Veljo Tormis. Women's Songs. Men's Songs

Conductor Tõnu Kaljuste
Stage Directors Tõnu Kaljuste and Ingmar Jõela
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Soloists: Cätly Talvik, Marianne Pärna, Mirell Jakobson, Eleri-Kristel Kuimet, Marie Roos, Annika Lõhmus / Mariliis Lahesalu, Annely Leinberg, Kristel Marand, Anni Marie Rea, Raul Mikson, Rainer Vilu, Toomas Tohert, Henry Tiisma, Kaarel Telgmaa, Kristjan-Jaanek Mölder, Aarne Talvik, Danila Frantou

Tilgu Band: Kristel Marand (melodica, jaw harp), Annely Leinberg (kazoo), Henry Tiisma (double bass), Tõnu Kaljuste (harmonium), Mai Simson (accordion)

Audio – Klassikaraadio, ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting)
Sound engineer – Ats Treimaa, Klassikaraadio, ERR
Editor – Marge-Ly Rookäär, Klassikaraadio, ERR
Video – Johannes Arro

VELJO TORMIS (1930–2017)
WOMEN’S SONGS (1974–1975/1981)
A cycle of Estonian runic folk songs for women’s choir and soloists, a cappella.
Words and melodies from Estonian folklore; libretto and text adaptations by Jaan Kaplinski.

MEN’S SONGS (1964–1965)
Texts from folklore; adaptations by Paul-Eerik Rummo.

WOMEN’S SONGS
Part I: Lapsepõli / Childhood
1. Surma sajatamine / Curse upon Death (Cätly Talvik, archival recording*)
2. Oleks hääl endine / Were the Voice as Before (Marianne Pärna)
3. Sünnisõnad / Birth Incantation (Marianne Pärna)
4. Millal maksan memme vaeva? / When Will I Repay Mamma’s Trouble? (Mirell Jakobson, Eleri-Kristel Kuimet)
5. Teel / On the Way (Marie Roos)

Part II: Iluaeg (Kiigestseen) / Time of Beauty (Swing scene)
7a. Käi kõrgele, kiik! / Go High, Swing!
8a. Kutse kiigele / Call to the Swing (Marie Roos)
7b. 8b. (Mirell Jakobson)
9a. Kiik kaunil kohal / The Swing in a Beautiful Place (Annika Lõhmus)
10a. Neiu tõotus / The Maiden’s Promise (Cätly Talvik)
11a. Neiu hind / The Maiden’s Prise (Annely Leinberg)
12a. Ilus neiu kiigel / Pretty Maiden on the Swing (Annika Lõhmus, Marie Roos)
13. Kirp kiigel / A Flea on a Swing (Kristel Marand)
16. Iluaeg möödub / Time of Beauty Passes
17. Suvi jõuab / Summer Arrives (Marie Roos)
18. Öisel teel / On a Night Way (Marie Roos)

Part III: Lahkumine isakodust / Leaving Father’s Home
19. Neiu kiitus / The Maiden’s Praise (Annely Leinberg)

* The archival recordings are from the Estonian Folklore Archives of the Estonian Literary Museum. Performers: Marie Sepp, Liisu Orik.

MEN’S SONGS
Part I
1. Meeste laul / Mens's Song

WOMEN’S SONGS
Part III: Lahkumine isakodust / Leaving Father’s Home
20. Tähemõrsja / Bride of the Star (Kristel Marand, jaw harp)
21. Mõrsjaitk / Bride’s Lament (Anni Marie Rea)

MEN’S SONGS
Part I
2. Ehalkäimise-laul / Bundling Song (Raul Mikson, Rainer Vilu)

WOMEN’S SONGS
IV osa: Naisepõli / Part IV: Womanhood
27. Halb mees / Evil Man (Mirell Jakobson)

MEN’S SONGS
Part I
3. Kosjalaul / Betrothal Visit Song (Henry Tiisma, Tilgu Band)

WOMEN’S SONGS
IV osa: Naisepõli / Part IV: Womanhood
28. Mina vaene laste vang / Poor Me, A Prisoner of Children
V osa: Mureaeg / Part V: Troubled Time
30. Ikka meel hale / Still Sad
31. Sõnasaatmine lindudega / Sending the Message With the Birds

MEN’S SONGS
Part I
4. Viinalaul / Drinking Song (Toomas Tohert, Kaarel Telgmaa, Kristjan-Jaanek Mölder, Aarne Talvik, Raul Mikson)
5. Türgi sõja laul / Song of the Turkish War (Danila Frantou)

WOMEN’S SONGS
V osa: Mureaeg / Part V: Troubled Time
33. Mehetapja Maie lugu / The Tale of Husband Slayer Mai (Marianne Pärna)
34. Ikka meel hale / Still Sad

MEN’S SONGS
Part II
6. Meremehe-laul / Sailor's Song (Rainer Vilu)
7. Teomehe-laul / Serf's Song (Rainer Vilu)
9. Lorilaul / Bawdy Song (Henry Tiisma)
8. Tantsulaul / Dancing Song (Tilgu Band)
10. Ümberküla-laul / Village Song (Kristjan-Jaanek Mölder, Tilgu Band)

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir celebrated its 45th anniversary with concerts that brought to life authentic, heartfelt stories – music that feels both ancient and contemporary. Under the direction of the choir’s founder and long-time chief conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, the programme featured the music of Veljo Tormis, whose works have been an inseparable part of the choir’s repertoire and identity for decades.

Tõnu Kaljuste: “At our anniversary concerts, together with the audience, we celebrated the music of Veljo Tormis. His music is more than music alone – it carries within it memory, language and the spirit of a people.

The concert brings together two of his works, Women’s Songs and Men’s Songs. These are not simply collections of folk-song arrangements. They are voices from the past that Tormis transformed into living art. He did not merely ‘use’ folk song: he listened to it, respected it and passed on its spirit, often with a warning or a call to remember.

These songs speak of work and nature, injustice and longing, homecoming and return from the battlefield. The woman’s voice is strongly present from birth to death – at times accepting, at times lamenting, at times defiant. The man’s voice, meanwhile, can be boastful and swaggering, like a man emerging from the tavern or from war, putting on a show of toughness. At other moments he is a timid suitor or a tender figure, no less vulnerable than the woman.

In both cycles, the collective subconscious of a people speaks: that which cannot be said directly, but can be sung. In Tormis’s own words: ‘We cannot free ourselves from our past. We may remain silent about it, but we cannot look away from it.’ I would only add that in these songs, the past is often also the present.

May this concert offer an opportunity to hear works originally written for the theatre, slightly interwoven and adapted for the present day. And, of course, we remember Veljo, those who sang before us, and those through whom Tormis allowed those voices to be heard again.”

Tõnu Kaljuste’s remarks at the end of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir’s 45th anniversary concert at Tallinn Creative Hub.