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Stephen Layton and his superlative choir deliver an inspiring programme of a capella choral works by the Estonian composer. The music springs from the East European folk tradition - rhythmic underlay, biting harmonies, melodies seemingly smoothed by time. The British choristers tackle these alien sounds with conviction, precision, passion, perfect tuning across the octaves and much variety of...
Veljo Tormis is a composer who has had, until recently, relatively little recognition outside of his native Estonia , where he is lionised. Since the fall of the Soviet Union , however, his predominately choral and folk inspired music has gradually been finding its way into the mainstream contemporary choral repertoire. This wonderful new Hyperion release dedicated to Tormis' music with Stephen...
It's hard to imagine a composer "retiring" (as good an idea as it might be for some we can think of), but that's just what the Estonian Veljo Tormis did in 2000 at age 70. And the more of his music we hear--and thankfully, that's getting easier to do these days--the more sorry we are that he's not continuing to write new works. For choral fans this disc is a treasure, and I'd be surprised if it...
