeter Vähi

Stereo, DDD
© 2011 ERP
ERP 4611

ImagetextMost of the works on this CD have been composed in 2005 and are dedicated to the memory of the late Helle Mustonen, founding member and soprano of Hortus Musicus and the wife of Andres Mustonen. All the works were premiered at her memorial concert in the Dome Church of Tallinn, on Oct 2nd, 2005. The music, as if born from silence, takes the listener back to the beginning of the friendship between the composers and performers in their youth which fell into the era of the Soviet regime where mutual support and the feeling of togetherness carried them through the tough fight between power and intellect, by now culminating in the mental unity in order to support those who have been confronted with the most difficult moment in life. This feeling of unity is so strong, to the extent that the works of six entirely different authors on this CD leave an impression of being six movements of one composition as a whole. This is music dwelling on the two poles of existence – life and death, earthly and heavenly – bringing its silent prayers to the altar of the Almighty. However, taking into account the peculiarity of the record, let’s give the word to the authors of this CD – the ingenious is often very simple and can be summarized in a couple of words or quite the contrary, inexplicable.
Arvo Pärt: Like improving the world begins from within millimetre by millimetre, the Mediaeval music teaches us from the Gregorian chant and troubadours to Dufay, Josquin and Schubert, the meaning of a millimetre on a sheet of music, what a weapon it can be if measured correctly. This need not only be the school of composition, but a school of sculpting the soul.
Giya Kancheli: Out of respect to the Georgian vocal lore, I have never in my music quoted elements from the creation of the ingenious authors – the Great Anonymus. This is the only time where I am using the title of a song and that for a simple reason: Helesa is the name of a folk song and Helle was the name of a remarkable woman and companion in life of a dear person to me – Andres Mustonen.
Erkki-Sven Tüür: Salve Regina has been composed in memory of Helle Mustonen. The structure of vocal lines reminds of the one in Gregorian chants, though no direct quotes have been used. The instrumental part twines around the song in the form of different sound spaces. Hortus Musicus has for a long time been inspiring me, already as early as 1982 I composed for them Rituals where the Early Music instruments were intertwining with the sounds of a synthesizer. In the 90s, I composed an extensive work Psalmoodia for Hortus. Salve Regina is the newest work in the list of this long period of my composing.
Peeter Vähi: One autumn day Andres Mustonen informed me about the planned concert and about the fact that already 5 authors have composed or are composing works for it and he would welcome also my new composition among others. With regrets I was declining such an honorable offer, the reason being, that there was only a little more than a month left before the concert and I was currently working on two commissions, the contracted deadlines of which were frighteningly close. A couple of hours passed and I felt as if music from the Above was entering me – this is In Memoriam HM. Being a relatively slow-working composer, the following went on at a record speed – by the next morning, the printed score was in the rehearsal room of Hortus Musicus.
Andres Mustonen: All the sounds, all the melodies, consoling and embellishing our soul and spirit, are from the Creator who offers them to us through the composers. They elevate us and bring us closer to the eternal Beauty.
Sound engineer Tanel Klesment: The beginning of the recording process was a complete enigma to me. At places, Andres Mustonen seeked to achieve supreme pianissimo. The bows hardly touched the strings, the tone was on the verge of breaking and totally lacked the usual vibrato. All that reminded more of the play of a complete beginner than a top-professional. After several tries and experiments with the repositioning of microphones and after the recorded parts of music had fallen in their right places in the bigger context, the “beginner’s” play turned out to be miraculous. At times, it is unbelievable that, for example, the divine sound of Knaifel’s work, is achieved by acoustic instruments.

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