Latest news: Lectures by Estonian composer Toivo Tulev and others are starting today

10 April 2019, 1:00
Latest news: Lectures by Estonian composer Toivo Tulev and others are starting today

A series of lectures by Estonian composer Toivo Tulev and other guests will begin today as part of course titled Contemporary Sacred and Spiritual Music in the Baltic Region at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University. These lectures are open to the public. 

Composer Toivo Tulev (Estonian Music and Theatre Academy, Tallinn former head of the composition department) will be giving two lectures on 10 and 11 April as part of a course on Contemporary Sacred and Spiritual Music in the Baltic Region. The busy teaching programme  includes, apart from lectures  (introducing key figures of contemporary music from the Baltics with an emphasis on sacred works) and workshops (listening to works, discussions) also a potential visit to the world premiere of a composition by Toivo Tulev (Brno, 14 April 2019, Cathedral of  St. Peter and Paul, 7.00 p.m.) as part of the Easter Festival of Sacred Music in Brno.

The lectures begin today, 10April, and the last one will take place on Friday, 12 April 2019. These lectures are open to the public.

The works by the Estonian composer Toivo Tulev (*1958) are dominated by spiritual themes, often directly related to Catholicism, or, perhaps more universally, with deep mysticism. Tulev's musical language is often referred to as neo-expressionist. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Tulev's music is strongly emotional, speaking intensely to the listener without lacking a rational structure. Indeed, the art of connecting the ingenious inner structure of a work with its sound beauty has always been the privilege of the greatest creators not only of sacred music (Josquin Desprez, Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice Duruflé). Tulev's teachers were, among others,  Eino Tamberg and Swedish composer Sven-David Sandström; however, his studies in electro-acoustic music in Cologne in 1996 were  among his most significant experiences.

The composer himself considers the influence of the works of Tõnu Kaljuste or Erkki-Sven Tüüra to be decisive, and he was also significantly influenced by his work in a number of early  music ensembles, including Choeur Gregoriaen in Paris; the study of chant played a decisive role in his musical formation. 

Programme:

Wednesday 10 April 10.00-12.00, N 43 (Janáčkovo náměstí 2a)

Mgr. Vítězslav Mikeš, Ph.D.  (musicologist, dramaturge of the Brno Philharmonic):

Baltic Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries

Wednesday 10 April 14.00-16.00, N 43 (Janáčkovo náměstí 2a)

Toivo Tulev, author’s lecture and discussion -

Contemporary  Sacred and Spiritual Music in the Baltic Region (in English) 

Thursday 11 April 14.00-16.00, reading room of the Faculty of Arts

(A. Nováka 1, access via the gatehouse and the courtyard of the faculty)

Toivo Tulev, author's lecture with examples of works in English

Friday 12 April 10.00-12.00, N 21 (Janáčkovo náměstí 2a)

Mgr. Vojtěch Dlask, Ph. D.  (Composer):

Contemporary Music of Estonia

Photo from artist’s archive

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