Lawrence Power, Genevieve Lacey, Tapiola Sinfonietta & Olari Elts - Tüür: Illuminatio, Whistles and Whispers from Uluru & Symphony No. 8 (2018) [CD Rip]

Erkki-Sven Tüür (b. 1959) is one of the most outstanding voices in contemporary music today and regarded by many as one of the foremost living symphonists. This new album by Tapiola Sinfonietta and conductor Olari Elts includes world première recordings of two concertante works featuring violist Lawrence Power and recorder soloist Genevieve Lacey together with a late masterpiece, Symphony No. 8.

Tüür describes his viola concerto Illuminatio (2008) is 'a pilgrimage towards eternal light'. The work opens with a mysterious soundscape. As the work progresses, the music develops and grows, and the relationships between the soloist and the orchestra is in a constant change. The very final pages bring the work to a magical conclusion shimmering with delicate light.

Whistles and Whispers from Uluru (2007) was written to a commission from the Australian Chamber Orchestra for recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey. When the composer was writing the work at his summer residence in the island of Hiiumaa in Estonia, it was spring and the air was full of birdsong. In his mind, he connected Uluru, the sacred mountain of the Australian Aborigines, to his northern surroundings, and the two impulses fused. The soloist goes through multiple members of the recorder family, from sopranino down through treble, alto and tenor to bass, and then back to the heights of the sopranino. An electronic soundtrack augments the texture at times.

Symphony No. 8 was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and was completed in 2010. Tüür scored the work for a sinfonietta-type ensemble instead of a large symphony orchestra, and as a result the music has at times a chamber music feel. The movements are not separated in the score, but the tripartite division is very clear. On the other hand, the music is characterised by a strong sense of continuity and direction: 'the constant sense of ‘being on the road’, organic development and fluidity [are] crucial for this music', says Tüür.

"It is exactly a year ago that I made my first acquaintance on disc with Erkki-Sven Tüür, an Estonian and one of today’s interesting and innovative Baltic composers. In that review, I related that he had passed through a period heading a famous Rock group, and had now returned to his training in the world of classical music. The present disc contains three scores composed in this century, Illuminatio, being a latter-day concerto for viola and orchestra in four movements, the notes that come with the disc relating the scenario Tüür is setting to music. Without that explanation you will discover a score where a modern extension to melodic invention largely rests with the soloist, while the orchestra provide a backdrop of interesting sounds that at times submerge and integrate with the solo viola. It does not offer the soloist a virtuoso part in the usual sense of that word, though I guess it is very difficult to perform. Particularly engaging is the rhythmic complexity of the second movement, which, in old-fashioned terms, is the work’s ‘scherzo’. A quiet and slow moving third movement, gives way to a violent finale which evaporates into stillness. Whistles and Whispers from Uluru is, by contrast, a short piece for recorder and string orchestra, its title taken from the sounds Tuur relates to the sacred mountain of the Australian Aborigines. Written for the disc’s soloist, Genevieve Lacey, it explores the technical possibilities of the recorder family in the mode of birdsong. The Eighth, of the nine symphonies written to date, was completed in 2010, and is scored for chamber orchestra. In three movements, and by far the most conventional score on the disc, it is still full of interesting sonorities, many created by percussion instruments, the work as a whole marrying shimmering hues with explosive outbursts. The performances from the Tapiola Sinfonietta and Olari Elts have that feel of commitment and authenticity you require to introduce new music. The recording is superb." (David Denton, David’s Review Corner)

Lawrence Power, viola
Genevieve Lacey, recorders
Tapiola Sinfonietta
Olari Elts, conductor