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Tallinn Music Week: Contemporary Classical Showcase at the Museum of Estonian Architecture

After concerts at a renovated warehouse the first night, and in an 800-year-old church the second night, I found myself on the second floor of the Museum of Estonian Architecture for the final night of Tallinn Music Week. Framed sketches and drawings adorned the walls; mobiles hung from the ceiling. Rows of chairs were joined by pillows and beanbags. Concert-goers took advantage of the less formal venue and atmosphere to roam around the space; in this way we were able to observe the performers from different angles and to hear their sounds within different contexts. This final night of contemporary classical music (concurrent with various other shows happening across town) featured E-Orkester, Science of Silence, and Avarus Ensemble: three young ensembles, all native to Estonia, and each with their own distinct sound and approach to music making.

The highlight was the final set by Avarus Ensemble, a Tallinn-based new music collective. Although working within the rock orchestra model, the ensemble interspersed their fairy-tale love songs with unusual timbres and extended techniques. The percussive double bass repetitions, the breathy non-notes blown across the flute mouthpiece, and the galloping marimba runs all created enough unexpectedness, and even dissonance, to keep the listeners engaged. The vocals, while at times hijacking this sound world and overshadowing the instrumental musicians, were expertly and emotively sung by Liisi Koikson. A local fan informed me that Koikson was a guest vocalist who did not normally perform with the ensemble, so perhaps this explains the occasional disjunct and lack of balance.

Avarus Ensemble

Avarus Ensemble

The Avarus Ensemble performed four songs, which all consisted of poems (by four different poets) set to music by Mingo Rajandi (who also plays keyboard for the group). During “The Cap and Bells” (based on a fairy-tale poem by W.B. Yeats), chirruping woodwinds were interwoven with Reichian patterns from the strings, the layers swelling into a nuanced, compelling sonic trajectory. During “The Tiger” (based on the beloved poem by William Blake), repeated thumps on the bass drum were joined by fluttering strings and rattling percussion. Despite the well-known rhymes and metaphors of the poem, the ensemble kept the audience fully alert with their accompanying musical narrative, which at times became shrill and chaotic, and at others simmered with delicate foreboding.

Slightly less captivating than the Avarus Ensemble’s performance were the two earlier sets by E-Orkester and Science of Silence, respectively. Sitting in the museum, in the midst of works by figures like Cy Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg—art and designs that still feel challenging even after decades have passed—the music of these two ensembles felt dated and unchallenging. The E-Orkester churned out a series of poppy post-minimalist tunes on a collection of synthesizers and electronic orchestra instruments. For their part, Science of Silence spun us a web of mostly formulaic loops and long tones. Although the various “updated” classical instruments created a soundscape of engaging textures, ultimately the melodies felt dull and regurgitated (in the case of the Beethoven mash-up, literally so).

E-Orkester

E-Orkester

In their efforts to blend classical with popular music, E-Orkester and Science of Silence played on (and played up) the very tropes that people like Kristjan Järvi are trying to defeat. Both ensembles seemed to strive for a “fun” approach to a musical genre that is sometimes accused of being elitist, difficult, and, well, un-fun. Yet unlike the more forward-thinking approach found during the previous nights of the festival, this engagement with contemporary classical music lacked depth and thought. Ultimately, however, these are only two slightly less-than-impressive examples in the midst of a contemporary classical scene that is clearly not only passionate but open-minded. The daring restlessness of Kristjan Järvi and others will permeate the scene gradually, in its own time; in the meantime, younger music-makers have plenty of space—and time—to find their way.