Helena Tulve

WORKS FOR THE STAGE

Operas

• Wölfe

  2022
  soloists, mixed choir, children's choir, symphony orchestra
  Libretto: Nina Gühlstorff
  Fp: June 24, 2022, Mecklenburg State Theatre, Schwerin, Germany. Cast: Morgane Heyse, Itziar Lesaka, Martin Gerke, Nicholas Isherwood, Marius Pallesen, Cornelia Zink and Markus Sung-Keun Park, Mecklenburg State Theatre's Children's Choir, Opera Chorus and Orchestra, conductor  Eckehard Stier, stage director Nina Gühlstorff
  Commissioned by: Mecklenburg State Theatre with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
  
• It Is Getting So Dark

  • Audio

  • It Is Getting So Dark / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Ann Õun (flute), Vigo Uusmäe (French horn), Madis Metsamart (percussion), Heili Eespere (viola), Mati Lukk (double bass), Eda Peäske (harp), cond. Paul Hillier

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  Chamber-opera
  2004
  65'
  female choir, flute, horn, percussion, viola, double bass, harp
  Text: Sei Shoaenagon “Pillow Book”
  Fp: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Ann Õun (flute), Vigo Uusmäe (French horn), Madis Metsamart (percussion), Heili Eespere (viola), Mati Lukk (double bass), Eda Peäske (harp), cond. Paul Hillier, director Anu Lamp; June 16, 2004, Tallinn City Theatre
  Commissioned by: Paul Hillier
  

Musical and/or drama and/or dance works for stage

• Visiones

  mystery
  2022
  90'
  vocal ensemble and soloists, mixed choir, kannel, 2 nyckelharpas, theorb, dulcian, double bass, organ, 2 French horns, baroque vocal- and instrumental ensemble
  Text: after fragments of sacred representation found in Santa Maria della Fava and the gospel of Mary Magdalene
  Fp: Vox Clamantis (conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve), Cappella Marciana (conductor Marco Gemmani), baroque ensemble of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Venice, Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel), Marco Ambrosini and Angela Ambrosini (nyckelharpa), Alvise Zanella (theorb), Michele Fattori (dulcian), Alvise Mason (organ), stage director Marius Peterson; Septembre 21, 2022, St Mark's Basilica, Venice, the 66th International Festival of Contemporary Music of Venice Biennale
  Commissioned by: Venice Biennale with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
  
• Music for dance performnce "Tempo"

  Co-author Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes
  2017
  60'
  fixed media, sound objects
  Fp: August 19, 2017, Noblessner Harbour, produced by Väike Objekt A, Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava and Vaba Lava
  

WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA

Works for symphony orchestra

• Signs and Signals

  • ERR

  2025
  13'
  symphony orchestra
  Fp: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; March 14, 2025, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
  
• Wand’ring Bark

  • ERR

  2024
  10'
  symphony orchestra: 2222, 4231, 2, harp, strings
  Fp: Estonian Festival Orchestra, conductor Paavo Järvi; July 18 and 19, 2024, Pärnu Concert Hall, Pärnu Music Festival
  Commissioned by: Paavo Järvi and Pärnu Music Festival
  
• Mäena vaikin ma paljust [Being Mountain I Remain Silent]

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • Being Mountain I Remain Silent / Klaaspärlimäng Sinfonietta, conductor Andres Mustonen

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  Helena Tulve: “The seed of this piece is a work with the same title by the jewelry artist Kadri Mälk. Instead of the comment, I would like to share a haiku by Matsuo Bashō:
  
  horo horo to
  yamabuki chiru ka
  taki no oto
  
  quietly, quietly
  yellow mountain roses fall—
  sound of the rapids
  (translated by Makoto Ueda)
  
  Yellow mountain rose (Kerria japonica) is a wild rose that grows on mountains in shadowy places and in Japanese the plant is called ‘yamabuki’, which means ‘the breath of the mountain’.”

  2013
  15'
  symphony orchestra: 2222, 2200, 2, strings
  Fp: Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta, conductor Andres Mustonen; July 18, 2013, Tartu St. John's Church, Glasperlenspiel Festival
  Commissioned by: Glasperlenspiel Festival
  Distributor: EMIC HT 014
  
• Anastatica

  • Pdf
  • Audio
  • Video

  • Anastatica / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts

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  I Me kõrb on lõputu
  II Kaevud
  2011
  12'
  symphony orchestra: 2222, 2200, 1, strings
  Fp: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; October 22, 2011, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, festival NYYD. Uppsala Chamber Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; January 26, 2012, Uppsala
  Commissioned by: Festival NYYD and Uppsala Chamber Orchestra
  Distributor: EMIC HT 016
  
• Extinction des choses vues

  • Audio
  • Video

  • extinction des choses vues / Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts

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  2007
  13'
  symphony orchestra: 3333, 4331, 1+4, piano, harp, strings
  Fp: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; October 21, 2007, Estonia Concert Hall, festival "Nyyd"
  Commissioned by: Festival NYYD
  CD "Helena Tulve. Arboles lloran por lluvia", ECM (2014); Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  
• Sula [Thaw]

  • Audio

  • Sula / Estonian National Symphony orchestra, conductor Toomas Vavilov

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  What I mean by thaw is the process of melting – the transformation of thoughts, materials, timbre or sounds from one state to another. One of the catalysts for the piece is quite a current hot idea of climate change, the idea of a huge mountain of ice melting. It is initially, cold, bright and glittering, then turns from ethereal and unreal as it approaches us from the horizon, grows and grows and becomes more palpable and finally, after a long process of release, opens into a huge, teeming, roiling mass of water whose energy and destructive power are hard to perceive. But the one who leaves can capture the clear direction of movement and uncontrollable character.
  
  Helena Tulve

  1999
  16'
  symphony orchestra: didgeridoo, 3333, 4330, 5, piano, harp, strings (16/14/12/10/8)
  Fp: Estonian National Opera’s Symphony Orchestra, Tommi Mansikka-Aho (didgeridoo), cond. Paul Mägi; November 23, 1999, Tallinn, Estonia Concert Hall, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  CD „Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Toomas Vavilov
  Manuscript

Works for chamber orchestra

• Vers l'autre clarté

  Dedicated to Kaija Saariaho
  2024
  14'
  chamber orchestra: 1000, 0000, percussion, piano, harp, strings, electronics
  Fp: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble U:, Ensemble of the Estonian Electronic Music Society, conductor Kaspar Mänd; October 5, 2024, Tallinn House of Blackheads
  Commissioned by: Estonian Centre of Contemporary Music
  
• Taeva ja maa vahel [Between Heaven and Earth]

  Part of the joint composition "Hiroshima - Nagasaki" by Malle Maltis, Liisa Hirsch, Tatjana Kozlova-Johannes, Helena Tulve, Toivo Tulev and Eugene Birman
  1. Taevas
  2. Eikusagil
  3. Langemine
  2015
  9'
  chamber orchestra: percussion, strings
  Fp: Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta, conductor Andrus Kallastu; July 10, 2017, Tartu St. John's Church, Glasrperlenspiel Festival
  

Works for string orchestra

• Hingamisveele [To the BreathingWater]

  • Audio

  • Hingamisveele / Munich Chamber Orchestra, conductor Alexander Liebreich

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  2011
  15'
  string orchestra
  Fp: Munich Chamber Orchestra, conductor Alexander Liebreich; October 5, 2011, Ravensburg, October 6, 2011, München Prinzregententheater
  FpEst: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; October 9, 2020, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: musica femina münchen
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  

WORKS FOR SOLO INSTRUMENT(S) AND ORCHESTRA

Works for flute and orchestra

• Hõbevalge [Silverwhite]

  • Audio
  • Video

  • Hõbevalge / Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Monika Mattiesen (flute), conductor Mikk Murdvee

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  Version of the piece with same name written in 2008
  2013
  17'
  flute, string orchestra
  Fp: Monika Mattiesen (flute), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Mikk Murdvee; June 7, 2013, Tartu St. John's Church, Estonian Composers' Festival
  

Works for violin and orchestra

• Hõbevalge [Silverwhite]

  • Audio

  • Silverwhite / Jaakko Kuusisto (violin), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Eri Klas

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  2007/2008
  13'
  violin, string orchestra
  Fp: Jaakko Kuusisto (violin), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Eri Klas; April 12, 2008, Lahti Sibeliustalo, Finland
  FpEst: Jaakko Kuusisto (violin), conductor Eri Klas; April 15, 2008, Tallinn Methodist Church
  Commissioned by: Republic of Estonia
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  

Works for cello and orchestra

• Tundmatuis vetes [In Uncharted Waters]

  • Audio

  • Tundmatuis vetes / Leho Karin (cello), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Risto Joost

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  In Uncharted Waters for solo cello and chamber orchestra is dedicated to cellist Leho Karin, whose intensity, fearlessness and complete dedication to music overwhelmed my thoughts when composing this piece. To understand its title, one might imagine oneself in the symbolic centre of life. The longer we live, the more we see; the more we are able to see, the more the chaos around us seems to grow. And we need this greater courage and trust in life to continue down the internal path of our souls. As a mental guide to the music of this composition, I offer these lines from The Far Field, a poem by American poet Theodore Roethke:
  
  ‘I learned not to fear infinity,
  The far field, the windy cliffs of forever,
  The dying of time in the white light of tomorrow,
  The wheel turning away from itself,
  The sprawl of the wave,
  The on-coming water.’
  
  Helena Tulve

  2018
  17'
  cello, string orchestra
  Fp: Leho Karin (cello), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Risto Joost; October 4, 2018, Tallinn House of Blackheads
  Commissioned by: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
  CD „New Estonian Orchestral Music“, Estonian Music Information Centre (2021); Leho Karin (cello), Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conductor Risto Joost
  

Works for piano and orchestra

• Südamaa [Heartland]

  • Audio
  • ERR

  • Südamaa / Mihkel Poll (piano), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts

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  2012/2014
  17'
  piano, symphony orchestra: 2222, 2221, 3, harp, strings
  Fp: Mihkel Poll (piano), Eesti National Symphony Orchestra, conductor Olari Elts; April 11, 2014, Estonia Concert Hall, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
  

Works for two or more soloists and orchestra

• L'ombre derrière toi

  • Audio
  • ERR

  • L'ombre derrière toi / Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, soloists Tõnu Jõesaar, Leho Karin and Peeter Klaas, conductor Juha Kangas

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  2011
  16'
  3 gambas (soprano, tenor, bass), strings or string orchestra
  Fp: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, soloists Tõnu Jõesaar, Leho Karin and Peeter Klaas, conductor Juha Kangas; January 21, 2012, Tallinn House of Brotherhood of Black Heads
  Commissioned by: Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
  CD „Estonian Premieres“, Alpha Classics (2022); Estonian Festival Orchestra, conductor Paavo Järvi
  Manuscript

WORKS FOR ENSEMBLE

Duos

• Elegeia

  • Audio

  • Elegeia / Anna-Liisa Eller, Taavi Kerikmäe

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  ‘Elegeia’ (‘elegy’ in Greek) – a song, poem or music that conveys internal sadness and grief brought on by loss, death, love or war and that may lead to consolation through acknowledging the value of what was lost.
  
  To live in this world
  you must be able
  to do three things:
  to love what is mortal;
  to hold it against your bones knowing
  your own life depends on it;
  and, when the time comes to let it
  go,
  to let it go.
  (Mary Oliver, “In Blackwater Woods”)
  
  This piece is dedicated to Anna-Liisa Eller and Taavi Kerikmäe.
  
  Helena Tulve
   

  2024
  14'
  kannel, pump organ
  Fp: Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel), Taavi Kerikmäe (pump organ); April 27, 2024, Tartu University Museum, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days
  
• Awe

  2023
  15'
  violin, piano
  Fp: Sarah Saviet (violin), Joe Houston (piano); October 28, 2023, Great Guild Hall, Tallinn, contemporary music festival "Afekt"
  Commissioned by: Festival "Afekt"
  
• Farewell, farewell

  • Pdf

  Obligatory piece at the Young Artist Competition 2022
  2021
  7'
  flute, piano
  Fp: Semi-finalists of the National Flute Association's Young Artist Competition; August 12, 2022, Chicago Hilton, USA
  Commissioned by: The National Flute Association (USA)
  Distributor: EMIC HT 020
  
• higher than the soul can hope and mind can hide [kõrgemale kui hing võib loota või meel varjata]

  • Audio

  • higher than the soul can hope and mind can hide / Juta Õunapuu-Mocanita, Triin Ruubel (violins)

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  Dedicated to Triin Ruubel and Juta Õunapuu-Mocanita
  2015
  13'
  2 violins
  Fp: Triin Ruubel, Juta Õunapuu-Mocanita (violins); April 12, 2015, 1st studio of Estonian Public Broadcasting, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival
  
• Pulss, mõõn ja voolamine [Pulse, Ebb and Flow]

  • Pdf
  • Audio
  • Video

  • Pulss, mõõn ja voolamine / C. Hoitenga (bass flute), T. Kerikmäe (piano)

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  2012
  10'
  bass flute, piano
  Fp: Camilla Hoitenga (bass flute), Taavi Kerikmäe (piano); October 23, 2012, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  Distributor: EMIC HT 009
  
• Nagu jõgi mere poole [As a River Towards the Sea]

  • Pdf

  Obligatory piece at the Contest for Estonian wind players and percussionists 2012
  2011
  7'
  saxophone, piano
  Fp: March 23, 2012, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, the Republican Wind and Percussion Players’ Competition 2012
  Distributor: EMIC HT 001
  Manuscript
• To Night-Travellers, the Light

  • Audio
  • Video

  • To Night-Travellers, the Light / Silver Ainomäe (cello), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano)

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  2009
  cello, piano
  Fp: Silver Ainomäe (cello), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano); April 22, 2009, Tallinn Town Hall, Estonian Music Days Festival 2009
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival 2009
  Manuscript
• Lendajad [Soarers]

  • Audio

  • Lendajad [Soarers] / Monika Mattiesen, Neeme Punder

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  2005
  12'
  2 players: piccolo flute, flute, alto flute; piccolo flute, flute, bass flute
  Fp: Ensemble Cyberstudio: Monika Mattiesen, Neeme Punder; May 12, 2005, Theatre No99, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: Ensemble Cyberstudio
  CD „Monika Mattiesen. Manuscript”, Estonian Radio (2006); Monika Mattiesen (flutes), Neeme Punder (flutes)
  Manuscript
• … il neige

  • Audio

  • …il neige / Ene Nael (harpsichord), Kristi Mühling (kannel)

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  2004
  9'
  harpsichord, Estonian kannel
  Fp: Ene Nael (harpsichord), Kristi Mühling (Estonian kannel); April 5, 2004, Tallinn, IV International Harpsichord Days
  Commissioned by: International Harpsichord Days
  CD “Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Ene Nael (harpsichord), Kristi Mühling (kannel)
  
• effleurements, éclatements…

  2003
  8'
  guitar, percussion
  Fp: Reinbert Evers (guitar), Stephan Froleyks (percussion); March 13, 2004, Köln, Deutschlandfunk, Sendesaal, Forum neuer Musik Köln 2004
  Commissioned by: DeutschlandRadio
  
• Passage secret

  • Audio

  • Passage secret / Tarmo Pajusaar, Meelis Vind

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  1999
  7'
  2 clarinets
  Fp: Tarmo Pajusaar, Meelis Vind; October 15, 2001, Estonian Academy of Music, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: NYYD Ensemble
  Manuscript
• Saar [Island]

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • Saar / Harry Traksmann (violin), Toomas Vavilov (clarinet)

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  The island – the figure which could mean many contradictionary things, such as isolation, departure or hiding place. These symbols were my guide during the composition process. But lately I have had quite different association related to this piece– a tomb of Rainer Maria Rilke at the top of the hill next to Raron church at Switzerland.
  
  Helena Tulve

  1993
  7'
  violin, clarinet
  Fp: Maano Männi (violin), Tarmo Pajusaar (clarinet); March 22, 1994, Tallinn, Estonian Music Days Festival
  CD „Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Harry Traksmann (violin), Toomas Vavilov (clarinet)
  Distributor: EMIC HT 015
  Manuscript

Trios

• Becoming Light – Music for Kaija

  2023
  13'
  tenor saxophone, accordion, double bass
  Fp: Trio Feedback: Ricard Capellino (tenor saxophone), Esteban Algora (accordion), Dario Calderone (double bass); September 17, 2023, Palau des Arts, Valencia, Spain, Festival Ensems
  Commissioned by: Trio Feedback with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
  
• Emergence I. Flowering out of the Dark

  • Audio

  • Emergence I. Flowering out of the Dark / Yxus Ensemble

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  Emergence I. Flowering out of the dark
  
  Emergence – in systems theory, a property which guarantees the integrity of the system that the elements of the system do not have on their own. The word ‘emergence’ also has other meanings, such as becoming visible, creation, appearance; the Latin word ‘emergere’ provides additional shades of meaning: to appear from darkness into light, surface, materialize, clarify, sound, become perceptible.
  
  I have borrowed the subtitle of the composition from the poem The Rose by one of my recent favourite poets Theodore Rothke. According to Roethke’s expert Richard Blessin, in this poem “sound and silence, rootedness and fluidity, motion and stillness, sea and land, wind and light, are folded in the petals of the rose, which keeps and gathers all until everything comes to one.” Here, the rose symbolises integrity, the union of contrasts, the energetics of the process of life itself.
  “But this rose, this rose in the sea-wind,
  Stays, Stays in its true place,
  Flowering out of the dark.”
  
  Helena Tulve

  2020
  15'
  violin, cello, piano
  Fp: Harry Traksmann (violin), Leho Karin (cello), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano); September 20, 2020, Chamber Hall of Estonian National Opera, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days
  
• The Night Sea Journey

  • Audio
  • Video

  • The Night Sea Journey / Trio Accanto

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  2017
  16'
  saxophone, percussion, piano
  Fp: Trio Accanto (Marcus Weiss (saxophone), Christian Dierstein (percussion), Nicolas Hodges (piano); November 1, 2017, Museum of Estonian Architecture, International Contemporary Music Festival Afekt
  Commissioned by: Festival Afekt
  
• Iga säde on arvel II. Loori varjus [Every Spark Is Numbered II. Behind the Veil]

  Every Spark is Numbered II, with the subheading „Behind the Veil“, is a part of a larger cycle that acquired its title from an excerpt of a letter by Emily Dickinson. A veil that is constantly and continuously changing its shape and what it covers also hides the things from us that we cannot or are not able to see. And yet there is something that glows through everything that invites us.
  
  Helena Tulve
  (from booklet of Estonian Music Days 2016)

  2015
  harp, harpsichord, kannel
  Fp: Ensemble Una Corda; October 29, 2015, Kadriorg Art Museum
  Commissioned by: Una Corda
  
• Rimlands

  • Audio

  • Rimlands / Diana Liiv (piano), Leho Karin (cello), Toomas Vavilov (clarinet)

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  I secret garden – blanc
  II secret garden – noir
  III pathless land
  2012
  20'
  clarinet, cello, piano
  Fp: Paul Meyer (clarinet), Alban Gerhardt (cello), Thomas Larcher (piano); May 12, 2012, Casòn Hirschprunn, Italy, May 14, 2012, Swarovski Kristallwelten, Austria
  FpEst: Toomas Vavilov (clarinet), Leho Karin (cello), Diana Liiv (piano); November 26, 2013, Tallin Teachers' House
  Commissioned by: Swarovski tourism services gmbH, Alois Lageder / VIN-o-TON
  CD "Alive", Ansambel U: (2015); Ansambel U: (only 3rd part)
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  
• Ma kuulsin sind laulmas [I Heard You Singing]

  • Audio

  • I Heard You Singing / PaukenfEst: Anto Õnnis, Madis Metsamart, Vambola Krigul

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  2010
  15'
  3 percussionists
  Text: Tõnu Õnnepalu
  Fp: Percussion Ensemble PaukenfEst; May 21, 2010, Viljandi St. Paul Church; May 29, 2010, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Chamber Hall, festival PaukenfEst 10
  Commissioned by: Percussion Ensemble PaukenfEst
  Manuscript
• Silmajad [Beholders]

  • Audio

  • Silmajad / Una Corda

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  Version of the piece with the same title written in 2006
  2006/2009
  kannel, harp, harpsichord
  Fp: Ensemble Una Corda: Kristi Mühling (kannel), Liis Jürgens (harp), Ene Nael (harpischord); February 14, 2009, Kadriorg Palace, in the series of "Academic Chamber Music"
  CD "Una Corda", Una Corda (2011); Ensemble Una Corda: Liis Viira (harp), Kristi Mühling (kannel), Ene Nael (harpsichord) (arranged by Una Corda)
  CD „Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre 90“, ERR, EMTA (2009); Ene Nael (harpsichord), Kristi Mühling (kannel), Liis Jürgens (harp)
  
• Silmajad [Beholders]

  • Audio

  • Silmajad / Kristi Mühling, Ella Maidre and Liisi Laanemets (kannel)

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  2006
  7'
  3 kannels
  Fp: Kristi Mühling, Maarja Maasing, Liisi Laanemets; February 17, 2006, KUMU Art Museum
  Commissioned by: KUMU Art Museum
  
• lumineux/opaque

  Light and matter have an influence on each other.
  Matter can swallow up light, reflect it, refract it, disperse it and radiate it.
  An object that swallows up all light and reflects nothing is absolute black.
  The sun is an absolute black body, its radiance is warmth.
  Every body radiates.
  The mirror reflects light and sends it back as your own image.
  A piece of glass breaks light and can create the rainbow spectrum.
  Surface irregularities, and droplets of water vapour in the air, create diffusion, random directional changes in light.
  Materials that are not mirrors filter light, changing the spectrum through absorption and selective reflection.
  An object that reflects light or which absorbs light is opaque.
  
  Helena Tulve

  Version of the piece with the same title written in 2002
  2002/2004
  11'
  clarinet, cello, piano, 3 glasses
  Fp: New Baltic Trio: Andres Paas (piano), Marcis Kulis (clarinet), Vytautas Sondeckis (violoncello); August 9, 2004, 10th Kuressaare Chamber Music Days
  
• lumineux/opaque

  • Audio
  • Video

  • lumineux/opaque / Harry Traksmann (violin), Leho Karin (cello), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano)

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  Light and matter have an influence on each other.
  Matter can swallow up light, reflect it, refract it, disperse it and radiate it.
  An object that swallows up all light and reflects nothing is absolute black.
  The sun is an absolute black body, its radiance is warmth.
  Every body radiates.
  The mirror reflects light and sends it back as your own image.
  A piece of glass breaks light and can create the rainbow spectrum.
  Surface irregularities, and droplets of water vapour in the air, create diffusion, random directional changes in light.
  Materials that are not mirrors filter light, changing the spectrum through absorption and selective reflection.
  An object that reflects light or which absorbs light is opaque.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2002
  11'
  violin, cello, piano, 3 wine glasses
  Fp: New Tallinn Trio; May 7, 2002, Tallinn, Blackhead Brotherhood's House
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  CD „Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Harry Traksmann (violin), Leho Karin (cello), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano)
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  Manuscript

Quartets

• There Are Tears at the Heart of Things

  2018
  15'
  alto flute, bass clarinet, harp, percussion
  Fp: Ensemble Adapter; February 17, 2018, Akademie der Künste Berlin
  Commissioned by: International Contemporary Music Festival Afekt
  
• Every Spark Is Numbered III. Rio Abajo Rio

  • Audio

  • Every Spark Is Numbered III. Rio Abajo Rio / Ensemble Nordic Affect

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  „Every Spark Is Numbered III. Rio Abajo Rio“
  
  Rio Abajo Rio or A River under the river is an invisible stream in our souls that one can only feel from the inside. The river wades through the mountains, valleys, deserts, and oceans as well as suffering, expectations, light and darkness. From the depth of it, we can see the reflection of the beauty, peace, claruty, and infinity.
  
  Helena Tulve
  (from the booklet of Estonian Music Days 2016)

  2016
  13'30''
  harpsichord, violin, viola, cello
  Fp: Ensemble Nordic Affect; April 13, 2016, Kanuti Guild Hall, Tallinn, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: Festival Estonian Music Days
  
• les nuages parfois

  • Audio

  • les nuages parfois / ensemble diferencias

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  /

  2009
  10'
  recorder quartet
  Fp: ensemble diferencias; May 28, 2010, Kulturraum H95 Basel; May 29, 2010, Kulturhaus Helferei Zürich; June 5, 2010, Dorfkirche Veltheim, Winterthur
  FpEst: ensemble diferencias; July 16, 2011, seaplane anghars of Estonian Maritime Museum, within Tallinn 2011 - European Capital of Culture
  Commissioned by: ensemble diferencias
  
• stream

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • stream / Ensemble Phoenix

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  +

  /

  … unknown path, slow deviation, quiet fluctuation, unexpected currents, grains in the quiet wind, flux and reflux, airwaves, a melody …
  “stream” is dedicated to Seattle Chamber Players.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2006
  14'
  4 players: flute/piccolo/bass flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello
  Fp: Seattle Chamber Players; October 29, 2006, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, USA
  FpEst: Ensemble Phoenix Basel, conductor Jürg Henneberger; October 18, 2007, Estonia Concert Hall, festival NYYD
  Commissioned by: Seattle Chamber Players
  Distributor: EMIC HT 005
  
• Öö [Night]

  • Audio

  • Öö [Night]

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  /

  alina / nijero / yö / night / alu / noapte / ya / nat / bi / noc / za / naktis / bulu / noche / id / nag / butu / noite / tuta / mrag / ehod / notte / tun / ihadan / mpimpra / ejszaka / nox / cawo / tema / lannuit / fuku / noz / po / hmong / lailah / gau / nucch / oidhche / habeen / gece / nuit / oiche / guddi / nacht / öö…-…the period when the sun is on the other side of our horizon.
  
  Helena Tulve

  1997
  12'
  saxophone quartet
  Fp: Stockholm Saxophone Quartet; November 26, 1997, Tallinn, Estonia Concert Hall, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  CD "10 Years After", Estonian Authors' Society (2003); Stockholm Saxophone Quartet
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); Stockholm Saxophone Quartet
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  Manuscript
• Phainomenon

  • Audio

  • Phainomenon / Ensemble Voces Musicales, conductor Risto Joost

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  1989/1990
  6'
  4 players: piano, celesta, synthesizer, marimba, tamtam, tape
  Fp: Mart Siimer (piano), Mait Meibaum (celesta), Kristo Rajasaare and Kaspar Eisel (percussion), cond. Andrus Kallastu; May 30, 1991, Tallinn
  

String quartets

• nec ros, nec pluvia…

  • Audio

  • nec ros, nec pluvia… / Silesian String Quartet

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  2004
  10'
  string quartet
  Fp: Silesian String Quartet; April 13, Tartu, Vanemuise Concert Hall, Estonian Music Days Festival
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); Silesian String Quartet
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  Manuscript

Quintets

• Und von liehte vinster

  • Audio

  • Und von liehte vinster / Peeter Sarapuu (bassoon), Tõnu Jõesaar (cello), Arvo Leibur (violin), Kaido Välja (violin), Rain Vilu (viola)

  -

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  /

  Und von liehte vinster gets its title from a text by Meister Eckhart where he quotes St. Augustine: “The soul has a secret entrance to the divine nature, when all things become nothing for it.” And Eckhart continues: “On earth, this entrance is nothing but pure detachment, and when the detachment reaches its climax, it becomes ignorant with knowing, loveless with loving, and dark with enlightenment.” The last sentence sounds in Middle High German as follows: “Und sô diu abegescheidenheit kumet ûf daz hoehste, sô wirt si von bekennenne kennelôs und von minne minnelôs und von liehte vinster.”
  
  Helena Tulve

  2012
  15'
  bassoon, string quartet
  Fp: Martin Kuuskmann (bassoon), Mari-Liis Päkk (violin), Triin Ruubel (violin), Mihhail Zemtsov (viola), Jason Calloway (cello); July 28, 2012, Pärnu Concert House, Järvi Summer Festival
  Commissioned by: Järvi Summer Festival
  CD „New Estonian Chamber Music“, Estonian Music Information Centre (2017); Martin Kuuskmann (bassoon), Mari-Liis Päkk (violin), Triin Ruubel (violin), Mihhail Zemtsov (viola), Jason Calloway (cello)
  
• stream 2b

  • Pdf

  „stream 2“ may be played in different versions:
  1. „stream 2“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano
  2. „stream 2a“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (piano is omitted)
  3. „stream 2b“ flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (percussion is omitted)
  
  … unknown path, slow deviation, quiet fluctuation, unexpected currents, grains in the quiet wind, flux and reflux, airwaves, a melody …
  
  Helena Tulve

  Version of the piece "stream" written in 2006
  2006/2011
  flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
  Fp: Ensemble Uusinta; March 24, 2011, Hall of Estonian Academy of Sciences, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Distributor: EMIC HT 013
  
• stream 2a

  • Pdf

  „stream 2“ may be played in different versions:
  1. „stream 2“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano
  2. „stream 2a“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (piano is omitted)
  3. „stream 2b“ flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (percussion is omitted)
  
  … unknown path, slow deviation, quiet fluctuation, unexpected currents, grains in the quiet wind, flux and reflux, airwaves, a melody …
  
  Helena Tulve

  Version of the piece "stream" written in 2006
  2006/2010
  flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion
  Fp: Ensemble U:; October 24, 2010, Arts Printing House, Vilnius, Lithuania, Festival GAIDA 2010
  Distributor: EMIC HT 012
  
• Lethe

  • Audio

  • Lethe / Karlsruhe New Music Ensemble, conductor Zsolt Nagy

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  1991
  6'
  flute, oboe, clarinet, cello, piano
  Fp: Tiina Pähklamägi (flute), Tõnis Traksmann (oboe), Tarmo Pajusaar (clarinet), Kaido Kelder (violoncello), Annika Kabel (piano); May 30, 1991, Tallinn
  Manuscript

Sextets

• Emergence II. Sans fond ni rivage

  2020/2022
  16'
  alto flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano, electronics
  Fp: Musiques Nouvelles; November 23, 2022, Bozar, Brussels, Belgium, festival "Ars Musica"
  FpEst: Ensemble U:; September 19, 2023, 1st studio of the Estonian Public Broadcasting
  
• stream 3

  Version of the piece "stream" written in 2006
  2006/2021
  14'
  clarinet, trumpet, percussion (1 player), piano, violin, cello
  Fp: Ensemble Musikfabrik, conductor Clement Power; October 23, 2021, Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, Internationl Contemporary Music Festival AFEKT
  
• Emergence II. Sans fond ni rivage

  2020
  16'
  6 performers: alto flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano + Justine Emard's installation/electronics
  Fp: Ensemble TM+, conductor Laurent Cuniot; December 2, 2021, La Seine Musicale, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
  Commissioned by: Ensemble TM+ / French Republic
  
• Maa süda [Heart of the Earth]

  • Audio
  • Video

  • Maa süda [Heart of the Earth] / Ensemble U:

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  2017
  19'
  piano and ensemble: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion
  Fp: Ensemble U:; April 8, 2017, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: Festival Estonian Music Days
  
• Languse ööl [At the Night of Decline]

  Version of the piece "in a nakht fun yeridah" written in 2006
  2006/2015
  16'
  flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano
  Fp: Ensemble U:; December 10, 2015, MACRO, Rome, Festival Nuova Consonanza
  
• Le reflet du reflet [Hommage à Pierre Boulez]

  2015
  flute/piccolo, clarinet in B, violin, cello, percussion, piano
  Fp: Ensemble U:; November 12, 2015, Kultuurikatel, Tallinn, French Culture Festival Accord
  Commissioned by: Ensemble U:
  
• stream 2

  • Pdf
  • Audio
  • Video

  • stream 2 / Ensemble U:

  -

  +

  /

  „stream 2“ may be played in different versions:
  1. „stream 2“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion and piano
  2. „stream 2a“ for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and percussion (piano is omitted)
  3. „stream 2b“ flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (percussion is omitted)
  
  stream 2
  
  In the past I wished my music to remain elusive – as if it’s escaping from you, being impossible to capture or crystallize in a specific moment – but now, although I am still fond of that idea, I no longer wish to create elusive works but music that would give a vivid and profound experience. I want it to contain strength that is vague, but perceptible – the strength that is not trickling, but acting with undeniable power. Then again I still want it to retain the sensitivity of a precise equilibrium as a whole.
  
  stream – unknown path, slow deviation, quiet fluctuation, unexpected currents, grains in the quiet wind, flux and reflux, airwaves, a melody...
  
  Helena Tulve

  Version of the piece "stream" written in 2006
  Dedicated to Ensemble U:
  2006/2009
  14'
  flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano
  Fp: Ensemble U:; April 16, 2009, Estonian National Opera Winter Garden, Estonian Music Days Festival 2009
  CD "U: new estonian music", MTÜ Ansambel U (2009); Ensemble U: Tarmo Johannes (flute), Meelis Vind (clarinet), Vambola Krigul (percussion), Taavi Kerikmäe (piano), Merje Roomere (violin), Levi-Danel Mägila (cello), Rein Oja (narrator)
  Distributor: EMIC HT 006
  

Septets

• Every Spark Is Numbered I. Two Seas

  • Video

  2015
  santūr, flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, cello
  Fp: Pooyan Ataei (santūr), Tallinn New Music Ensemble, conductor Arash Yazdani; September 26, 2015, Chamber Hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Fresh Music Festival Autumnfest
  Commissioned by: Tallinn New Music Ensemble
  
• Traces

  • Audio

  • Traces / NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts

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  Heard as well as listened to. Old habits – new yearnings. The viewer’s gaze removes randomness from traces.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2001
  8'
  flute, oboe, clarinet, baritone saxophone, percussion, violin, double bass
  Fp: NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; April 10, 2001, Tallinn, Rotermann's Salt Storage, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival
  CD "Estonian Contemporary Classics. Estonian Composers II", Estonian Radio (2002); NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  Manuscript

Works for large ensemble (8+)

• Confluence I. Deux mers

  • ERR

  2025
  10'
  flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello
  Fp: Ensemble U:, Ensemble L’Itinéraire; March 13, 2025, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
  
• Where the Two Seas Meet?

  2010
  12'
  flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, horn, trombone, mandoline, guitar, piano, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
  Fp: Ensemble INSOMNIO, conductor Ulrich Pöhl; April 2, 2010, Korzo Theatre, the Hague, the Netherlands
  Commissioned by: Deutschlandradio and ISCM
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  
• ligne d'horizon

  • Audio

  • Ligne d horizon / YXUS Ensemble, conductor Kaspar Mänd

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  /

  “ligne d’horizon”
  
  The line of horizon, from Greek ‘orizein’, to limit, an imaginary line sliding away every time we try to catch it. Receding whenever we take a step towards it, yet surrounding us endlessly. Separating the sky from the land and the sea, dividing the sky into visible and invisible. Sometimes wavy and ragged, sometimes a perfect circle around us. What lies behind that line, where our eyes can’t reach? How far is this spot where light and darkness disappear?
  The piece was commissioned and premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble in 2006.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2005
  10'
  flute/piccolo flute, oboe, clarinet, mandolin, guitar, harp, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, double bass
  Fp: Nieuw Ensemble, conductor Ed Spanjaard; March 8, 2006, Utrecht, Netherlands
  FpEst: Uxus Ensemble, conductor Kaspar Mänd; April 19, 2018, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Nieuw Ensemble
  Manuscript
• abysses

  • Audio

  • abysses / Monika Mattiesen (flute), NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts

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  2003
  10'
  solo flute, flute, oboe, bassoon, trombone, percussion, viola, cello
  Fp: Carin Levine (flute), Ensemble Courage, cond. Titus Engel; December 5, 2003, Leipzig, Matrix Herbstfestival
  FpEst: Monika Mattiesen (flute), NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; October 14, 2005, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: Ensemble Courage
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); Emmanuelle Ophèle-Gaubert (flute), Mihkel Peäske (flute), NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  
• Cendres

  • Audio

  •  

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  2001
  8'
  flute, clarinet in B, percussion (2 players), 2 pianos, violin, cello, double bass
  Fp: NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; September 26, 2001, Warsaw Autumn Festival
  FpEst: NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; October 13, 2001, Tallinn, Estonia Concert Hall, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: NYYD Ensemble
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  CD "Zeit-Ton 16.10.2003: Con misterio : Unbewusstes und Underground in neuen Werken aus Estland", ORF (2003). NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  Manuscript
• à travers

  • Audio

  • à travers / NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts

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  1998
  10'
  flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, trombone, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
  Fp: NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; March 14, 1998, Assembly Hall of University of Tartu, Tartu New Music Festivities
  Commissioned by: NYYD Ensemble
  CD "Now", Elwood Muusik (2001); NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  Manuscript
• Sinine [Blue]

  • Audio

  • Sinine / NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts

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  1998
  12'
  flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
  Fp: NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts; November 15, 1998, Tallinn, St. Nicholas's Church
  Commissioned by: NYYD Ensemble
  Manuscript

WORKS FOR SOLO INSTRUMENT

Works for flute

• Feathers Falling

  2024
  14'
  flute
  Fp: Monika Mattiesen (flute); March 2, 2024, Arvo Pärt Centre
  Commissioned by: Monika Mattiesen
  

Works for oboe

• Valvaja [Guard]

  • Audio

  • Valvaja [Guard] / Kalev Kuljus

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  2002
  8'
  oboe
  Fp: Kalev Kuljus (oboe); April 27, 2002, Viljandi
  Commissioned by: NYYD Ensemble
  CD „Klassikaraadio Comes to Visit!“, ERR (2015); Ingely Laiv (oboe)
  

Works for bassoon

• Meandering

  2018
  8'
  bassoon
  Fp: Obligatory piece at the Estonian National Competition for Wind Instruments, December 11, 2018, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Organ Hall
  Commissioned by: Estonian Flute Association
  

Works for trumpet

• As if dreaming

  • Pdf

  Listen: Soundcloud
  
  As if dreaming for trumpet (2022) has been composed for the project 200 pieces celebrating bicentenary of Royal Academy of Music.
  
  The piece is taking its inspiration from the poem of Chinese poetess Li Qingzhao (1084-1151):
  
  The sky becomes one with its clouds,
  the waves with their mist.
  In Heaven’s starry river, thousands sails dance. As if dreaming, I return to the place
  where the Highest lives,
  and hear the voice from the heavens:
  Where am I going?
  I answer. «The road is long,»
  and sigh; soon the sun will be setting.
  Hard to find words in poems to carry amazement : on its ninety-thousand-mile wind,
  the huge inner bird is soaring.
  O wind, do not stop–
  My little boat of raspberry wood
  has not yet reached the Immortal Islands.
  
  (translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung)

  2022
  9'
  trumpet
  Fp: Joseph Skypala (trumpet); May 3, 2022 Royal Academy of Music, Angela Burgess Recital Hall, London
  FpEst: Adán Delgado Illada (trumpet); April 5, 2024, Tallinn, Hopner House, International Trumpet Days
  Commissioned by: Royal Academy of Music 200 Solo Pieces Project
  Distributor: EMIC HT 018
  

Works for cello

• Without love atoms would stop spinning

  • Pdf

  2020
  12'
  cello
  Fp: Arlen Hlusko (cello); June 14, 2020, Bang on a Can Marathon (online concert)
  FpEst: Jaani Helander (cello); June 6, 2021, Tallinn House of Blackheads, Tallinn String Festival
  Commissioned by: Bang on a Can
  Distributor: EMIC HT 011
  

Works for double bass

• Pimesi [Blindly]

  2018
  20'
  double bass
  Fp: Dario Calderone (double bass); April 15, 2018, Kanuti Guild Hall, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival
  

Works for piano

• Humming in my Bones

  • Video

  2024
  14'
  piano
  Commissioned by: Robert Fleitz
  CD „The Silent Voice. Robert Fleitz“, Skani (2024); Robert Fleitz (piano)
  
• Laula mulle õitsvast puust [Sing to Me about the Blooming Tree]

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • Laula mulle õitsvast puust / Kalle Randalu

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  2013
  7'
  piano
  Fp: Kalle Randalu (piano); December 17, 2013, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  Distributor: EMIC HT 003
  
• Three Songs [Kolm laulu]

  • Pdf
  • Audio
  • Video

  • Three Songs: Night Song / Kalle Randalu

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  /

  Obligatory piece at VII Estonian Pianists' Competition
  1. Night Song
  2. It Was a River in the Mountains, I Think
  3. It Is Evening, Light (Dedicated to Nora and Arvo Pärt)
  2008
  8'
  piano
  Fp: April 26, 2008, Chamber Hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, VII Estonian Pianists' Competition
  Commissioned by: VII Estonian Pianists' Competition
  CD "20th century piano", Ondine (2009); Mihkel Poll (piano)
  Distributor: EMIC HT 002
  Manuscript
• Vertige

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • Vertige / Peep Lassmann

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  A disruption in spatial sensitivity, the feeling that one’s surroundings are in motion or the body is moving in an unusual manner, a momentary loss of psychic or emotional balance, a feeling of dizziness experienced when looking down from a high place.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2000
  10'
  piano
  Fp: Toomas Vana (piano); October 31, 2000, Tallinn, International Pianists´ Festival “Klaver” ("Piano")
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  Publisher: Estonian Music Foundation
  Distributor: EMIC HT 010
  Manuscript

Works for organ

• Lacrimae rerum

  2022
  10'
  organ
  Fp: Ourania Gassiou (organ); August 13, 2022, Kassel Martinskirche, festival Brandneu, Germany
  Commissioned by: Kulturplattform St. Martin Kassel e. V. with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
  
• Emergence III. Et les courants y sont plus forts

  2020
  9'
  organ
  Commissioned by: Philharmonie de Paris
  

Works for other instrument

• Silmaja [Beholder]

  • Audio
  • Video

  • Silmaja / Kristi Mühling

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  2006
  7'
  kannel
  Fp: Kristi Mühling (kannel); September 22, 2006, Toronto
  FpEst: Kristi Mühling (kannel); March 27, 2007, ArtDepoo gallery, Tallinn
  CD "Strings Attached. The Voice of Kannel", Harmonia mundi (2021); Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel)
  CD "Contemporary chamber and solo music for kannel", Kristi Mühling (2009). Ensemble Resonabilis: Kristi Mühling (kannel), Iris Oja (voice), Tarmo Johannes (flute), Aare Tammesalu (cello)
  
• Sans titre

  • Audio

  • Sans titre / Irina Zahharenkova

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  /

  “Sans titre” refers to the artist’s prerogative, often used, to allow viewers into the preserve of analysis of one’s work. The technique seems to be especially common in titling abstract series. For me, this work is precisely a small series of images with different textures, which have deliberately been left untitled.
  
  Helena Tulve

  1999
  7'
  harpsichord
  Fp: Jukka Tiensuu, 9.04.1999; Tallinn, II Harpsichord Days
  Commissioned by: Harpsichord Days
  CD „Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Irina Zahharenkova (harpsichord)
  Manuscript

VOCAL AND CHORAL MUSIC

• Ole tervitatud, Maarja! [Hail Mary]

  • Audio

  • Hail Mary / Vox Clamantis

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  2015
  1'
  1-voice song
  Text: traditional prayer (in Estonian)
  

Works for mixed choir and orchestra

• And Death Shall Have No Dominion

  2024
  mixed choir, Baroque orchestra: 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani, positive organ, strings (44321)
  Text: Dylan Thomas (inglise keeles)
  Commissioned by: Helsinki Chamber Choir
  

Works for voice(s) and orchestra

• Lament

  • Audio

  • Lament / AFEKT Sinfonietta, Andreas Fischer (bass, conductor)

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  +

  /

  In memoriam Marju Lepajõe
  2019
  19'
  bass, sinfonietta
  Text: Hedi Rosma, quotes from the epic „Mahābhārata“, fragments of texts by Rūmī and Georg Mancelius
  Fp: Andreas Fischer (bass), Afekt Sinfonietta, conductor Andreas Fischer; October 28, 2019, Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, International Contemporary Music Festival Afekt
  

Works for voice(s) and piano

• Stella matutina

  • Audio

  • Stella matutina / Vox Clamantis, Helena Tulve (piano), conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  2012
  18'
  voice, prepared piano
  Text: in Latin
  Fp: Performance from the recording: Kadri Hunt (voice), Helena Tulve (piano); September 6, 2012, Jevgeni Zolotko's exhibition "Things" at Tartu Art House: First performance: Kadri Hunt (voice), Helena Tulve (piano); May 16, 2013, St. Augustine's Church, Penarth, Wales, Vale of Glamorgan Festival
  
• Sõnajalad [Ferns]

  1994
  11'
  mezzo-soprano (or baritone)/claves, piano
  Text: Karl Ristikivi

  Sõnajalad
  Karl Ristikivi
  
  I
  Ainult Maarjamaal maarja-sõnajalg,
  neitsi jahe lehvik,
  mille ta jaaniöö kastest rõske
  surub vastu põske.
  
  Varemeist mööda, rinnakust alla,
  vanade puude all
  mürgise juurega magusas maas
  
  Maarja, millal sa käisid me maal
  ja paitasid sõnajalga?
  Millal sa andsid talle oma nime?
  Lase sündida ime!
  
  II
  Arguse silmad on valvel
  päeval ja ööd.
  Arguse pilv on terav
  kui liblikapüüdja nõel,
  näeb liiga palju ja liiga vähe,
  näeb sellest läbi, mis lähedal,
  ja ei julge kaugele vaadata.
  
  Arguse silmad on pärani
  hirmul –
  et keegi ei võtaks ta käest,
  mida tal ei ole.
  
  III
  Sõnajalgu aknale jääkristallidest
  suletud aknale
  pitseriks pannud öö.
  Otsekui valged tardunud tiivad,
  kadunud linnu külmanud vari.
  
  Ähmane valgus kaugelt planeedilt
  põrkab tagasi tinasest peeglist
  miljoni aasta pärast.
  
  Aeg tõmbub keerdu kui söestunud paber,
  madu salvab iseenda saba.
  Hermeetiliselt suletud ruumi saladust
  ei lahenda Gideon Fell.

  
  Fp: Jean Pascal Ollivry (baritone), Catherine Boppe (piano); June 18, 1994, Abbaye de Fontfroide, France
  Commissioned by: Jean Pascal Ollivry, Catherine Boppe
  Manuscript

Works for voice(s) and other instrument(s)

• Geh bis an deiner Sehnsucht Rand

  2024
  17'
  Polish folk instruments fidel płocka and Biłgoraj suka (fiddles), vocal ensemble (8 singers)
  Text: Rainer Maria Rilke
  Fp: Maria Pomianowska (fiddles), Vocal Octet Simultaneo, conductor Karol Kisiel; September, 20, 2024, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, Poland, Warsaw Autumn
  Commissioned by: Polihymnia Foundation with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
  
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North

  2019
  60'
  4 voices, recorder, percussion
  Text: Matsuo Bashō (in English)
  Fp: Partial premiere: Theatre of Voices, Michala Petri (recorder), Ying-Hsueh Chen (percussion), conductor Paul Hillier; September 27, 2019, Kings Place, London, UK
  
• Voices I. As if dreaming

  2019
  Counter tenor, xiao, zheng, piano
  Text: Li Qingzhao (in English)
  
• Ole tervitatud, Maarja! [Hail Mary]

  • Audio

  • Ole tervitatud, Maarja! / Duo ObSolute: Riivo Kallasmaa (oboe), Jaanika Kuusik (soprano)

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  2015
  5'
  soprano, oboe
  Text: traditional prayer (in Estonian)
  
• Sinna otsime teed tagasi [We Are Searching the Way Back There]

  2014
  23'
  mezzo-soprano, flute (alto flute nad bass flute), string quartet
  Text: Ernst Enno
  Fp: Kadri Tegelmann (mezzo-soprano), Camilla Hoitenga (flutes), Insomnia-Quartet; August, 24, 2014, Palamuse Church
  Commissioned by: MTÜ Look for the 780th anniversary of the first mention of Palamuse parish
  
• Sool [Salt]

  • Audio

  • Salt / Tui Hirv (soprano), PaukenfEst

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  2011
  15'
  soprano, percussion (2 players)
  Text: Maarja Kangro, Helena Tulve, Tarvo Hanno Varres

  Sool meri on liiga suur meri on hämar, külm ja kalk tühjuse meri meres olen üksi meri on liiga tundlik, habras ja õrn meri on muutumatu üks ja ainuke vesi unustuse meri meri on ammune aeg nägemus illusioon meri on piiritu tal pole põhja ega kaldaid vesi on üks ja muutumatu teda ei tule juurde ega jää vähemaks kõik muu muudab kuju vesi, vesi mitte vesi uhub puhtaks täidab, täidab vesi hingab vesi hingab minus ma olen vesi meri kui soolane on meri? meri, sool ja vesi sõnad ja vesi sõnad nagu sool nagu sõnad valge nagu sool sool on nii vana kui palju, nii palju küsimusi nii palju kas on midagi, mille ma olen unustanud? kelle mõtteid ma mõtlen? miks on mõtlemine nii oluline? kas mõtted mõjutavad tõelust? kuidas oma meelt puhastada? tühjus, mis on tühjus? kas need on minu küsimused? miks on üksindus nii raske? miks on mu süda tühi? mida ma kardan? mis on elu sool? vesi, voolamine kõigun, kõigun, ootan, ootan, kõigun, kõigun lainetel, ootan, ootan vaikuses sool on nii vana meid on palju (Tekst Helena Tulve, Tarvo Hanno Varres & Maarja Kangro)

  Salt the sea is too vast the sea is obscure, cold and harsh the sea of emptiness in this sea I am alone the sea is too responsive, fragile and tender the sea is immutable one and only water the sea of oblivion the sea is the time gone by vision illusion the sea is infinite bottomless, shoreless water is one and immutable that does not grow nor diminishes everything changes its form not the water water cleans fills, fills the water breathes the water breathes in me I am the water the sea how salty is the sea? the sea, salt and water the words and the sea the words are like the salt like the words white as the salt the salt is so old how many, so many questions a lot is there anything I have forgotten? whose thoughts am I thinking? why is thinking so important? do the thoughts influence the reality? how to purify ones mind? void, what is the void? are those my thoughts? why is solitude so hard? why is my heart so empty? what am I afraid of? what is the salt of the life? water, flowing swinging, swinging waiting, waiting swinging, swinging on the waves waiting, waiting in the silence the salt is so old we are so many (Text Helena Tulve, Tarvo Hanno Varres & Maarja Kangro, translated by Helena Tulve)

   

  
  Fp: Tui Hirv (soprano), Ensemble PaukenfEst; July 15, 2011, seaplane anghars of Estonian Maritime Museum
  Commissioned by: Tallinn 2011 - European Capital of Cultural
  
• Mondnacht

  • Audio

  • Mondnacht / Eve Kopli (soprano), Kristi Mühling (kannel)

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  2010
  voice (soprano), kannel
  Text: J. von Eichendorff
  Fp: Eve Kopli (soprano), Kristi Mühling (kannel); May 9, 2010, Tallinn Kanuti Guild Hall, concert "Night Songs - Hommage à Robert Schumann"; June 13, 2010, Robert-Schumann-Saal, Schumannfest Düsseldorf
  Commissioned by: Schumannfest Düsseldorf
  
• North Wind, South Wind

  • Audio

  • North Wind, South Wind / Ensemble Resonabilis

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  2010
  14'
  voice, flute, Estonian kannel, cello
  Text: Song of Songs and Mawlânâ Jalâluddîn Rûmî (in English)
  Fp: Tui Hirv (soprano), ensemble Resonabilis (Tarmo Johannes - flute, Kristi Mühling - Estonian kannel, Aare Tammesalu - cello), September 1, 2010, Theatrum Hall, Tallinn, Walestonia 2010; September 5, 2010, St. Donats Arts Centre, St. Donats, Wales, Vale of Glamorgan Festival
  Commissioned by: ensemble Resonabilis
  CD "North Wind, South Wind", ERP (2012); Ensemble Resonabilis
  
• L'Équinoxe de l'âme

  • Audio

  • L’Equinoxe de l’âme / Eve Kopli (soprano, harp), string quartet of NYYD Ensemble

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  2008
  12'
  soprano, baroque harp, string quartet
  Text: Shahab al-Din Sohrawardî, translated by Henry Corbin (in French)
  Fp: Arianna Savall (soprano, harp), string quartet of NYYD Ensemble (Harry Traksmann, Juta Õunapuu, Torsten Tiebout, Leho Karin); October 7, 2008, Monaco, Opéra de Monte-Carlo
  FpEst: Eve Kopli (soprano, harp), string quartet of NYYD Ensemble; December 28, 2008, St. John's Church, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: Fondation Prince Pierre and SOGEDA
  CD "Helena Tulve. Arboles lloran por lluvia", ECM (2014); Arianna Savall (soprano, harp), NYYD Quartet (Harry Traksmann, Olga Voronova, Torsten Tiebout, Leho Karin)
  
• Arboles lloran por lluvia

  • Audio

  • Arboles lloran por lluvia / Arianna Savall (soprano), Taniel Kirikal (counter-tenor), Janno Pokk (nyckelharpa), Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  2006
  10'
  soprano, counter tenor, male ensemble, nyckelharpa, sandpaper blocks
  Text: (in Ladino)

  Arboles lloran por lluvia
  Arboles lloran por lluvia
  Y montagnas por aire.
  Ansí lloran los mis ojos
  Por tí, quérida amante.
  
  Ven verás, y ven verás
  Y ven verás, veremos.
  El amor qué tenemos los dos
  Ven mos aunaremos.
  
  Enfrente de mí hayun andjelo,
  Con tus ojos me mira.
  Hablar quéro y non puedo,
  Mi corasón sospira.
  
  Blanca sos, blanca vistes,
  Blanca es tu figura.
  Blancas flores caien de tí,
  De la tu hermozura.

  
  Fp: Arianna Savall (soprano), Taniel Kirikal (counter tenor), Charles Barbier (countertenor), Janno Pokk (nyckelharpa), Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; November 24, 2006, St. Paul's Church, Basel, Festival Culturescapes
  FpEst: Arianna Savall (soprano), Taniel Kirikal (counter tenor), Janno Pokk (nyckelharpa), Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; December 8, 2006, Tartu St. John´s Church
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  CD "Helena Tulve. Arboles lloran por lluvia", ECM (2014); Arianna Savall (soprano), Taniel Kirikal (counter tenor), Marco Ambrosini (nyckelharpa), Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve
  
• In a nakht fun yeridah

  • Audio

  • In a nakht fun yeridah / Ensemble Aleph

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  2006
  16'
  6 perfomers: soprano, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, piano, accordion
  Text: Yankev Glatshteyn (in Yiddish)

  In a nakht fun yeridah
  
  Arum an eyntsikn boym velkt a ganzer farnakht.
  Oyfn boym tsitern umruike tsvaygn,
  shtilkeytn volkenen dem boym.
  Vign ayn im un farshvaygn.
  Mayne ale reyd zaynen itst farfinstert,
  ale mayne emesen laygn,
  s´iz mayn sho fun zinkindiker yeridah,
  fun falen nisht fun shtaygn.
  Kh´vil epes zogen, nor es hot nisht keyn haft,
  Kh´vil betn, nor mayn gebet iz farshtumt,
  Kh´vil loyfn fun zikh, nor mayn veg iz farkrumt –
  eyn hand tseshtert, vos di andere shaft.
  S´bafalt a fintsternish dem boym,
  a gos-regn tseshlogst di tsvaygn.
  Gib mir koakh in der sho fun yeridah,
  in mayn sho fun faln un nisht shtaygn.

  
  Fp: Ensemble Aleph; March 28, 2006, Kanuti Guild Hall, Tallinn, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: French Republic
  
• silences / larmes

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • silences/larmes / Kädy Plaas (soprano), Riivo Kallasmaa (oboe)

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  2006
  10'
  3 performers: soprano, oboe, tuned glasses/wind chimes (mother of pearl)
  Text: Mother Immaculata Astre (in French)

  I
  Un tourbillon d´insectes
  anime
  l´écho du soleil
  
  Le silence en passant
  a resserré toutes les coutures
  de mon âme
  
  Silence de juin: baume pour l´année!
  
  II
  L´orage au loin
  menace-t-il
  l´éternité?
  
  Une seule cloche la rassure.
  
  III
  Un insecte qui recule
  et ralentit
  le temps.
  
  IV
  Un papillon nocturne
  m´a touché
  survivant de mon enfance
  
  V
  Dans la vallée, sonne le glas du silence.
  Et sur le sol crissent maintes feuilles froissées.
  Serait-ce la splendeur d´un automne blessé
  qui transporte nos âmes à la plus haute instance?
  
  De toutes nos douleurs l´air même s´est tissé.

  
  Fp: Kädy Plaas (soprano), Riivo Kallasmaa (oboe), Helena Tulve (glasses, wind chimes); March 29, 2006, Tallinn Methodist Church, Estonian Music Days Festival, Helena Tulve composer recital
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival
  CD "Helena Tulve. Arboles Iloran por lluvia", ECM (2014); Arianna Savall (soprano), Riivo Kallasmaa (oboe), Helena Tulve (wind glasses, wind chimes)
  Distributor: EMIC HT 019
  
• Sõnajalad [Ferns]

  Version of the piece with the same title written in 1994
  1994/2006
  11'
  mezzo-soprano (or baritone)/claves, kannel
  Text: Karl Ristikivi

  Sõnajalad
  Karl Ristikivi
  
  I
  Ainult Maarjamaal maarja-sõnajalg,
  neitsi jahe lehvik,
  mille ta jaaniöö kastest rõske
  surub vastu põske.
  
  Varemeist mööda, rinnakust alla,
  vanade puude all
  mürgise juurega magusas maas
  
  Maarja, millal sa käisid me maal
  ja paitasid sõnajalga?
  Millal sa andsid talle oma nime?
  Lase sündida ime!
  
  II
  Arguse silmad on valvel
  päeval ja ööd.
  Arguse pilv on terav
  kui liblikapüüdja nõel,
  näeb liiga palju ja liiga vähe,
  näeb sellest läbi, mis lähedal,
  ja ei julge kaugele vaadata.
  
  Arguse silmad on pärani
  hirmul –
  et keegi ei võtaks ta käest,
  mida tal ei ole.
  
  III
  Sõnajalgu aknale jääkristallidest
  suletud aknale
  pitseriks pannud öö.
  Otsekui valged tardunud tiivad,
  kadunud linnu külmanud vari.
  
  Ähmane valgus kaugelt planeedilt
  põrkab tagasi tinasest peeglist
  miljoni aasta pärast.
  
  Aeg tõmbub keerdu kui söestunud paber,
  madu salvab iseenda saba.
  Hermeetiliselt suletud ruumi saladust
  ei lahenda Gideon Fell.

  
  Fp: Iris Oja (mezzo-soprano), Kristi Mühling (kannel); May 11, 2006, concert series ReVision of the ensemble Resonabilis
  
• Reyah hadas 'ala

  • Audio

  • Reyah hadas 'ala / Vox Clamantis, Hortus Musicus, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  2005
  16'
  vocal ensemble, instrumental ensemble
  Text: Shalom Shabazi

  Reyah hadas ´ala venafshi nivhala
  Kamti hatsot laila vedod yanheni
  Mirbein ´ofaim malachei rom tsoveim
  Nirim veein roim letsur ´oseni.

  
  Fp: Vox Clamantis, Hortus Musicus, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; April 27, 2005, St. Nicholas's Church, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  CD "Helena Tulve. Arboles lloran por lluvia", ECM (2014); Vox Clamantis, Hortus Musicus, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve
  
• Lijnen

  • Audio
  • Video

  • Lijnen / Anu Komsi (soprano), Reval Ensembel, conductor Risto Joost

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  1. Lijnen
  2. Minimal
  3. Op eigen kracht
  4. Lijnen
  5. Density
  2003
  10'
  soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello, double bass
  Text: Roland Jooris

  Minimal
  
  Vogel wipt.
  Tak kraakt.
  Lucht betrekt.
  
  Bijna niets
  om naar te kijken
  en juist dat
  bekijk ik.
  
  Op eigen kracht
  
  het riet
  suggereert
  de afwezige wind
  
  een kano
  trekt een lijnrechte
  lijn in het water
  
  in gelijmatige
  rimpelingen
  spant een rivier
  zichzelf weer op.
  
  Lijnen
  
  Rijt zijn
  is lichtjes schuin
  in de leegte
  blijven staan.
  
  Density
  
  Nevel. Zeg
  Nu niets.
  Veel is verzwegen.
  Weinig is veel.
  
  Amper beweegt
  Het woord amper
  In de wind
  Die nergens is.
  
  Zeg nu niets.
  Veeg niets uit.
  In het eenzelvig vlak
  Vad de avond. Waartegen
  Nauwulijks en nergens.

  
  Fp: Anu Komsi (soprano), Reval Ensemble, cond. Risto Joost; October 19, 2003, Tallinn, Estonia Concert Hall, NYYD Festival
  Commissioned by: State Concert Institute Eesti Kontsert
  CD "Lijnen", ECM (2008); Arianna Savall (soprano), NYYD Ensemble, conductor Olari Elts
  Publisher: Edition Peters
  Manuscript
• Ithaka

  • Audio

  • Ithaque / Eve Kopli (soprano), Harry Traksmann (violin), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano)

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  2000
  11'
  soprano, violin, piano
  Text: Tõnu Õnnepalu, translated by Antoine Chalvin

  ITHAQUE
  
  L'eau est transparente,
  transparent est l'air.
  Dans l'eau se reflète l'air
  et dans l'air se reflète l'eau.
  
  Dans les profondeurs, le reflet devient vert.
  Là-bas, tout est vert, sombre et brillant :
  plantes, poissons et regard.
  
  Dans le lointain, le reflet se transforme en lueur.
  Là-bas naissent des îles,
  surgissent leurs images ; des archipels émergent
  du halo de la mer.
  
  Notre bateau a mis les voiles au petit matin,
  à l'heure trouble d'avant l'aurore, il y a longtemps
  que nous sommes en route, déjà longtemps
  que nous ne savons plus
  distinguer le reflet
  du reflet du reflet
  dans l'air.
  
  Nos yeux ont la couleur claire de la mer
  et les vagues glissent sans trêve
  à travers eux.
  
  Nos bouches sont muettes. Les uns après les autres
  nos mots sont tombés dans l'eau verte,
  s'y sont changés en étranges êtres aquatiques
  et remuent à présent dans la pénombre.
  
  Nos oreilles sont semblables à des conques
  pleines d'une rumeur continuelle.
  Lorsqu'un bruit s'y faufile,
  grain de sable dans l'eau du silence,
  il devient une perle. Peu à peu
  il amasse autour de lui une rumeur d'opale,
  oui, peu à peu il devient une perle.
  
  Nos narines savourent les pluies,
  et pressentent les orages qui naissent derrière la courbe de l'horizon
  avant même que le tonnerre
  n'annonce leur venue.
  
  Nos corps sentent le vent.
  Lisses, humides,
  étincelants de sel,
  ils sentent
  chacun de ses attouchements.
  
  Nos corps
  appartiennent au vent.
  Il les aime,
  joue avec eux.
  
  Et le voyage se poursuit,
  les voiles se gonflent toujours,
  les jours se lèvent encore de la mer derrière nous,
  nous changeant en silhouettes bordées d'argent,
  les jours se couchent encore dans la mer devant nous,
  colorant nos regards.
  
  Non, il n'est pas trop tard,
  notre bateau glisse à belle allure sur l'eau
  vers de nouveaux mirages, de nouveaux mondes aériens,
  vers de nouvelles îles, de nouveaux reflets verts
  glisse notre bateau.
  
  Toutes ces îles sont encore
  devant nous,
  et toutes surgiront un jour de la mer
  pour venir se noyer dans nos yeux

  
  Fp: Iris Oja (soprano), Harry Traksmann (violin), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano); September 17, 2001, Estonian Theatre and Music Museum
  Commissioned by: Estonian Theatre and Music Museum
  CD „Sula”, Estonian Radio (2005); Eve Kopli (soprano), Harry Traksmann (violin), Marrit Gerretz-Traksmann (piano)
  Manuscript

Works for mixed choir a cappella

• Gloria

  • Audio

  • Gloria / Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  2023
  7'
  mixed choir
  Text: liturgical text (in Latin)
  Fp: Vox Clamantis, conductor  Jaan-Eik Tulve; June 4, 2023, Tallinn Dome Church
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  
• Nächtliche Gesänge [Nocturnal Songs]

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • Nächtliche Gesänge: I Nachts wenn das Pendel der Liebe schwingt / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš

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  I Nachts, wenn das Pendel der Liebe schwingt
  II Zärtliche Nacht
  2019
  13'
  mixed choir
  Text: Paul Celan, Hilde Domin (in German)
  Fp: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš; May 4, 2019, Tallinn, St. Nicholas's Church, World Music Days 2019
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days/World Music Days
  Distributor: EMIC HT 007
  
• Alleluia Veni Sancte Spiritus

  2018
  3'
  mixed choir
  Fp: Vox Clamantis and joint choir, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; September 25, 2018, Tallinn Liberty Square, Holy Mass by Pope Francis
  
• You and I

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • You and I / Vox Clamantis, dirigent Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  2017
  11'
  mixed choir
  Text: Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (in English)

  You and I
  
  Happy is the moment, when we sit together,
  With two forms, two faces, yet one soul,
  you and I.
  
  The flowers will bloom forever,
  The birds will sing their eternal song,
  The moment we enter the garden,
  you and I.
  
  The stars of heaven will come out to watch us,
  And we will show them
  the light of a full moon –
  you and I.
  
  No more thought of “you” and “I.”
  Just the bliss of union –
  Joyous, alive, free of care, you and I.
  
  All the bright-winged birds of heaven
  Will swoop down to drink of our sweet water –
  The tears of our laughter, you and I.
  
  What a miracle of fate, us sitting here.
  Even at the opposite ends of the earth
  We would still be together, you and I.
  
  We have one form in this world,
  another in the next.
  To us belongs an eternal heaven,
  the endless delight of you and I.
  
  Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
  English translation: Shahram Shiva, Jonathan Star

  
  Fp: Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; June 26, 2017, Mariakyrkan, Båstad Chamber Music, Sweden
  FpEst: Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; September 30, 2017, St Nicholas's Church, Tallinn
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  CD „New Estonian Choral Music“, Estonian Music Information Centre (2021); Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve
  Distributor: EMIC HT 008
  
• Selline on õite tarkus [This Is the Wisdom of Blossoms]

  2016
  5'
  mixed choir
  Text: Maarja Pärtna
  
• See algab [It Begins...]

  2015
  mixed choir
  Text: Maarja Pärtna

  See algab
  (Maarja Pärtna)
  
  see algab magnoolia
  värsketest õitest –
  suurest õitsvast puust avali sinise
  taeva all. ma kasvan. ma sirutan
  kaarduva valguse all oma selga
  ja raputan õlgadelt mulla.
  
  ma kasvan. mu kärge koguneb piiskhaaval
  päikese lõhnavat lõõska ja valgete pilvede
  ilu. ja pehmelt kiirgava valguse liikumist
  naha siledal pinnal. ja magusalõhnalist nektarit
  teiselt poolt silmapiiri.
  
  ma kasvan. ma heidan enda küljest maha
  vanade vastuste kuue ja kasvatan selga
  uute küsimuste lehestiku. ma hingan.
  ma hingan nii nagu maailm muutub. ma hingan nii
  nagu maailm avaneb. ma hingan nii, nagu
  hingavad pilved, hingab tuul, hingab magnoolia
  juured sügaval hämaras mullas.

  
  Fp: Chamber Choir Collegium Musicale, conductor Endrik Üksvärav; October 3, 2015, Tallinn House of Blackheads
  Commissioned by: Chamber Choir Collegium Musicale
  
• Lost

  • Audio

  • Lost: III i carry your heart with me / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš

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  In Lost, I used a selection of texts by three American poets. These texts come from different time periods but they all express the sense of connectedness that we have to the environment, nature, other people, our own inner secrets, and energy that illuminates it all. David Wagoner’s Lost, a poem that first inspired this work and gave it its title, is based on the Native American guidelines that parents give to their children in case they get lost in the forest.
  
  Helena Tulve
  (text from the booklet of Estonian Music Days 2016)

  1. Lost (Tekst: David Wagoner)
  2. Out of the Rolling Ocean (Tekst: Walt Whitman)
  3. i carry your heart with me (Tekst: e. e. cummings)
  2014
  mixed choir
  Text: David Wagoner, Walt Whitman, E.E. Cummings
  Fp: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš; November 21, 2014 Tartu St. John's Church, November 22, 2014, Tallinn Niguliste Church (first performance of the 1st and 3rd part). Premiere of the complete work: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor Kaspars Putniņš; April 16, 2016, Kultuurikatel, Hall of Cauldrons, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
  
• I Am a River

  • Pdf
  • Audio

  • I Am a River / Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  „I Am a River“ has been commissioned by Netherlands Chamber Choir. The text used is a compilation of verses by Mawlânâ Jalâluddîn Rûmî (translated from Turkish by Nevit Oguz Ergin). The piece is dedicated to the free soul of Leea.
  
  Helena Tulve

  2009
  14'
  mixed choir
  Text: Mawlânâ Jalâluddîn Rûmî (in English, translated by Nevit Oguz Ergin)

  I am a river.
  I fly behind You, windless.
  I am a needle.
  You are...
  
  Listen. Leaves do not move without the wind.
  
  You are not made of water and earth.
  You are not from this whirling universe.
  The body is a river
  And Soul is the running water of life there.
  But, where you are,
  You are not aware of either.
  
  Come, come…
  
  When I am quiet, he wants me to scream.
  When screaming, he asks me to be quiet.
  When I am calm, he wants me to be exuberant.
  When exhilarated, he asks me to be still.
  
  Come, come…
  
  Isn't it bizarre that His love
  Could fit in my heart,
  Thousands of souls be contained in my body,
  And thousands of universes pass through
  The eye of a needle?
  
  Believe me, everything which appears
  is shadows and images.
  The known exists because of the unknown.
  
  I am a river.
  
  Night has passed.
  We are still asleep,
  Dreaming our dreams.
  We are the loved and beloved,
  The garden, rose and nightingale.
  
  Come again, please, come again,
  Whoever you are.
  Come, come as you are...

  
  Fp: Netherlands Chamber Choir, conductor Grete Pedersen; September 22, 2009, Église Notre Dame in Morteau, France, Festival International de musique de Besançon
  FpEst: Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; April 17, 2015, Tallinn St. Nicholas's Church, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Netherlands Chamber Choir
  CD „New Estonian Choral Music“, Estonian Music Information Centre (2017); Ensemble Vox Clamantis, conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve
  Distributor: EMIC HT 017
  
• Vie secrète

  • Audio

  • Vie secrète / Chamber Choir Voces Musicales, conductor Risto Joost

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  2002
  8'
  mixed choir (div. à 12)
  Text: Pascal Quignard

  Le rythme de la nuit et du jour lui aussi comme celui des vagues et des marée s´épousent, s´ajustent, se disloquent, recommencent.
  
  La masse de l´océan est informe. Sa masse est l´origine de l´informe et s´est pourquoi tous les sentiments s´y éprouvent. Ils s´y étendent sans forme, eux qui n´ont pas plus de squelette que la mer, vont et reviennent comme ses vagues, assaillent celui qui voit comme s´il était parti, comme s´il était ballotté. Ils débordent encore. Tout ce qui est diffus au fond de soi y trouve sa forme absente et sa dilatation sans limites. Tout ce qui n´est pas composé au fond de nous et qui demeure indéfini se mobilise à son contacte vague.
  
  Vague, vague est le mot de la mer.
  
  Vagues comme les vases communiquent entre eux le niveau de l´eau et s´équilibrent, le corps et la mer s´entre-déversent et s´équilibrent en d´bordant sans relâche sans jamais déborder dans le vertige d´une unique source qui les rassemble, qui les pousse à s´étreindre dans une même source élémentaire, jadis. La mer est jadis.

  
  Fp: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, cond. Paul Hillier; June 6, 2002, Tallinn, St Michael´s Church
  Commissioned by: Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
  Manuscript
• Exodus

  • Audio

  • Exodus / Chamber Choir Voces Musicales, conductor Risto Joost

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  1992/1993
  10'
  2 sopranos, mixed choir (div. à 16)
  Text: Liis Kolle, Jean Marie Gustave Le Clezio and from Bible
  Fp: Chamber Choir Voces Musicales, conductor Risto Joost; March 29, 2006, Tallinn Methodist Church, (Helena Tulve composer recital), Estonian Music Days Festival
  Manuscript

Works for vocal ensemble

• In Silence

  • Audio

  • In Silence / Vox Clamantis, Trio Mediaeval, Arve Henriksen (trumpet), conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve

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  I The Silence of the Forest (for female voices and optional trumpet)
  II In Silence (for mixed voices and optional trumpet)
  III (for male voices and optional trumpet)
  2016
  20'
  vocal ensemble, optional trumpet
  Text: Thomas Merton (in English)
  Fp: Vox Clamantis, Trio Mediaeval, Arve Henriksen (trumpet), conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; December 1, 2016, Tallinn Niguliste Church (premiere of I and III movement)
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  
• The Silence of the Forest

  • Pdf

  1st part of the "In Silence"
  2016
  female voices, optional trumpet
  Text: Thomas Merton (in English)
  Fp: Vox Clamantis, Trio Mediaeval, Arve Henriksen (trumpet), conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve; December 1, 2016, Tallinn Niguliste Church
  Commissioned by: Vox Clamantis
  Distributor: EMIC HT 004
  

ELECTRONIC, ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC AND MULTIMEDIA WORKS

• Valvaja [Guard]

  • Audio

  • Valvaja / Taavi Kerikmäe (synthesizer)

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  Helena Tulve: “The original version of Guard was written for the outstanding Estonian oboe player Kalev Kuljus and commissioned by NYYD Ensemble in 2002. The piece was inspired by Inge Kudisiim’s original print of the same title. The new version for synthesizer is the result of a collaboration with Taavi Kerikmäe, who is also the initiator of this version.”

  Version of the piece with the same title written in 2002
  2023
  10'
  synthesizer
  Fp: Taavi Kerikmäe (synthesizer); May 4, 2023, Tallinn House of the Blackheads, Estonian Music Days
  
• Silmaja [Beholder]

  • Audio

  • Silmaja [Beholder] / Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel), Taavi Kerikmäe (electronics)

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  2006/2020
  7'
  kannel, electronics
  Fp: Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel), Taavi Kerikmäe (electronics); September 13, 2020 Tartu Uus Teater, September 19, 2020 Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonian Music Days
  
• Was It Light?

  2020
  30'
  4 performers: recorders, harpsichord, kannel, syhthesizer/electronics
  Fp: First performance of the first movement: The Bright Future Ensemble (Sweden-Estonia); August 29, 2020, Kai Art Center, Tallinn Music Week. First performance of the whole work: The Bright Future Ensemble (Sweden-Estonia); April 23, 2022, Arvo Pärt Centre, Estonian Music Days
  Commissioned by: The Bright Future Ensemble
  
• Delta

  • Audio

  • Delta / Raul Saaremets (electronics), Sten Saluveer (synthesizer), Päär Pärenson (vocal)

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  2003
  20'
  tape
  Fp: April 4, 2003, Kanuti Guild Hall, Estonian Music Days Festival
  Commissioned by: Estonian Music Days Festival
  

MUSIC FOR CHILDREN

Instrumental works for children

• It's Evening, Light Becomes More Transparent and the Rain Seems to Cease [On õhtu, valgus muutub läbipaistvamaks ja sadu näib lakkavat]

  2007
  piano
  Fp: May 30, 2008, Käina, Rudolf Tobias Music Days
  Commissioned by: NPO Tobias Society
  Manuscript
• Lained [Waves]

  2007
  piano
  Commissioned by: NPO Tobias Society
  
• Song of the Sea [Mere laul]

  flute, piano
  

INCIDENTAL MUSIC

• Sound design for Maria Valdma's exhibition "Memory Palace" [Helikujundus Maria Valdma näitusele "Mälupalee"]

  2021
  Fp: January 22, 2021 - March 28, 2021, Tallinn City Gallery
  
• Music for dance performance "Su ärkvelolek on uni" ("Your Waking Is a Dream")

  Co-author Eliann Tulve
  2016
  Fp: Koolitantsu Kompanii, choreographer Kaja Lindal; November 14, 2016, Kumu Art Museum
  
• Music for joint exhibition „SINA / SINA” of Helena Tulve and Krista Mölder

  2015
  Fp: June 4–22, 2015, Hobusepea Gallery, Tallinn
  

Film music

• Music for feature film "Kirjad Inglile" [Letters to Ingel]

  F-Seitse ja Frame Production, directed by Sulev Keedus
  2011
  Fp: January 27, 2011, Solaris Cinema, Tallinn
  
• Music for feature film "Külaline" [The Visitor]

  Backup Films, Exitfilm, Propeller Film, directed by Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää
  2008
  
• Music for feature film "Somnambuul" [Somnambulance]

  Directed by Sulev Keedus
  2003
  flute, double bass
  

Music to plays

• Music for Kristina Paškevičius' play "Libarebased"

  2024
  Fp: May 12, 2024, Kellertheatre, Tallinn, stage director Kristina Paškevičius
  
• Music to Ivan Vyrypaev's play "Delhi Dance"

  2015
  Fp: February 27, 2015; Theatrum, director Lembit Peterson
  
• Music to Anton Hansen Tammsaare’s play “Judith”

  2006
  Fp: September 22, 2006, Estonian National Opera