In a couple of days, a new work of Estonian choir music will reach its premiere. “Kadrikantaat” (St. Catherine’s Cantata) for mixed choir by Urmas Sisask bases on the texts of Estonian folklore and is directly connected to the tradition of celebrating the St. Catherine's Day on the 25th of November.
St. Catherine’s day has retained its popularity throughout the centuries and is still widely celebrated in modern-day Estonia. It marks the arrival of winter and is one of the more important and popular autumn days in the Estonian folk calendar.
The customs for the Estonian St. Catherine’s day are generally associated with the kadrisants (kadri beggars) or kadris, the tradition of which requires dressing up and going from door to door on the eve of the holiday to collect gifts, such as food, cloth and wool, in return for suitable songs and blessings. The kadris wear clean and light-coloured clothing, which is in reference to the coming snow.
For a long period of time, the music of Estonian composer Urmas Sisask has been influenced by his sincere interest in astronomy and “the mystiques of the stars”. Quite often, the musical motives of Sisask’s compositions base on the astronomical numeric relations in the mixture with the diatonic mode and “enchanting” ostinato rhythm models close to Estonian traditional folk music. Sacred choir music of Sisask is also highly rated.
“St. Catherine’s Cantata” will be premiered at the Stable of The Black Stallion, Jäneda (Nov 23rd), at the Kolu Tavern of Estonian Open Air Museum on St. Catherine’s Day (Nov 25th) and also in Tallinn, at Salme Culture Centre. The cantata will be performed by the Chamber Choir of Tallinn University of Technology and Folk Ensemble Ants & Liisu (artistic director Ahto Nurk) under the baton of conductor Peeter Perens.