16:00 – 17:00
Katariin Raska
Ulvi Võsa
Karolin Vetevoog
Kaisa Kuslapuu
Mari Meentalo
Kerli Kislõi
Concert is curated by Margo Kõlar
Salve Regina – Gregorian chant based on Carloz Nuñez’s performance / Margo Kõlar
Liisa Hirsch – Earth Veins (2023, premiere)
Margo Kõlar – Patterns of Light (2023, premiere)
Oh Adam, sinu essitus – folk chorale from Otepää / Margo Kõlar
Taimetark – Kadri Hunt, arr. Margo Kõlar
Ränga-taadi labajalad – Katariin Raska, improvisations
My soul, oh be happy – folk chorales from Lääne Nigula and Vormsi / Margo Kõlar
Patterns of Light (2023, premiere). Margo Kõlar: “One day, the journey of the soul into the unknown will begin. What can we lean on, how can we keep our path striving towards the Light? Can anyone help? Lux perpetua dona eis Domine.”
Earth Veins (2023, premiere). Liisa Hirsch: “I usually avoid descriptive titles and in this one my aim was to evoke something more abstract: be it lines of force or a forgotten contact with the earth, the essential point of support. Or perhaps the earth veins of the title can be seen as types of paths going up or down, and their resonant intersections? The harmonies of the piece are hidden in the glissandos of the bagpipe, in the microtonal distances and oscillations. The overtones that accompany this kind of playing technique are a little different each time and create different listening possibilities. Following the events of last February, the earth once again showed its destructive power, the effects of which are certainly echoed in this work.”
The bagpipe orchestra seems to be a classic of Estonian traditional culture. Already in the 16th century, Balthasar Russow, the pastor of the Holy Spirit Church in Reval, describes in his famous Livonian chronicle the bagpipe players gathered to Midsummer feast: according to him, they snored, boozed and splurged, hopped around and yelled. A few hundred years later, the pendulum swings to the other extreme. There is a legend telling that in the spirit of pietism, the men of Vormsi island carried their instruments to a big pile and set fire to them. However, if we look at the folk choral traditions beloved in the Estonian West coast and the islands, we notice that they are unexpectedly similar to the range, nature and ornamentation of the bagpipe. Some say that the sounds of the bagpipe and organ fit together. But there is an old wound that sometimes festers in the soul: is this mischievous instrument really suitable for church? Let today’s concert be a sacrifice of reconciliation between the bagpipe and the church, for the joy of players and listeners. The concert will include two new pieces (by Liisa Hirsch and Margo Kõlar), some folk chorals, flatfoot dances, lullabies and Balthasar’s snoring, improvisations and jungle voices, sounds of organ, jew’s harps and overtone flutes.
The concert will be live-broadcasted by Klassikaraadio.