{"id":15885,"date":"2019-01-18T14:26:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-18T12:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/2019\/01\/aco-channels-a-modern-day-bach-in-a-concert-with-god-on-its-side\/"},"modified":"2019-11-11T14:34:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-11T12:34:21","slug":"aco-channels-a-modern-day-bach-in-a-concert-with-god-on-its-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/2019\/01\/aco-channels-a-modern-day-bach-in-a-concert-with-god-on-its-side\/","title":{"rendered":"ACO channels a modern-day Bach in a concert with God on its side"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arvo Part (left) on stage with conductor Tonu Kaljuste.Credit:<\/span>Anneli Ivaste<\/cite> <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Estonian choir is regarded as the foremost interpreter of Part\u2019s contemplative and profoundly spiritual choral music and shares an intrinsic connection with the composer. It was founded in 1981 by conductor Tonu Kaljuste, who has become close to Part and is credited with bringing him to the world\u2019s attention by adding his works to the choir\u2019s repertoire; something that became increasingly possible after Estonia\u2019s renewed independence in 1991.<\/p>\n

For Kaljuste, Part\u2019s work is not just about prayer, but also \u201cwonderful and interesting stories with a beautiful moral\u201d. His mission as a conductor has always been to bring Part\u2019s deceptively simple music to life.<\/p>\n

Legend has it that when Part was a young boy growing up in a modest household with a dilapidated piano, he would ride his bicycle to the market to listen to symphony concerts on the radio playing from loudspeakers. He was inspired to be a musician, but one who wrote different, more distinct music. Kaljuste believes this is because he hears things differently.<\/p>\n

It is, he agrees, hard to pinpoint exactly why Part\u2019s music is so unique or to explain its appeal. He has influenced the likes of Bjork, R.E.M. and PJ Harvey and was the most performed contemporary composer of 2018. To conduct it authentically, according to Kaljuste, you have to know how to use both singers and instruments to \u201cshow\u201d the architecture of the sound, bring the beauty of it to life and interpret the language of silence, which is the key to \u201copening up\u201d this composer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Composer Arvo Part has been described as the Howard Hughes of the classical world. <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Estonia choirs have always been highly regarded. After centuries of oppression, the country sang its way to freedom when it ended Soviet rule with its collective lung power during the famous 1988 Singing Revolution. Hundreds of thousands of Estonians gathered together to sing songs banned by the Russians as a way of expressing their will and making political demands. While Kaljuste is \u201cdeeply grateful\u201d that his nation\u2019s music is now in demand internationally (2019 is looking particularly busy) and that his choir wears the prefix \u201cGrammy award-winning\u201d he is not particularly proud about his role in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cProud is a nice word but it is a little bit arrogant,\u201d\u2018 he says thoughtfully. \u201cI am happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Composer<\/picture><\/div>
Composer Tonu Kaljuste describes Arvo Part\u2019s work as \u2018wonderful and interesting stories with a beautiful moral\u2019. <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Bach was inspired by God and shaped by his Lutheran upbringing, Part\u2019s musical influences were initially more political than religious. Growing up in communist Estonia, he found himself at odds with the regime on pretty much every level. As a result, his work often takes a stand against the perceived injustices of the world in a way that is exquisitely beautiful yet deeply human. He converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1971, and, like Bach, his aim, he once said, is to communicate the spiritual power that he sees as music\u2019s essential purpose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The pinnacle of next month\u2019s concerts will be the performance of his\u00a0Berliner Messe<\/em>, which has been described as a \u201cclear window to the soul\u201d. Commissioned for the 90th Katholikentag in Berlin in 1990, it was originally scored for soloists and organ, and later revised for chorus and string orchestra. In it, Part makes use of his famous tintinnabuli technique (the music of the \u201clittle bells\u201d) that melds together two single-voice structural lines \u2013 melody and the sound of the triad \u2013 into a whole. (Part once described these lines as being a metaphor for life; the melodic line is our sins, the other is forgiveness).<\/p>\n

ACO director Richard Tognetti, not a believer himself, is nevertheless deeply grateful for religion\u2019s musical legacy, particularly for the existence of Martin Luther, without whom there would be no Bach. \u201cThank God for Luther,\u201d he says, somewhat ironically. \u201cWhat Bach composed, the way he composed and the amount he composed and what he has left us, it\u2019s the best thing about religion. There is nothing better left to us through religion that you don\u2019t otherwise get from an atheist life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kaljuste will come to Australia with the choir, although these days he is no longer the principal conductor (a role currently held by Kaspars Putni\u0146s) and will not take the baton for every concert. Conductors are like chefs, he muses, they need to get the repertoire just right in order to satisfy their audiences. It\u2019s a harder task these days owing to the streaming revolution. \u201cWe have to bring fresh energy to music that has been heard much already.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks the ingredients for this numinous concert are perfect, blending Part and Bach\u2019s heavenly works with Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe\u2019s spiritual take on an earthy tune from Arnhem Land, Djilile \u2013 which means \u201cwhistling duck on a billabong\u201d.<\/p>\n

Says Tognetti: \u201cYou can go to Leipzig and tread the soil but you can\u2019t feel the spirit of the music, whereas when you go to Arnhem Land or the Kimberley you get this extraordinary sense of spirit that comes from the landscape and that\u2019s why we put it in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And no, he doesn\u2019t believe that Part is the Bach of our time, though both composers bring an incredible sense of beauty to their music that can shock, uplift, ignite and console. \u201cActually,\u201d he muses, \u201cI think it is highly possible that Bach is himself God.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and ACO perform at Sydney\u2019s City Recital Hall on February 2, 5 and 6 and Sydney Opera House on February 3. In Melbourne, they perform at Hamer Hall on February 10 and 11.\u00a0aco.com.au<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Look more:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.newsline.com.au\/2019\/01\/18\/aco-channels-a-modern-day-bach-in-a-concert-with-god-on-its-side\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arvo Part (left) on stage with conductor Tonu Kaljuste.Credit:Anneli Ivaste  The Estonian choir is regarded as the foremost interpreter of Part\u2019s contemplative and profoundly spiritual choral music and shares an intrinsic connection with the composer. It was founded in 1981 by conductor Tonu Kaljuste, who has become close to Part and is credited with bringing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efk.epcc.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}