Kui sa nõnda jooksed minu poole I Kristjan Mängel I drum set I 2018

Trio 95' (Robert Traksmann, Marcel Johannes Kits, Rasmus Andreas Raide) 

Estonian Music Days 2022
Sound director Teet Kehlmann / ERR

In the work “First Step, Last White” (translated as “Esimene samm — see viimane valge”), contrasting bright and active movements are set side by side, from which a detailed and continuously evolving network of meaning emerges. 

The connections that arose while working with fleeting, quickly passing details interested me. And it seemed to me that in defining these successive movements, I was at the same time engaging with an everlasting, even mechanical driving force within myself. I perceive this driving force as an essential part of motherhood.

In creating this work, I was accompanied by Part XXVIII of poet Mina Loy’s (1882–1966) cycle Songs to Johannes.

The steps go up for ever
And they are white
And the first step is the last white
Forever

Coloured    conclusions
Smelt    to synthetic
Whiteness
Of my
Emergence
/…/
And wills and words all white
Suffuse
Illimitable monotone

First Step, Last White I Trio '95 I 2022

Rosa majalis (2023) 
Ensemble U:
Taavi Kerikmäe, piano
Levi-Danel Mägila, violoncello
Tarmo Johannes, flute
Merje Roomere, violin
Helena Tuuling, clarinet
Vambola Krigul, percussion

Commissioned by Discovering Young Composers of Europe (DYCE)

“The starting point for “Rosa majalis” was a poem by Gil Vicente (1465— ca 1536) “Del rosal vengo, mi madre”. A German translation of this poem was used by Robert Schumann (1810—1856) as an opening song of his Spanisches Liederspiel (for soprano, alto and piano). Vicente’s poem is about a girl, who tells her mother that she saw love by the riverside. I was intrigued by the little voice inside us all, calling: Mother, mother, did you see? Mother, mother, did you see what I have seen? And sometimes: Mother, mother, did you see… for I cannot see. Somewhere out there is a wild rose bush—life—so beautiful in the warm summer sun and so fragrant. Yet so sharp it’s thorns. The Latin title of this piece Rosa majalis means cinnamon rose, a wild thorny bush native to forests of Europe and Siberia. Based on these reflections, the piece entails a musical journey, ending with a tribute to Robert Schumann.”

Sound director: Teet Kehlmann
Sound engineers: Rain Orgus ja Anton Ventsel
Presenter: Johanna Mängel 
Estonian public broadcast

Concert recording URR-38: DYCE 2, Jun 6, 2023

Rosa majalis I Ensemble U: I 2023

Lyrics: Opal Whiteley

Voice: Nicholas Tamagna 
Cello: Nina Behrends
Accordion: Liisa Hõbepappel 

Piece is dedicated to Toivo Tulev

The Hour Glimmering (excerpt) I countertenor Nicholas Tamagna I cellist Nina Behrends I 2023

A solo piece is like a creative laboratory for the composer. Writing it provides an opportunity to delve into the particular details of an instrument, and solo works often serve as starting points for later large-scale compositions. The title of the present work expresses precisely this idea. Anlage—meaning nucleus or germ—refers to the primordial substance, the part of the cell that forms the basis for later development. The bass clarinet work performed at today’s concert is the first in what may eventually grow into a series of solo compositions.

Last winter, when my children were sick and woke up frequently at night, listening to the songs of whales helped them fall back asleep. On such nights, the boundary between wakefulness and sleep—and also between sounds and images—was constantly shifting and blurred. Thus the whale songs, the night’s light and scent merged in my consciousness into a single moving mass, with its own variety and direction. My aim in this work is not to imitate whale song, but rather to explore and preserve their melodies, timbres, and my own experience.

Whalesong I solo bass clarinet I Taavi Orro I 2023

The starting point of this piece was a poem by Gil Vicente (1465— ca 1536) Del rosal vengo, mi madre. A German translation of this poem was used by Robert Schumann (1810—1856) as an opening song of his Spanisches Liederspiel (for soprano, alto and piano).

The dialogue in Gil Vicente’s poem between a child and a mother could be continued:

A little voice inside us all, calling — mother, mother, did you see?
Mother, mother, did you see where I have been?
Mother, mother, did you see what I have seen?
And sometimes: Mother, mother, did you see... for I cannot see.

The Latin title of this piece Rosa majalis means cinnamon rose, a wild thorny bush native to forests of Europe and Siberia, and a botanical relative of the garden rose.

Somewhere out there is a wild rose bush — life —
So beautiful in the warm summer sun and
So fragrant
Yet so sharp it’s thorns

Based on these reflections, the piece (Rosa majalis) entails three intricate parts: a journey, thorns, and a tribute to Robert Schumann.

Rosa majalis (excerpt) I Cikada I clarinet solo by Rolf Borch I 2023

Performed by Arditti Quartet
Sound engineer: Daniil Kotilevitš

This piece entails two different layers of inspiration.

In Plato's Symposium, the priestess Diotima talks of love as metaxu (in between). The piece Diotima’s Love represents this idea using constantly changing musical processes.

The musical material of the piece is based on my reflection on the piece Silent woods (Klid) by Antonín Dvořák that was at first published under the German title Waldesruhe. This is the fifth part of the cycle initially written for piano, later transcribed for cello and orchestra.
It seems to me that people are more familiar with the feeling of constant moving rather than arriving. But we are all longing for Waldesruhe, aren’t we?

This piece is dedicated to my dear friend and cellist Irene Enzlin. She knows how to appreciate Dvořák's music.

Diotima's Love I Arditti Quartet I 2024

Ariane Jebsen Alvestad, violin
Phelan Nyvoll Walker, violin
Philemon Hahn, viola

Sonja Lankinen, clarinet
Britt Sairanen, clarinet

Written for Creative Dialogue 2025
Special thanks to Anssi Karttunen & Helena Tulve 

Waters Within I string quartet & 2 bass clarinets I 2025

Ensemble U: 
Nicholas Tamagna 
Salomėja Petronytė

Klassikaraadio | ERR
Sound Director: Ats Treimaa
Sound Engineers: Anton Ventsel and Marvin Inno
Editor: Anne Aavik

Chamber opera "Põrmuline" / "The Dustborn" I excerpt from Prologue (I) I 2025

Chamber opera "Põrmuline" / "The Dustborn" I excerpt from Prologue (II) I 2025

Ensemble U:
Ryan Adams

Klassikaraadio | ERR
Sound Director: Ats Treimaa
Sound Engineers: Anton Ventsel and Marvin Inno
Editor: Anne Aavik

Chamber opera "Põrmuline" / "The Dustborn" I The Forest I 2025

Ensemble U:
Salomėja Petronytė

Klassikaraadio | ERR
Sound Director: Ats Treimaa
Sound Engineers: Anton Ventsel and Marvin Inno
Editor: Anne Aavik

Chamber opera "Põrmuline" / "The Dustborn" I Pietà I 2025

Ensemble L'Arsenale 

Livia Rado (soprano), Ilario Morciano (sax), Lorenzo Tomio (electric guitar), Igor Zobin (accordion), Roberto Durante (piano), Filippo Perocco (conductor)

Text used in the composition are excerpts from canto 13 and 16 from Dante Alighieri's „Inferno“. 

So may you escape from these dark regions
to see again the beauty of the stars,
when you shall rejoice in saying „I was there,“
see that you speak of us to others.
...
I made my own home be my gallows.

When we think of Renaissance-era Europe, we often think of great artists and scientists. It was a time when the World was „discovered“ and our modern economic system began to take root. Albeit there is no escape from the progress and splendor of the era, early modern Europe was plagued by famine, great social disparity and religious strife. Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, blossoming Florence was one’s home and one’s gallow at the same time. Piece is written in collaboration with Urmas Pappel.

INFERNO I Ensemble L'Arsenale I 2018

Liisa Hõbepappel (b. 1994) has studied journalism at the University of Tartu and composition at Heino Eller Music School in Tartu. Since 2017, Liisa is studying composition at Estonian Academy of Music with professor Toivo Tulev. She uses the language of sound to describe and interpret different social phenomena.

Her works have been performed by Estonian National Male Choir, The Young Men Choir of Estonian National Opera, Reaalmažoor Youth Orchestra, Prezioso string quartet and pianist Sten Heinoja. At last year’s Estonian Music Days, the Italian new music ensemble L’Arsenale premiered her work “Inferno”. Her texts are regularly published in the culture-oriented weekly newspaper „Sirp“. Liisa also contributes to daily broadcasts at Klassikaraadio of Estonian National Broadcasting Service.

Liisa Hõbepappel

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