Tüür: Seventh Symphony / Piano Concerto

Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür s Seventh Symphony (2009), dedicated to the Dalai Lama, is a choral symphony like no other. It is a powerful vector-based work in Tüür s new compositional mode, in which the orchestra only intermittently frames and supports the voices. The texts that the NDR Choir sings include words of the Buddha from the Dhammapada but also utterances of more contemporary visionaries, from Gandhi to Mother Theresa. The Piano Concerto, like the symphony, was composed for the Hessischer Rundfunk and given its premiere at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, where this album was recorded. As Paul Griffiths notes, The concerto is also music on two planes, now orchestra and piano, though this time both are continuous and continually in the process of meeting. Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola gives an exceptional performance, responding to the surging waves of the orchestra and the inspired direction of Paavo Järvi.