Estonian National Male Choir, conductor Mikk Üleoja, Karl Nieler - singing bowls in various sizes
Composed by Liisa Hirsch, text by Jaan Kaplinski
This is a live recording from the premiere of "Hing, hingeke" where the choir was surrounding the audience in the Põlva Church of St. Mary 17.08.2024
Commissioned and produced by Eerika Mark and festival "Taevapargi pühitsemine", sound engineer Aivar Päkk
Photos by Jaan Krivel and Karl Nieler
(Frequencies are occasionally very low.)
Text: 
Et keegi
miski
lõikab
valest
kehast
vale hinge
lahutab
alg-osakesteks
valesti
kokku
kasvanud maa-
ilma
ja toob
tagasi
selle
ainsa ja
õige hinge
hinge-
kese

(terrible google translate)
(That someone
something
cuts
from the wrong
body
the wrong soul
divides
into elementary particles
wrongly
grown
together 
world
and brings
back
this
only and
true soul
dear soul)

"Hing, hingeke"    for male choir and singing bowls.

This textural study for voice is a small musical excerpt sang, played and produced by the composer for the dance performance: 
"Siinsamas silmade taga"/"Right Behind Your Eyes" by Fine 5 Dance Theatre Company, 
premiere 09.11.2024 Sakala Theatre
(snapshot taken from Antonioni's Zabriskie Point)

1st excerpt from "Right Behind Your Eyes" by Fine 5 Dance Theatre

Ensemble for New Music Tallinn, cond. Arash Yazdani
All the instrumental material in this piece is derived from a poem written in 1910 by the Estonian writer Juhan Liiv. Only later did I discover that, at the time of writing, Liiv had already been suffering from schizophrenia for several years—yet he continued to produce some of his most beautiful and profound works, including this luminous text.

I began by analyzing the spectral content of Estonian syllables, extracting rhythms, overtones, and coarticulations. The structure of the work follows this process: from vowel-based overtone chords to verse-derived harmony and rhythm, and finally to melodies shaped by the contours of speech.
By working in this way, I believe the text revealed yet another layer of both lightness and darkness embedded in the language Liiv chose. With a wealth of material generated from this analysis, I sought to shape a form that would be sensitive both to the meaning of the text and to its overtone fabric.
The final section is a multilayered composition of pre-recorded voices—some of which seemed to haunt me during the creation of this work.

Hunt

Phlox Mkdk

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