Does this release deliver the "roots of Estonian symphonic music" promised in the liner notes? Perhaps only in the most general way. The composers here represent the first generation of Estonian composition, and there is an Estonian folk tune, or an approximation of one, dropped in from time to time in a manner influenced by Grieg. However, the composers are mostly or all of German background, and all were products of the St. Petersburg Conservatory; Artur Kapp was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. The style of the music is not ...
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Does this release deliver the "roots of Estonian symphonic music" promised in the liner notes? Perhaps only in the most general way. The composers here represent the first generation of Estonian composition, and there is an Estonian folk tune, or an approximation of one, dropped in from time to time in a manner influenced by Grieg. However, the composers are mostly or all of German background, and all were products of the St. Petersburg Conservatory; Artur Kapp was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. The style of the music is not Estonian but Russian. This said, the album is enjoyable for listeners beyond those specifically interested in the music of the Baltics. Highlights come in the two Overture-Fantasies by Mihkel Lüdig, delicate, sprite-like pieces with considerable attractiveness in the orchestration. Kapp's The Last Confession is a violin-and-strings orchestration of a 1905 work for the unusual combination of piano and organ; it has a Romantic religiosity that makes one want to hear the original...
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