Vocal ensemble Tradiophon
cond. Sarah Hänggi
sound Arev Imer
recorded on 18th June 2021, Kirche Heiligkreutz, Binningen
"Kuma" - a glow or a hollow - is composed considering a church bell sound spectre of one particular bell in Rostov cathedral complex with it's  rich spectre of particles that all contribute slightly to the decay of the bell sound. The choir is moving around those harmonies, bringing out some, matching their pitch with others, highlighting its hidden sound world.

KUMA for voices and electronics (2018/2020)

I
II 
III 
Estonian bagpipes: Katariin Raska, Ulvi Võsa, Karolin Vetevoog, Kaisa Kuslapuu, Mari Meentalo, Kerli Kislõi
Premiere recorded by Estonian Classic Radio, 01.05.2023
Be it lines of force or a forgotten contact between the earth and our bodies, the essential point of support.. Earth veins as vital paths with oscillating and resonant intersections? 
Following the events of last February in Southern Turkey and  Western Syria, the earth once again showed also its destructive power, the effects of which are also echoed in this work.
a review by Simon Cummings: https://5against4.com/2023/05/30/estonian-music-days-2023-part-3/

Earth Veins for 6 estonian bagpipes (2023)

Choreograpy: Nadja Pärssinen and Anna Venäläinen
Lights: Riku Elo
Original music: Liisa Hirsch
premiere in Finland, Kajaani 16.08. 2014

Taivaltajat(travellers/pilgrims)music for a dance performance

Four Glides is a piece in a series of works that use "gliding" - sliding slowly along a piano's strings until the vibrations start to produce overtones and sympathetic responses from neighboring strings - as the main sound source.
It is similar to a painting technique which uses a wide ink brush to make a long sweep on the canvas.
Every sweep leaves unique markings and ends when the brush reaches the frame.
Other instruments relate to the sound by listening, picking up pitches and adding their own sound to it.

soprano - Maria Valdmaa
violin -  Erika Bordon
viola - James Hewitt
bass clarinet -  Vincent Martig
double bass - Cody Takács
glide piano - Liisa Hirsch

photo by Cody Takács


Glides For Six(Gaudeamus Music Week, Utrecht 2014)

Performed by Ensemble Una Corda
Kristi Mühlig - chromatic kannel, vase and speaker
Liis Jürgens - harp, vase and speaker
Ene Nael -harpsichord, vase and speaker
sound -Liisa Hirsch

Zoom recording by the composer from the premiere on 15.02.2024, Tubina Hall, Tartu

Harmonies that instruments play in this piece have been captured from the recordings of electromagnetic waves that are sounding from the speakers inside the glass vases (unfortunately translated into ET). Other environmental recordings and recordings of glass are manipulated and filtered by the musicians while carefully moving the vases closer and away from the speakers. The hums and overtones created by the hollow insides of the vases inspired the name of the piece after one icy cold day in this winter.
video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3mZs6fQJMI

Celsius -23° for kannel, harp, harpsichord, glass vases with small speakers+live electronics

Performed by: Katariin Raska, Mari Meentalo, Kaisa Kuslapuu, Kerli Kislõi, Kadi Maria Vooglaid, Helery Kõrvemaa
Recorded live performance at Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava, Tallinn 06.04.2024

The Estonian bagpipe, which differs in range and drones from its Scottish relative, has not yet had much contemporary music written for it. “Earth Veins" is one of the first attempts to place these instruments in the context of contemporary classical music. Fortunately, the younger generation includes innovative bagpipe players interested in using their delicate and sometimes temperamental instruments in improvisational and new music contexts.

I began writing the piece composing sound material that was architecturally simple but sonically rich and always slightly changing. The title came to me in the last stages of composition, providing a necessary context for my sketches. Therefore, I have used the motif of earth veins in a more abstract sense, whether as lines of strength or forgotten contact with the ground, this most crucial support point for the human body. The harmonies of the piece are hidden in the ascending glissandos and oscillations. In such a context, the melted timbres of the instrument sometimes acquire an electric, sometimes a human-like plaintive sound, and through such playing techniques, the overtones appear slightly different each time, giving musicians space to listen and respond to what they hear. During the writing of the piece in February 2023, earthquakes struck southern Turkey and Syria, revealing the most destructive power of the earth, the effects of which also influenced this work.

Earth Veins for 6 estonian bagpipes at Tallinn Music Week 06.04.24

Performed by Triin Ruubel and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Atvars Lakstigala. Live recording from Estonian Music Days 2015

...Descending. For Solo Violin and String Orchestra

Ascending... For Solo Violin and String Orchestra

page one (2003)

Recording from Berlin Konzerthaus 31.08.2016

Performed by Orchestra of Estonian Academy of Music and Theater, conducted by Paul Mägi.

Based on a single shape, the piece consists of two different natural harmonic rows ( first part following the natural harmonics available on cello strings and second part being a combination of harmonics of other string instruments). Every natural string harmonic has its unique character, depending on the string it is produced on. Touching the string lightly can produce icy high tones or warm, flute like, lower resonances. It is an attempt to bring out the poetry of the microtonal landscape of these particular rows and observe the constant change of tone combinations that mostly occur only once. Other instruments extend the harmonies and give breathe to the structure. To add immediacy, some freedom to make intuitive choices is given to the musicians. While studying the material, I had a picture stuck in my mind as making one of the gigantic wind driven and self moving sculptures of the dutch artist Theo Jansen, hoping that if I get the calculations right, the piece will also catch a wind and reveal something in the sound, that I was unaware of.

Mechanics Of Flying (2016)

Singers of Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Elbląska Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by Marek Mos

Performed at Tartu Jaani Church, 22th of October, 2016, commissioned by Festival Afekt 
Sound engineer Mait Visnapuu and team.

Wings. For voices and 4 string ensembles. (Afekt Festival 2016)

Performed at the Estonian Music Days 2017
cond. Kristiina Poska
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
recorded by ERR Classic Radio 07.04.2017, sound engineer Aili Jõeleht

Threshold. For Orchestra. 2017 (Low frequencies, headphones recommended)

Version for bass flute, double bass and piano inside (acoustical)
Bass Flute - Monika Mattiesen
Double Bass - Jaanus Siniväli
Piano glides - Liisa Hirsch
Recorded by Klassika Raadio, photo by Harri Rospu

Cloud Tones is a piece in a series of works that use "gliding" - sliding with plastic slowly along a piano's strings until the vibrations start to produce overtones and sympathetic responses from neighboring strings - as the main sound source. Other musicians relate to the sound by listening, picking up discerning pitches and adding their own sound to it. This work creates itself every time anew on the stage.

Cloud Tones (live at the Afekt Festival 2017)

Canticum Ostrava, Ostravska Banda-S.E.M. Ensemble
conducted by Joseph Trafton,
choir master Juri Galatenko
live from St. Wenceslas church 29th August 2017, Ostrava Days 2017

WINGS for voices and 4 string ensembles (Ostrava Days 2017)

Performed by Kadri-Ann Sumera
18.04.2018, Estonian Music Days Festival, Tubin Hall, Tartu

Terrains (for a pianist and two pianos in symbiotic tuning)

Joined forces of "Estica" Wind Quintet & "Vanemuine" Quintet.
Combined phone recording from Tallinn Train Factory.

Fields. Exploration in multiphonics for double wind quintet. (phone rec.)

Vseva's Light (2005)- performed by Keiko Shichijo

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, 
conducted by Risto Joost
Live recording from ISCM World Music Days/Estonian Music Days 2019
sound engineer Tanel Klesment, ERR

Composing sound fields with natural harmonics of the strings can lead to unexpected acoustic balances and resonances full of suddenly appearing and disappearing sound colors. It creates an immediacy for the performers to react to. Sometimes the music polarises between clear resonance and noise while in silence one can still hear the echoes from the previous experience. Chords are building up and transforming in several speeds, allowing one to shift focus between the overall shape of the form and its detail, creating a similar instance that the viewer might have when looking at a(n abstract) painting.

Canvas / sulam (2019)

Music for a documentary film by Tanno Mee and Mart Raun

The End Music- Normaalne inimene (documentary)(2010)

Canvas for string orchestra - excepts - slowed down version

The End (2011)

Light and greys have a certain feeling for me in this piece, 
as coming from a state where there is no sadness or joy. 
Only light beyond ordinary feelings, and even after, when the soundscape immerses into the gray shadows, there is still a quiet memory of that light.

Performed by: Vsevolod Pozdejev  (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre)


Vseva's Light (2005/07)

Stockholm Saxophone Quartet:
Mathias Björnstad
Jörgen Pettersson
Anna Magnusson
Linn Persson

Livestream: Johan E.Andersson
The concert was presnted by Estonian Music Days 2020

As I studied the recordings of various wolf howls I quickly learned that sensing each other’s presence through songs or voices, and the power or intimacy such a common experience creates is familiar both to people and the loneliest wolf cub. I viewed the spectral track of two different wolf packs and found fascinating musical references in the howling ensembles of the pack members. For example, in one of my recordings, the alpha established a specific pitch, the next wolf joined by sliding downwards, the third by sliding upwards and together they reached a pulsating unison that resounded throughout the woods. This pitch was also picked up on the other side of the forest and so they kept answering each other in this multi-choral manner for three minutes. While the pulsating unison might amplify the sound and give the impression that the number of wolves is greater, without the purpose of claiming territory the wolves’ bodies release happiness hormones and strengthen the ties within the pack.
In these 3 pieces similarly to wolves, the saxophones interact with each other in a temporally flexible manner, choosing and synchronising entrances and listening to the delicate microtonal shades of the unison.

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