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| Erkki-Sven Tüür |
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Erkki-Sven Tüür (born 1959) is one of Estonia's
most highly acclaimed contemporary composers. He began his
career as a 'chamber rock' musician and founded the intellectual
rock group In spe in Tallinn at the age of seventeen.
He was an active member of the group until 1983, acting in
it as composer, singer, flautist, keyboard player and percussionist.
Erkki-Sven Tüür studied composition from 1979-80
at the Tallinn Music Institute and from 1980-84 at the Tallinn
Conservatoire with Jaan Rääts.
Tüür seeks to write music that combines technical
know-how with emotional power to develop a musical reality
where the two sides - intellectual and emotional - can live
together side by side. As a student Tüür was interested
both in American minimalism and also the post-serial textures
of Ligeti and Xenakis. Both traditions find an echo in his
works. His musical architecture is often influenced by visual
ideas and he is very interested in a combination of opposites:
tonality versus atonality, regular repetitive rhythms versus
irregular complex ones, tranquil meditativeness versus explosive
theatricality.
Tüür's output ranges from chamber music to symphonies,
concertos and large scale choral works, among them the oratorio
Ante finem saeculi dating from 1985. In Inquiétude
du fini for chamber choir and chamber orchestra (1992)
Tüür adopts a spiral-formed dramaturgy, integrating
both diatonic and 12-tone elements. In the orchestral work
Zeitraum (1992) he confronts dark, static and long-held
sound blocks with the 'racing time' of kaleidoscopically changing
12-tone structures. The Architectonics series for various
chamber ensembles represents Tüür's aspirations
at their fullest. The individual works are constructions in
which the higher the musical building blocks go, the more
they are joined together to form a building. This is also
the principle behind the string series Action-Passion-Illusion
dating from 1993-94.
Works by Erkki-Sven Tüür published by Fennica
Gehrman
Orchestral works:
Action-Passion-Illusion (1993) for strings
Architectonics VI (1992) for flute, clarinet, vibraphone and
strings
Symphony No. 2 (1987)
Zeitraum (1992)
Choral works with orchestra:
Inquiétude de fini (1992) for chamber choir and chamber
orchestra
Mass: Lumen et cantus (1989) for male chorus and orchestra
Oratorio: Ante finem saeculi (1985) for soprano, tenor, bass,
mixed chorus and orchestra
Chamber works:
Architectonics I (1984) for wind quintet (fl, ob, cl, bn,
hn)
Architectonics II (1986) for clarinet, cello and piano
Architectonics III "Postmetaminimal Dream" (1990)
(fl/afl, cl/bcl, 2pf/syn, 2perc, vn, vc)
Architectonics IV "PER Cadenza AD Metasimplicity"
(1990) (vn/elvn, bn, barsx, pf/syn)
Architectonics V (1991) for electronic guitar and amplified
piano
Architectonics VI (1992) for flute, clarinet, vibraphone and
strings
Architectonics VII (1992) for flute, cello and harpsichord
(alternative: fl, bcl, pf)
Dick and Toff in Wonderland (1991) for flute and tuba (alternative:
fl, bcl)
Prints (1985) for flute and harp
The Tropic of Capricorn (1991) (fl, cl, vib, vn, vc, elgtr/2elgtr
adlid
+ MIDI electronics) (withdrawn)
String Quartet (1985) in memoriam Urmas Kibuspuu
Sonatina for two pianos (1984)
Solo works:
Inner Monologue (1988) for flute
Sonata for piano (1985)
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