Tüür: Magma

1	Symphony No. 4 "Magma", f
2	Inquiétude du Fini, for m
3	Igavik (Eternity), for ma
4	The Path and the Traces,
Tüür: Magma
1.	Symphony No. 4 "Magma", for percussion & symphony orchestra 31:05
	Composed by Erkki-Sven Tüür
	Performed by Evelyn Glennie and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
	Conducted by Paavo Järvi
2.	Inquiétude du Fini, for mixed choir & chamber orchestra 18:29
	Composed by Erkki-Sven Tüür
	Performed by Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Mikk Üleoja
	Conducted by Paavo Järvi
3.	Igavik (Eternity), for male choir & orchestra 4:37
	Composed by Erkki-Sven Tüür
	Performed by Estonian National Male Choir, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and Mihhail Gerts
	Conducted by Paavo Järvi
4.	The Path and the Traces, for strings 12:35
	Composed by Erkki-Sven Tüür
	Conducted by Paavo Järvi
	Performed by Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

All Music Guide

Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür (1959) is among those composers who draw liberally on the broadest range of musical influences and incorporate them into a personal style that is more an organic integration than a pastiche. Tüür began his musical career in a rock band, and those roots are evident in his music, as well as a native minimalism based on ancient runic singing, and the full arsenal of contemporary compositional techniques. His music bears some resemblance to that of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara in the immediacy of its appeal and the eclecticism of its sources. Tüür's "Magma" grew out of a request by Evelyn Glennie for a percussion concerto, but the composer elected to make it a symphony featuring a percussion soloist to emphasize the integrality of the soloist and the orchestra, rather than their opposition. The composer characterizes the work's opening as "the starry sky at midnight reflected on the very still water of the lake," and he is entirely successful in evoking that image in his music -- gently shimmering clouds of woodwinds flecked with glistening metallic percussion. The single-movement work includes four contrasting sections corresponding to the movements of a traditional symphony. The rhythmically and timbrally inventive percussion solo gives the piece an attractively colorful variety of textures and moods, and its tumultuous, organically evolving development makes the title entirely apt. "Inquiétude du fini," for chamber choir and orchestra, and "Igavik," for male choir and orchestra, somehow evoke the aesthetic of Arvo Pärt without sounding at all like Pärt. "The Path and the Traces," for strings, was written as a tribute to Pärt, and contains some direct allusions to his music, but again, is distinctive and original and could never be mistaken for the work of the older composer. Tüür's colorful, evocative, and emotionally communicative music should find an appreciative audience as it is more broadly distributed internationally. Evelyn Glennie plays with spectacular virtuosity in "Magma," creating the sound of what could very reasonably be assumed to be a fully staffed orchestral percussion section. The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and the Estonian National Male Choir perform with delicacy and raw vigor, as required, under Paavo Järvi's nuanced and supple leadership. The sound quality is clean and spacious. Stephen Eddins

Gramophone

Performances and recording are first-class. If the prospect of challenging, granite-hewn musical invention has any appeal, then this is a must. David Fanning

BBC Music Magazine

Magma...is really a percussion concerto that throws Evelyn Glennie (for whom it was written) exuberantly upon a large kitchen department, with ear-stupefying results.... Virgin’s recording is of demonstration standard, the climaxes in Magma frequently awe-inspiring. Calum MacDonald