Continuing their intriguing and exciting season, Soundstreams presented a one-night-only spectacular starring the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. Lead by maestro Tõnu Kaljuste, this was the only Canadian stop on their North American tour this year. Featuring music from Arvo Pãrt, Palestrina, and a world-premiere performance of Omar Daniel’s latest work, this concert was a masterclass in vocal performance.
The EPCC has a long-standing relationship with Soundstreams dating back to their first visit in 2000. This is their tenth programme with Soundstreams and their sixth visit to Canada. Lawrence Cherney mentioned in the program as well as his opening remarks about the origins of the EPCC and their history of excellence: “On that first visit to Canada, I asked their legendary music director Tõnu Kaljuste if he could help me to understand this phenomenon. His answer was that for nearly 800 years, foreign powers had occupied Estonia, but rather than taking to the streets with guns, the Estonian people had raised their voices in song, not only as a form of protest, but as a way of maintaining and nurturing both their soul and their culture.” This strength and confidence is evident throughout their performance, and added an extra sense of gravitas to the evening.
The programme which they performed on this visit consisted of works from Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s work “Offertorium”, several works from Estonian composer Arvo Pãrt, as well as a brand new work from Estonian-Canadian Composer Omar Daniel. The mix of liturgical and secular, English and Latin and Chuch Slavic, made for an ever-changing and engaging concert. With each new piece, a new arrangement of singers would be used, ranging from as small as ten singers to as large as twenty. When the full choir sang, you could feel the power of the group vibrating through the room. I have a feeling that the mic’s they had for the performance weren’t entirely necessary given their vocal prowess and the beautiful acoustics of St. Paul’s Basilica.
Omar Daniel’s world-premiere composition is entitled “Antarktos Monodies” and used the text from an H. P. Lovecraft sonnet as its inspiration. I was blown away to learn that Lovecraft was such a prolific poet, as I feel like I primarily know of his work as a novelist. Daniel captures the eerie and foreboding essence of the poem, and Lovecraft’s works in general, and gave it to the music using vocals alone. I could have sworn that my head was being dive-bombed by birds at the start of the piece! The mix of the deep bass voices to represent the terrifying depths of ocean under the ice, and the soprano voices imitating the flight and chirp of the bird messenger were a perfect contrast. The piece ended to an overwhelming round of applause from both the audience and the choir alike. I’m still getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is certainly an act to watch out for! You won’t want to miss the next time they’re in Toronto. Until then, make sure you check out their music on whatever streaming service you prefer; I follow them on Spotify and a great deal of their discography is available. Make sure you keep up with Soundstreams as well! They have another exciting programme coming up in April that I’m really looking forward to! For more information on this piece and Soundstreams in general, visit: https://soundstreams.ca/events/estonian-philharmonic-chamber-choir-2/
Cover photo of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
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