Baltic Runes

iTunes Review

Traditional Balto-Finnic literary and musical sources serve as the wellspring for the compositions on Baltic Runes. This excellent album presents choral pieces by Finnish composers Jean Sibelius and Erik Bergman and Estonian composers Veljo Tormis and Cyrillus Kreek. Paul Hillier, who is well known for his work with the Hilliard Ensemble and the Theatre of Voices, leads the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. For “Rakastava: The Lover,” Sibelius set text taken from the Kanteletar, a classic collection of Finnish poems, to create an engaging work for mixed choir. Bergman’s four-part “Lapponia” draws from the folk music of the Lapps. With charged vocal lines that chatter and swoop, the composition possesses a ritualistic power that is riveting. On “Piispa ja pakana: The Bishop and the Pagan,” Tormis incorporates folk material and Gregorian chant to tell both sides of a story about a Finnish farmer who killed a Christian bishop in 1158. Throughout the album, Hillier masterfully balances the choir sections.