From rock to classical, Erkki-Sven Tüür promotes native Estonian culture

Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür aims to stimulate the creative energy of the listener: “Music has to have everything — overwhelming power, illuminating light, endless gentleness and the deepest darkness. Fury, pain, remorse. Everything that makes us human. And the tender touch of redeeming love.”

Tüür, who has been honored for promoting Estonian culture around the world, was named laureate of the Contribution to Estonian National Identity by the University of Tartu, Estonia’s oldest and most prestigious university, in 2021. “Erkki-Sven Tüür has made Estonia larger than its geographical borders, connecting the Estonian culture with modern world culture,” said Professor Toomas Asser, rector (president) of the University of Tartu.

“Erkki-Sven Tüür’s works are like a precious treasure, from which we have much to learn, both for a deeper understanding of our roots, of the nature and environment of Estonia and of the cultural processes here,” Asser said. "With his works, he invites his listeners to think in universal, all-embracing categories.” 

One of Tüür’s best known works is Prophecy, a concerto for accordion and orchestra. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Paavo Järvi, will perform Prophecy in concerts April 2-4, with Ksenija Sidorova as soloist.

In a program note, Tüür discussed the structure and meaning of Prophecy. "There are four movements in my accordion concerto Prophecy, all performed attacca [without pause between movements]. The opening movement follows waveform logic and acts like status nascendi [Latin for a state of being born]. Alternating processes like congelation and melting, converging and dispersing are the main forces of forming the musical material. The color of accordion fades into string chord, the string chord fades into brass and so on. Everything is in constant flow. Ascending and descending whirls meet each other and leave a glittering surface behind.

"The second movement gives us the perception of the pulse. Here takes place the dialogue between soloist and orchestra, and the development culminates with a cadenza, which [spreads out] into the slow third movement. The accordion part is figurative, and it descends slowly toward the lowest register, only to climb up again, forming then a choral-like melodic line. The fourth part is a kind of continuously tension-building surreal dance.”

The title refers to "the extremely long and rich practice of ’seeing things’ through the history of different cultures and traditions," he said. "Let us remember that often these people [prophets and clairvoyants] were met with mixed feelings by the majority of the society. They were respected, disdained, viewed as hazardous and kind of mad. However, they had access to the beyond. Also, the music reflects — from my subjective point of view — the energetic levels of this phenomenon.”

In the 1980s, Tüür was a member of the progressive rock band In Spe (Latin for “in the hope”). He reflected on that experience and its influence on his current work in an interview with. ”I would describe our style as chamber rock. A lot of the music was written in notes, almost nothing was random, and it did not take shape at rehearsals. There was a lot of medieval music influence and rhythmic passages typical of progressive rock. The cast of instruments was also unusual, there were two recorder players, three keyboard players, and then there was a guitar, bass guitar and calisthenics.

“In the scores we used the option of unusual musical textures — at least regarding rock music. A good example is our Symphony for Seven Performers. For comparison, let’s take Mike Oldfield [best known in the States for his ”Tubular Bells,” used in the 1973 film “The Exorcist”] — his long instrumental works — or King Crimson, Genesis, Yes and other similar bands.”

On whether there is any connection between his rock and classical works, he said, “I think there is. While I was still leading In Spe, I invited various guests: a violoncello or a brass quintet. I considered it as my personal development from rock to the composition of chamber and orchestral scores. Looking at music only through one genre would be too limiting for me. My method of composing the rhythmic line in the orchestral percussion section clearly hints that I have experience with rock. But it is not absolutely linear; it is a matter of energy perception within the orchestra.”