Veljo Tormis: Reminiscentiae
ECM New Series

Were Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930-2017) still with us, he no doubt would be well-pleased by this latest ECM presentation of his work when it encapsulates so many of the qualities that make his music so endearing. There's its omnipresent Estonian folk dimension, something Tormis himself openly acknowledged—he once said “I do not use folk song; it is folk song that uses me”—plus a powerful sense of nostalgia. The very title of the collection, Reminiscentiae, testifies to the importance of memory in his work. Needless to say, listeners whose taste runs to Pärt, Górecki, and Kancheli will cotton to this expression of Tormis's work with equal fervency.

Bringing the six works to fruition are the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the direction of conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, a close musical associate of Tormis's for many decades and thus a figure eminently qualified to give voice to the composer's material. Adding significantly to the album, recorded at the Methodist Church in Talinn in late 2020, are vocal soloists (mezzo-soprano Iris Oja and sopranos Annika Lõhmus, Triin Sakermaa, and Maria Valdmaa), instrumentalists (flutist Linda Vood, trumpeter Indrek Vau, and percussionist Madis Metsamart), and reciter Veiko Tubin.

Testifying to the close connection between Kaljuste and Tormis is the inclusion of The Tower Bell in My Village, which was commissioned by the conductor forty-five years ago. Other pieces, Worry Breaks The Spirit, Hamlet's Song I, Melancholy Songs, and Herding Calls - Childhood Memories, feature the choir, orchestra, and various vocalists, but perhaps the most memorable one is Reminiscentia, the title given to four cycles named for the seasons. These purely orchestral settings present the composer's vision in its purest form and are never less than stirring.

After Metsamart introduces The Tower Bell in My Village (its text by Fernando Pessoa) with a tolling bell, the choir enters, its gentle utterances sung in Estonian and the recitation by Tubin in Tormis's native tongue too. A resplendently rich and wide-ranging tapestry, the fourteen-minute piece has its epic moments but just as often unfolds at a hush. The choir's supple vocal textures are bolstered by the arresting contributions of sopranos Lõhmus and Sakermaa, with an animated vocal motive repeating midway through an especially memorable element.

With a faint pedal-point drone audible as a ground, the touching lament Worry Breaks the Spirit is brought to moving realization by the choir and orchestra, the later Hamlet's Songs I as hauntingly delivered. Joining the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra on Melancholy Songs is mezzo-soprano Oja, whose affecting voice dramatically amplifies the sorrowful tone of the three folk songs, the hypnotic drama of “Orphan's Lament” calling Górecki in particular to mind. Joining the choir and orchestra, soprano Valdmaa distinguishes Herding Calls - Childhood Memories at album's end with soaring vocal displays.

The four cycles of Reminiscentia total twenty pieces that, being between one to two minutes apiece in length, come and go quickly. Yet despite their vignette-like form, they pack a powerful cumulative punch. While the performance of the work is credited to the full orchestra, strings dominate, a choice that complements the music's haunting quality. The seven-part first set, Autumn Landscapes, exudes intense yearning and nostalgia; in the chillier Winter Patterns, a regal solo by trumpeter Vau augments the strings during “Northern Lights”; intimations of awakening, rebirth, and optimism pervade the six-part Spring Sketches (a title such as “Buds Leafing Out” referencing that directly); and the arrival of Summer Motifs brings with it a percussion-accented thunderstorm and a serene night filled with plaintive memories. Included alongside those four cycles is a charming love song, “Three I Had These Words of Beauty,” that's sweetened by Vood's dulcet flute tones.

December 2023