Urmas Sisask (9 September 1960 – 17 December 2022) was an Estonian composer.

Biography

Sisask was born in

Rapla Rapla (German: ''Rappel'') is a town in central Estonia, the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. The oldest records date back to 1241 in the Danish Census Book, when it was said that it was a small village with 8 acres of ...

on 9 September 1960. One of the major inspirations for his music was

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

. Based on the

trajectories A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traj ...

of the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

, he created the "planetal scale", a

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

consisting of the pitches C#, D, F#, G#, and A. Later, he discovered to his surprise that this was exactly the same as the Japanese ''Kumajoshi mode'', which is also known as the Japanese

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many ancie ...

scale. Sisask was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and much of what he composed was

sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

. His younger sister is singer and actress

Siiri Sisask Siiri Sisask (born 21 September 1968) is an Estonian singer, stage and film actress, and politician. Sisask was born in Rapla. Her older brother was composer Urmas Sisask. She was a member of X Riigikogu, representing the Res Publica Party. She ...

. Sisask died on 17 December 2022, at the age of 62.

Discography

* Starry Sky Cycle (Estonian: "Tähistaeva tsükkel") (1980–1987) * Gloria Patri (1988) * Pleiads ("Plejaadid") (1989) * Milky Way ("Linnutee galaktika") (1990) * Andromeda ("Andromeda galaktika") (1991) * Benedictio (for mixed chorus) (1991) * Christmas oratorio ("Jõuluoratoorium") (1992) * Magnificat * Missa Nr. 1 * Symbiotic Symphony ("Sümbiootiline Sümfoonia") * Comet Hyakutake * Ave Sol * Missa Nr. 4 op. 46: Christmas mass ("Jõulumissa") * Polaris ("Põhjanael") * Veni Sancte Spiritus

References

External links

* * 1960 births 2022 deaths 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Estonian Roman Catholics Tallinn Music High School alumni People from Rapla Male classical composers Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni 20th-century Estonian composers 21st-century Estonian composers 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class {{estonia-composer-stub