Based purely on the surface of its sound, the music of Toivo Tulev (born 1958) has little in common with that of his fellow Estonian, Arvo Pärt, but their music is similar in the ways it creates a sense of suspended time. Pärt's music is notable for its harmonic austerity and spare textures, whereas Tulev's is richly, densely chromatic, often to the point of obscuring any clear sense of tonality. Using very different musical languages, both composers use harmony to project a feeling of timelessness and stasis. Like Pärt's, ...
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Based purely on the surface of its sound, the music of Toivo Tulev (born 1958) has little in common with that of his fellow Estonian, Arvo Pärt, but their music is similar in the ways it creates a sense of suspended time. Pärt's music is notable for its harmonic austerity and spare textures, whereas Tulev's is richly, densely chromatic, often to the point of obscuring any clear sense of tonality. Using very different musical languages, both composers use harmony to project a feeling of timelessness and stasis. Like Pärt's, Tulev's music is rarely in a hurry, but its intoxicating, unmoored harmonies create a sense of woozy displacement that's quite unlike Pärt's chaste and mostly untroubled serenity. Tulev's music is also frankly sensuous, and while it would never be mistaken for neo-Romanticism, it has an evocative lushness that gives it immediate appeal. The title of the album, Songs, is somewhat misleading because there are only two vocal solos. Most of these works are choral, and the title refers to...
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![Toivo Tulev: Songs - Anto Õnnis (tympani [timpani]); Harry Traksmann (violin); Kädy Plaas (soprano); Madis Metsamart (tympani [timpani]);...](https://www3.alibris-static.com/toivo-tulev-songs/cover/m60165ga9j9_l.jpg)
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