Conservative to the point of being reactionary, restrained to the point of being objective and spiritual to the point of being almost unendurable, the Requiem of twentieth century Estonian composer Cyrillus Kreek is unlike any other work in the repertoire. Austere yet heartfelt, dark-hued yet radiant, rooted in the themes and harmonies of folk music yet quintessentially contrapuntal, the work sounds at times like the musical missing link between late-medieval modality and postmodernist minimalism. Setting an Estonian translation of the text of Mozart's Requiem for tenor solo and mixed chorus with orchestra plus organ, Kreek knowingly quotes the Dies Irae theme as a symbol of judgment and, knowingly or unknowingly, quotes the chimes of London's Big Ben as a symbol of eternity. But the work's harmonic language is so thoroughly integrated that these sound less like quotations than like essential facets of the work itself. Performed with ardent advocacy if not quite world-class tone and ensemble by the
Estonian National Opera Symphony and Chorus plus the Ellerhein Girls' Choir, tenor Mati Turi, and organist Piret Aidulo all led by conductor
Arvo Volmer, Kreek's Requiem may not be to every modernist's tastes. Fans of
Stravinsky may find it far too earnest while fans of Schoenberg may find it much too conventional. But fans of Fauré's Requiem who wish it less harmonically advanced and fans of Berlioz's Requiem who wish it more emotionally reserved may find much that is appealing here. The addition of orchestral transcriptions of choral Psalm settings in a suite called Musica Sacra forms a fitting, even stirring conclusion to the disc. Recorded in Pärmu Concert Hall in 2005 by Maido Maadik for Alba, the digital sound here is big, bold, and vibrant, if not especially detailed.