Baltic Runes

Featuring

Paul Hillier
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Veljo Tormis
Jean Sibelius
Cyrillus Kreek
Erik Bergman

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Compositional Technique

Erik Bergman's "Lapponia" uses a successful blend of conventional and graphic notation, and its second movement incorporates the improvisatory and emotional yoik, a primordial song of the Lapps.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The album's title, "Baltic Runes," refers to the Balto-Finnic folksong tradition, where 'rune' describes a special kind of poem or section within a poem, the singers, and their manner of singing.

Compositional Technique

The traditional Balto-Finnic rune singing involves two singers, or groups, using an overlapping call and response technique to maintain an uninterrupted flow of melody.

Composer Biography

Cyrillus Kreek, an Estonian composer, collected folksongs in his native region using a phonograph, which became the basis for many of his choral arrangements.

Composition History

Veljo Tormis's "Piispa ja pakana" (The Bishop and the Pagan) tells the story of the death of British missionary Bishop Henry in Finland in 1158, with viewpoints from both Christian and Finnish pagan traditions.

Performer Biography

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, founded in 1981, has received nine Grammy nominations and one Grammy Award for its recordings, which emphasize Estonian composers.