Noise cancellation failure (2025, premiere)

Text: Ege Ello, Malle Maltis
Artist: Jana Hanikova
Performers: Ryan Adams, Lodewijk van der Ree, John W Mathre, Birke Elisabeth Jakobson, Pille Riin Erikson, Ensemble of the Estonian Electronic Music Society

Malle Maltis: “This story goes back to ancient times, when Odysseus, on his journey home from Troy, sailed past the island of Anthemusa, where the Sirens lived. He had given orders to be tied firmly to the mast and to have the rowers’ ears plugged with wax. This was the only way to pass the Sirens safely, without their song luring everyone to their doom. The plan worked, and Odysseus with his ship escaped unharmed.
Around the same time, other ships also passed the island. Many were drawn in by the Sirens’ call and wrecked on the rocks, but some managed to escape.”

“Unde” (2025, world premiere).
Kristi Allik:

“Unde” is a Latin word that means:
– where have we come from?
– from what source?
– by what cause?

These are questions I often ponder, my “unanswered questions” represented in my music by the theme of unde.

The work is divided into four sections. It begins with traditional melodies, human voice, kannel (Estonian zither), and synthetic sounds.

The second section opens with the sound of bells; several variations of unde are heard, sung both solo and by choir.

In the third section, traditional melodies return, this time played on the flute. The music gradually becomes more intense. Fragmented voices are woven together into a complex texture, building toward a climax.

The final section reflects back on earlier themes, evoking the traditional atmosphere familiar from the beginning.

Tarmo Johannes:
“The Estonian Electronic Music Society Ensemble’s (EMA) arrangements of Veljo Tormis’ choral works ‘Hand Mill Game’ and ‘The Songster’s Childhood’ mark the beginning of the project ‘Switched on Tormis’. Referencing the title of Wendy Carlos’ legendary album ‘Switched on Bach’, EMA approaches Tormis’ music in a similar spirit. Using electronic instruments, we aim to explore the essence of Tormis’ work from a different angle—the inner power, the depth, and the repetition characteristic of folk song. These elements also define electronic music and inspire us to experiment with performing music that was not originally written with electronic instruments in mind.”

Floating Inversion (Hõljuv pööre, 2024). Kris Kuldkepp: “Floating Inversion is a new work for clavichord, analogue oscillators and live electronics. It was completed during a residency at the Estonian Center for Contemporary Music (ECCM) in last October. The sound world that The Ensemble of Estonian Electronic Music Society creates is closely linked to my experience during the residency at ECCM. For hours at a time, I was listening attentively to the character and sound of Soviet-era oscillators and ECCM’s Buchla in the cellar of a building that is one of the few surviving Renaissance-era establishments in Tallinn’s Old Town. This process of slowly getting acquitted with the instruments I had available for composing unfolded a unique sonic world. A space in which sound became almost an illusion. Within this careful listening process, I found myself asking: is the sound only in my head, or is it indeed coming from the speakers, and what happens to the space during the sound’s journey from speaker to ear? During the process of creating the work, I felt the strong presence of the spirit of Õie-Olinda Sachermann, and I would like to believe that she really did visit me in that medieval cellar. So the work is, at least fictitiously, dedicated to her.”