Reinvere: And tired from happininess, they started to dance - Concerto for two flutes, strings and percussion - On the Ship of Fools
The work of Estonian composer Jüri Reinvere (Tallinn, 1971) is better known among our eastern neighbours than in our own country. The fact that he has been living in Germany for almost twenty years will undoubtedly have something to do with it, but this composer, poet, essayist and theologian nevertheless deserves (much) more attention in our country too (although the chances are slim). That he is particularly a very well-known name in Estonia is of course obvious, not least thanks to the creatively fruitful collaboration with his compatriot, conductor Paavo Järvi. It began in 2016 in Pärnu, the birthplace of the eponymous music festival and the Estonian Festival Orchestra, with Järvi in his role as founder and driving force. A wonderful orchestra by the way, for Järvi also a dream come true, he had done everything to make his lofty ambitions a reality and succeeded in bringing the best musicians from his native country and from elsewhere in Europe to Pärnu to make music together, with the Lucerne music festival - where Järvi is also very active - as the perfect example.
[caption id="attachment_37584" align="alignleft" width="640"]
Jüri Reinvere (r.) and Paavo Järvi with the score of 'On the Ship of Fools', ahead of the world premiere on 15 July 2018[/caption]
Reinvere is an extremely imaginative composer who writes compelling music in which all conceivable human emotions are expressed both with deeply felt lyricism and with ruthless lashing, with moreover an equally colourful and varied perspective on landscapes and seascapes. There is so much suggestion in this music that it often even makes one dizzy, yet there is always the structure that keeps the most bizarre evocations in its grip. Music that also harbours much drama, is exciting and adventurous.
On this CD three works composed on commission for the music festival in Pärnu, several aspects of Reinvere's inventive composing and orchestration are highlighted. The triptych And tired from happininess, they started to dance has outwardly the characteristics of Debussy's La Mer, but in content an unrest unfolds that grows to manic proportions, with an almost crushing effect. The background of the piece is highlighted in the CD booklet: that Reinvere, in 2014, while working on his opera Peer Gynt, came into contact with the theoretical writings of American philosopher and cultural critic George Steiner. It was Steiner who believed that European culture had become suffocated under the weight of its own history, a subject that Reinvere wanted to depict in his triptych: abundance, exhaustion and emptiness appear in the work, set almost compellingly, almost continuously under high voltage and with phenomenally worked out contrasts. It is also clear that Reinvere took Järvi's 'instruction' seriously: that the dance is seized upon to allow the energy lurking within it to grow to grotesque proportions. The volcanic forces unleashed in the (expanded) brass section recall Anton Bruckner, the virtuosically juggling strings and woodwinds the equally virtuosic whirlings of Maurice Ravel.
The two-part Double Concerto for two flutes, strings and percussion also convinces through its colourful, extremely varied and dynamic character within an equally tightly controlled formal concept. The avant-garde techniques employed fortunately do not get in the way of the shimmering and even moving euphony. The composer was himself an excellent flautist in earlier years and participated as such in a military orchestra (which also spared him an unattractive place in the Soviet army).
On the Ship of Fools, conceived as a sharply profiled scherzo, goes back to Plato's Ship of Fools, found in the fourth book of The Republic, here in the translation of Gerard Koolschijn:
You must imagine a ship on which the following takes place. The owner is a sturdy fellow, stronger than all his crew members, but a bit deaf, and he doesn't see very well either, and when it comes to his knowledge of navigation, things are not much better. Now the crew get into an argument among themselves about the course the ship should take. Each thinks himself the right person to handle the helm, although they have never learned the craft and also have no papers to show where and for how long they would have received training. They even go so far as to claim that there is no training for steering a ship and are prepared to make short work of anyone who claims otherwise.
Meanwhile, they themselves hang around the owner all the time and try to persuade him in every possible way to entrust the helm to them. Sometimes those who manage to persuade him are killed or thrown overboard by others. The owner, good man that he is, is incapacitated with the help of strong drink or something else, and the mutineers take control of the ship, seize the cargo and continue sailing, eating and drinking, on a course that you would expect from such people.
As a composer you can do many things with that...
The festival orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi delivered truly sparkling performances that have been placed in a beautiful recording setting. An acquisition and for many undoubtedly more than a pleasant introduction!