Thank You, Ester Mägi

Description

"I have tried to express myself in my works in my mother tongue …"
Ester Mägi

We will show our respect and say thank you to the beloved composer Ester Mägi, who died at the age of 99.

The deeply national music of Ester Mägi is characterised by chamber music, balance and delicacy, a clear form, transparent sound, and an intimate style of expression. Chamber and choral music are central to her rich work. Her Symphony completed in 1968 and Bucolic (Bukoolika) from 1983 have earned a dignified place in Estonian symphonic music. Mägi’s chamber music has a firm and special place in the repertoire of both Estonian and foreign musicians; in addition to Estonian concert halls, ERSO’s performance of Bucolic has also been included in numerous tours. In January 2021, we celebrated Ester Mägi’s 99th birthday with an online concert, which the composer herself . Reflecting the concert in the columns of Sirp, Nele-Eva Steinfeld wrote, ‘Mägi’s work reaches the musician’s repertoire quietly, without causing big noise and an overflowing flood of emotions, but it stays in their thoughts for a long time, revealing its meaning gradually. Estonian musicians understand Mägi’s work and are able to let the values embedded in it come to the forefront, realising, as if without a word, that showing too much too quickly would destroy the moment and overshadow the inner brilliance. There is something very Estonian about Mägi’s style of expression: a smooth achievement of a goal instead of a broad line and pathos, detailed and concise chamber music instead of great dramatic development, introversion and a kind of stubborn delving into the smallest parts of a single sound and image, and self-critical hard work, which, in turn, has allowed for constant joy in the completed works.’

Programme

ESTER MÄGI
(10.01.1922 - 14.05.2021)  

Vesper     ~6'
ERSO strings
Principal Violin ARVO LEIBUR

Sonare     ~7'
TAAVI ORRO clarinet, KADRI-ANN SUMERA piano 

Duos in National Idiom (Duod rahvatoonis)     ~8'
MIHKEL PEÄSKE flute, ARVO LEIBUR violin 

The Ancient Kannel (Vana kannel)     ~11'
KADRI-ANN SUMERA klaver 

Choral Cycle Meditations (Mõtisklused) (lyrics by Anton Hansen Tammsaare)     ~7'
I: Love Is a Pearl...
II: Joy and Happiness...
III: Possible Happiness...
IV: And Yet...
V: Martyrs of Poetry
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Conductor TÕNU KALJUSTE

String Quartet No. 2 (Elegies)     ~11'
I: Lento. Allegretto grazioso
II: Moderato con marcato. Allegro con brio
III: Allegretto con delicatezza
IV: Poco adagio. Allegro agitato
STRING QUARTET ARDOR:
ARVO LEIBUR violin, KADI VILU violin, RAIN VILU viola, TÕNU JÕESAAR cello 

Bucolic (Bukoolika)     ~10'
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Conductor MIKK MURDVEE

ERSO TV broadcasts are created in cooperation with
Estonian Public Broadcasting 
Presenter Lisete Velt
Sound Engineer Kaspar Karner
Technicians Ats Treimaa, Algis Pauljukaitis

& Helipilt Grupp OÜ  
Priit Perend, Tammo Sumera, Mait Visnapuu