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Francis Poulenc’s compositions were known for their color, wit and charm in the 1920s and 1930s. But up to that time he wasn’t taken seriously as a great musician. After all, it was Schoenberg, Stravinsky etc. that were the “serious” radicals of the day. In 1936 a close friend of Poulenc died in a tragic car accident and his works became more spiritually oriented, yet never lost their ‘joie de...
Veljo Tormis is a composer who has had, until recently, relatively little recognition outside of his native Estonia , where he is lionised. Since the fall of the Soviet Union , however, his predominately choral and folk inspired music has gradually been finding its way into the mainstream contemporary choral repertoire. This wonderful new Hyperion release dedicated to Tormis' music with Stephen...
It's hard to imagine a composer "retiring" (as good an idea as it might be for some we can think of), but that's just what the Estonian Veljo Tormis did in 2000 at age 70. And the more of his music we hear--and thankfully, that's getting easier to do these days--the more sorry we are that he's not continuing to write new works. For choral fans this disc is a treasure, and I'd be surprised if it...
