Erkki-Sven Tüür
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Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer.


Life and career

Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition with
Jaan Rääts Jaan Rääts (15 October 1932 – 25 December 2020) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Estonian composer who worked extensively on Estonian Cinema of Estonia, film scores of the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in Tartu and became a member of the Estonian ...
at the Tallinn Academy of Music and privately with Lepo Sumera from 1980 to 1984. From 1979 to 1984 he headed the rock group In Spe, which quickly became one of the most popular in
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
. Tüür left In Spe to concentrate on composition, and with the advent of
perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
soon found an audience in the west. The Helsinki Philharmonic, the Hilliard Ensemble, the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are among those who have commissioned works from him. His Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, entitled '"Illuminatio"', was premiered by violist Lars Anders Tomter and South Jutland Symphony Orchestra in October 2008. Since 1985, Tüür is member of the Estonian Composers' Union.


Style

Tüür's early work is polystylistic. Influencing styles were Rock, Post- Romantic,
Minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
,
Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...
. His music is characterized by expressive, energetic, organic amalgamation of opposite styles:
tonality Tonality is the arrangement of pitch (music), pitches and / or chord (music), chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived ''relations'', ''stabilities'', ''attractions'', and ''directionality''. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or ...
vs.
atonality Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...
; repetitive
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...
vs. complex rhythm;
meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...
vs. explosive power; intellectual vs. emotional. The first pure example is his opus ''Oxymoron''. Tüür developed a
vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...
based voice leading technique. The vectors are sequences of intervals, expressed as numbers. He compares this compositional method with a
source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...
, a
germ Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embry ...
that grows, or a
gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
that mutates. Starting point of the composition process is an abstract drawing, that visualizes the music.


Tonal

* Triad * Linear
Polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chord ...
*
Modality Modality may refer to: Humanities * Modality (theology), the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations * Modality (music), in music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales * Modalit ...


Atonal

*
Twelve-tone technique The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale ...
* Tone cluster * Microtone


Awards

Tüür received numerous national awards. He was awarded the Cultural Prize of Estonia in 1991 and 1996 and the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science in 1998. * 2015 Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation


Works

Tüür's works are published by
Edition Peters Edition Peters is a classical music publisher founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1800. History The company came into being on 1 December 1800 when the Viennese composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) and the local organist Ambrosius Kühn ...
and Fennica Gehrman.


Stage

* '' Wallenberg'', Opera in 2 acts (2001); libretto by


Symphonies

* Symphony No. 1 (1984) * Symphony No. 2 (1987) * Symphony No. 3 (1997) * Symphony No. 4 ''Magma'' in one movement for solo percussion and orchestra (2002) (also see under Concertante) * Symphony No. 5 for electric guitar, orchestra and big band (2004) * Symphony No. 6 ''Strata'' in one movement (2007) * Symphony No. 7 ''Pietas'' for mixed chorus and orchestra (2009) * Symphony No. 8 (2010) * Symphony No. 9 ''Mythos'' (2017) * Symphony No. 10 ''ÆRIS'' (2020)


Orchestral

* ''Insula Deserta'' for string orchestra (1989) * ''Searching for Roots (Hommage a Sibelius)'' (1990) * ''Zeitraum'' (1992) * ''Architectonics VI'' for chamber orchestra (1992) (also see under Architectonics) * ''Show'' (Action – Passion – Illusion) for string orchestra (1993) :# Action :# Passion :# Illusion * ''Crystallisatio'' for chamber orchestra (1995) * ''Lighthouse'' for string orchestra (1997) * ''Exodus'' (1999) * ''Aditus: In memoriam Lepo Sumera'' (2001–2002) * ''Aqua'' for string orchestra (2003) * ''Rada ja jäljed'' (The Path and the Traces) for string orchestra (2005) * ''Flamma'' for string orchestra (2011) * ''De Profundis'' for orchestra (2013) * ''Le poids des vies non vécues'' for orchestra (2013) * ''Tormiloits / Incantation of Tempest'' for orchestra (2014) * ''L'ombra della croce (Dedicated to
Manfred Eicher Manfred Eicher (born 9 July 1943) is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records. Life and career Eicher was born in Lindau, Germany. He studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He started as a double-bass player of classi ...
)'' for string orchestra (2014) * ''Sow the Wind...'' for orchestra (2015) * ''Phantasma'' for orchestra (2018)


Concertante

* Concerto for cello and orchestra (1996) * Concerto for violin and orchestra (1999) * Concerto for marimba and orchestra ''Ardor'' (2001) * ''Magma'', Symphony No. 4 in one movement for solo percussion and orchestra (2002) * Concerto for bassoon and orchestra (2003) * Concerto for violin, clarinet and orchestra ''Noesis'' (2005) * Concerto for piano and orchestra (2006) * ''Whistles and Whispers from Uluru'' for recorder and string orchestra (2007) * ''Prophecy'' for accordion and orchestra (2007) * Concerto for viola and orchestra ''Illuminatio'' (2008) * Concerto for clarinet and orchestra ''Peregrinus Ecstaticus'' (2013) * ''Solastalgia'' for piccolo flute and orchestra (2016) * Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 2 ''Angel's Share'' (2017) * Concerto for violin and orchestra No. 3 ''Kõnelused Tundmatuga'' (Conversations with the Unknown) (2019–2020) * Concerto for cello and orchestra No. 2 ''Labyrinths of Life'' (2023) * Concerto for oboe and orchestra ''Desert Wind''


Architectonics

* ''Architectonics I'' for woodwind quintet (1984) * ''Architectonics II'' for clarinet, cello and piano (1986) * ''Architectonics III "Postmetaminimal Dream"'' for flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 pianos, synthesizer, percussion (2 players), violin and cello (1990) * ''Architectonics IV "Per Cadenza ad Metasimplicity"'' for violin (or electric violin), bassoon, baritone saxophone and piano (or synthesizer) (1990) * ''Architectonics V'' for electric guitar and amplified piano (1991) * ''Architectonics VI'' for chamber orchestra (1992) * ''Architectonics VII'' for flute, cello and harpsichord (or flute, bass clarinet and piano) (1992)


Chamber music

* ''Graafiline leht'' (Prints) for flute and harp (1985) * String Quartet ''"In memoriam Urmas Kibuspuu"'' (1985) * ''Sisemonoloog'' (Inner Monologue) for flute solo (1986) * ''Dedication'' for cello and piano (1990) * ''Dick ja Toff imedemaal'' (Dick and Toff in Wonderland) for flute and tuba (or bass clarinet) (1991) * ''Kaljukitse märgi all'' (The Tropic of Capricorn) for flute, clarinet, vibraphone, violin, electric guitar (2nd electric guitar ad libitum) and MIDI electronics (1991) * ''Miraaž'' (Mirage) for electronics (1991) * ''Spiel'' for cello and guitar (1992) * ''Drama'' for flute (or vibraphone), violin and guitar (1994) * ''Spectrum II'' for organ, trumpet and percussion ad libitum (1994) * ''Conversio'' for violin and piano (1994) * ''Lamentatio'' for 4 saxophones (1995) * ''Mängu võlu'' (The Glamour of the Game) for double bass, live electronics and MIDI percussion (1995) * ''Symbiosis'' for violin and double bass (1996) * ''Motus I'' for percussion (1998) * ''Motus II'' for percussion (4 players) (1998) * ''Fata Morgana'' for violin, cello and piano (2002) * ''Sisemonoloog II'' (Inner Monologue II) for flute and electronics * ''Oxymoron (Music for Tirol)'' for chamber ensemble and live electronics (2003) * ''Spectrum IV'' for cello and organ (2004) * ''Confession'' for violin solo (2007) * ''Synergie'' for violin and cello (2010) * String Quartet No. 2 "Lost Prayers" (2012)


Organ

* ''Spectrum I'' (1989) * ''Spectrum III'' (1999)


Piano

* ''Kristiinale'' (To Kristiina) (1981, 1995) * Sonatina for 2 pianos (1984) * Piano Sonata (1985) * ''Mõeldes Hiiumaast'' (Hiiumaa; Souvenir of Hiiumaa) (1992) * ''Ülekanne'' (Transmission) for 6 pianos (1996) * ''Short Meeting of Dark and Light'' (2003) * ''Mida nägin mäetipule jõudes'' (What I Saw from the Top of the Mountain), Music for Children (2003)


Vocal

* ''Excitatio ad Contemplandum'' for alto, 2 tenors, baritone (or mixed chorus) and organ (1996) * ''Questions...'' for countertenor, 2 tenors, baritone and string orchestra (2007)


Choral

* ''Raerituaal'' (Town Council Custom) for mixed chorus, early music ensemble, electric guitar and chamber orchestra (1982–2004) * ''Ante Finem Saeculi'', Oratorio for soprano, tenor, bass, mixed chorus and orchestra (1985); Biblical text and words by Viivi Luik * ''Lumen et Cantus'', Mass for male chorus and orchestra (1989) * ''Inquiétude du Fini'' for male chorus and chamber orchestra (1992); words by Tõnu Õnnepalu * ''Psalmody'' for mixed chorus and early music ensemble (1993, 2005); Biblical text * ''Requiem "In memoriam Peeter Lilje"'' for soprano, tenor, mixed chorus and chamber orchestra (1994) * ''Rändaja õhtulaul'' (The Wanderer's Evening Song) for mixed chorus a cappella (2001) * ''Meditatio'' for mixed chorus and saxophone quartet (2003) * ''Salve Regina'' for male chorus and orchestra (2005) * ''Igavik'' (Eternity) for male chorus and chamber orchestra (2006); words by Doris Kareva * ''Questions...'' for countertenor, tenor, baritone, mixed choir and string orchestra (2007) * ''Triglosson trishagion'' for mixed chorus a cappella (2008) * ''Väike eestimaine laul'' (Little Estonian Song) for children's chorus (2009) * ''Ärkamine'' (Awakening) for mixed choir and orchestra (2011) * ''Missa brevis'' for mixed choir (2014)


Film scores

* ''Elu ilma Gabriella Ferrita'' (Life without Gabriella Ferri) (2008)


Discography

* Symphony No. 9 ''Mythos'', Incantation of Tempest, Sow the Wind...; Estonian Festival Orchestra,
Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian conductor. He has been chief conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle since 2020. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia (then occupied by the Soviet Union), to Liilia Järvi and the Estoni ...
* Symphony No. 8 ''Illumination; Whistles and Whispers from Uluru'', Lawrence Power, viola; Genevieve Lacey, recorders; Tapiola Sinfonietta, Olari Elts * Peregrinus ecstaticus; Les poids de vies non vecues; Noesis. Christoffer Sundqvist, clarinet; Pekka Kuusisto, violin;
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester''; abbreviated as RSO) is a Finnish Radio orchestra, broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasti ...
,
Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Early life and education Hannu Lintu was born in Rauma, the son of Johannes Lintu, an electrical engineer, and his wife Lilja Lintu (née Toivonen), a photographer. He studied p ...
* Symphony No. 4 ''Magma'', Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Male Choir, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi * Architectonics VI; Passion; Illusion; Crystallisatio; Requiem. Kaja Urb, soprano; Tiit Kogermann, tenor; Tõnu Kaljuste/ Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra * Symphony No. 3; Concerto (cello); Lighthouse. David Geringas, cello;
Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He is chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at ...
/Radio Symphonieorchester Wien * In the Memory of Clear Water. American Wind Symphony Orchestra * Insula deserta; Searching for Roots (Hommage à Sibelius); Zeitraum. Juha Kangas, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra,
Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian conductor. He has been chief conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle since 2020. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia (then occupied by the Soviet Union), to Liilia Järvi and the Estoni ...
, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic * Lighthouse. Juha Kangas/Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (Finlandia: 3964-29718) * Spiel. Boris Björn Bagger, guitar; Martin Ostertag, cello * Symphony No. 2. Paul Mägi/USSR Ministry of Culture State Symphony Orchestra *Oratorium: Ante Finem Saeculi. Tõnu Kaljuste/Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian Opera-Theatre Orchestra * Sonata. Kalle Randalu, piano * Architectonics I-VII; Spectrum II. NYYD Ensemble * Architectonics I-VII. Absolute Ensemble * Motus II. Cabaza Percussion Quartet * Spectrum I. Andres Uibo, organ * Spectrum II. Jüri Leiten, trumpet; Andres Uibo, organ; M. Metsamart, percussion * String Quartet. Tallinn Quartet * String Quartet. Duke Quartet * String Quartet No. 2 "Lost Prayers" (2012). Armida Quartett (Music for Strings)


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuur, Erkki-Sven 1959 births Living people People from Kärdla 20th-century Estonian classical composers 21st-century Estonian classical composers Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni Estonian male classical composers 20th-century Estonian composers 20th-century male composers 21st-century male musicians Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 2nd Class