Veljo Tormis

Veljo Tormis (7 August 1930 in Kuusalu - 21 January 2017) was an Estonian composer. He was called as one of the greatest living choral composers and one of the most important composers of the 20th century in Estonia.Daitz, Mimi. Ancient Song Recovered: The Life and Music of Veljo Tormis. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2004. .
The first and only major writing on Tormis in English . Includes discussion of many of Tormis’s compositions, Estonian history, and regilaul (the Baltic-Finnic runic song upon which much of Tormis’s music is based), translations of several important articles and interviews, analysis of several representative major choral works, and copious biographical information. Also includes a glossary, annotated discography, bibliography, a complete alphabetized list of works (found nowhere else in English), and a CD with several pertinent musical examples.

Internationally, he is known from his extensive body of choral music, which passes 500 individual choral songs, most of it a cappella. The great majority of these pieces are based on traditional ancient Estonian folksongs (regilaulud), either textually, melodically, or merely stylistically.

References

Other websites

 The music of Veljo Tormis
 Veljo Tormis Data Bank
 Fennica Gehrman's Tormis page (publisher) with a list of publications 

Category:1930 births
Category:2017 deaths
Category:Estonian composers