March 5th, 2015, at St Luke’s Tartu. A beautiful contemporary sacral building and good acoustics, too. Audience: about 30, which is normal. The concert was part of the ‘Contemporary Music Festival dedicated to Heino Eller.’ We performed with a bit of an unusual ensemble:
Kadri Sepalaan – violin, Külli Kudu – accordion, arrangements, Kristo Käo – guitar, theorbo.
Program:
Edgar Arro. Five contrasts (1963), arr. Külli Kudu
– Largo
– Allegro assai
– Lento
– Presto
– Allegro
Lauri Jõeleht. Ring (2000), “Now we see from the mirror as a mystery…” (1999)
Lepo Sumera. Two pieces for solo violin
– Rapsodico
– Energico
Rene Eespere. Evocation (1997)
Timo Steiner. The City of Good Thoughts (2005)
Mart Jaanson. Variations, arr. Külli Kudu
Always Pick the Right Tools for the Job
Originally a piano piece, this minimalist composition by the Estonian composer Mart Jaanson was adapted to our trio as a welcome addition to the program. First, I planned to play the classical guitar in this piece, but as the tonality was E-flat major, it turned out impossible. At least, it would not have sounded as effortless as it should. So I came up with a little trick: I brought my theorbo, which was tuned at 415 Hz, and enjoyed playing lots of open strings and not having to worry about being heard.
Edgar Arro’s set of pieces, ‘Five Contrasts,’ is originally composed for the organ. This means it takes at least three normal instrumentalists to recreate it in full. Külli Kudu had made the arrangement for our trio, but the guitar was a bit overridden by the volume of the violin and accordion. So I had no other option but to use an electric guitar here. An example:
