David Dalle
Thursday May 14th, 2015 with David Dalle
Music of Estonia: Beyond Arvo Part; Kronos Quartet and Tanya Tagaq in Derek Charke's "Tundra Songs"

Music from Estonia - Beyond Arvo Part: Estonia has a particularly rich singing and choral tradition. We will get a chance to hear some of the best examples of this tradition with the Estonian National Male Choir who are performing in Ottawa next Saturday, May 23rd. In the face of Imperial and Soviet ‘Russification’ during the late 19th century under Tsarist rule, and particularly much of the 20th century under Soviet rule, singing in Estonia was often a political act crucial in asserting and preserving Estonian culture. We will hear pieces from two Estonian composers; Veljo Tormis and Russian-Estonian Galina Grigorjeva. Today I am joined by Estonian-Canadian pianist/conductor/composer Norman Reintamm who was in Estonia during the "Singing Revolution" in the closing years of Soviet Estonia, and who will be conducting the Estonian National Male Choir in their appearance with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra in Toronto. The Estonian National Male Choir will be in Ottawa on Saturday May 23rd at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 8p.m. and also in Peterborough, Hamilton, Toronto, Exeter, Guelph. Tour information can be found here: www.facebook.com/estotour We also hear a magnificent new recording from Canadian composer Derek Charke in pieces commissioned for the Kronos Quartet and Tanya Tagaq. The title piece, "Tundra Songs" is an epic work evoking a year in the Arctic. It is a 30 minute unbroken work with 5 internal movements entitled I. Ice, II. Water, III. Sedna's Song, IV. Lament of the Dogs, V. The Trickster Tulugaq. Besides the extraordinarily varied string quartet throughout, it features Tanya Tagaq's throat singing in three of the five movements, and storytelling by Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory reciting her version of the Greenlandic creation story of Sassuma Arnaa in the 3rd movement. It also features extensive use of recorded sounds, most of them made in the Arctic by Derek Charke. The electroacoustic sounds are not providing a romanticized, idyllic view of the Arctic, but the sound of the Arctic now: not just the sounds of nature, but also machinery, snowmobiles, people, and the haunting howls of stray dogs. This work is extremely moving and intense, it grips you and leaves you breathless. Wonderful.