Veljo Tormis


Veljo Tormis (b. August 7, 1930) is an Estonian composer considered by most Estonians to be one of their most important composers of the 20th century[1]. Internationally, his fame arises chiefly from his extensive body of choral music, which exceeds 500 individual choral songs, most of it a cappella. The great majority of these pieces are based on traditional ancient Estonian folksongs (regilaulud), either textually, melodically, or merely stylistically.

His composition most often performed outside of Estonia, Curse Upon Iron (Raua needmine) (1972), invokes ancient Shamanistic traditions to construct an allegory about the evils of war. This piece was banned by the Soviet government, along with many other controversial works by Tormis.

More recently, Tormis's works have been lionized in worldwide performances and several recordings by Tõnu Kaljuste and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. In the 1990s, Tormis also began to receive commissions from some of the pre-eminent a cappella choruses in the West such as the King's Singers and the Hilliard Ensemble.

Tormis has famously said of his settings of traditional melodies and verse: "It is not I who make use of folk music, it is folk music that makes use of me." His work demonstrates his conviction that traditional Estonian and other Balto-Finnic music represents a treasure which must be guarded and nourished, and that culture may be kept alive through the medium of song.

Biographical highlights
Tormis had a profound experience with choral music starting at an early age. His father was a choral director, organist, and music teacher. Tormis's earliest music studies included experimentation at the organ, which may be responsible for the use of dense parallel chords that later provided important background material for many of his choral works. His delight in the contrasting timbres provided by the organ stops may also be connected to his later orchestration of choral textures, a hallmark of his mature style.

Tormis began his formal musical education in 1943 at the Tallinn Music School, but was interrupted by World War II and illness. In 1949, he entered the Tallinn Conservatory and continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory (1951-1956). He quickly acquired teaching positions at the Tallinn Music School (1955-60) and the Tallinn Music High School (1962-66), but by 1969 was supporting himself exclusively as a freelance composer.

From that time up until his retirement from composition in 2000, Tormis composed hundreds of choral works, as well as other vocal and instrumental pieces, film scores, and an opera. Despite the censorship of several of his more provocative works in the late 1970s and the 1980s, he remained by and large an incredibly celebrated composer whose works were performed throughout the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Today, his works are widely lauded and regarded by many as one of the great contributions to the 20th century repertory of choral music.


Selected works
Kihnu pulmalaulud (Kihnu Island Wedding Songs), 1959
Sügismaastikud (Autumn Landscapes), 1964
Eesti kalendrilaulud (Estonian Calendar Songs), 1966-67
Maarjamaa ballaad (Ballad of Mary's Land), 1967
Raua needmine (Curse Upon Iron), 1972
Pikse litaania (Litany To Thunder), 1974
Unustatud rahvad (Forgotten Peoples), 1970-89
Eesti ballaadid (Estonian Ballads), 1980
Laulusild (Bridge of Song), 1981
Varjele, Jumalan soasta (God, Protect us from War), 1984
Piispa ja pakana (The Bishop And The Pagan), 1992