Lemba

[Christopher]

I've posted up a recording of Estonian composer Artur Lemba's short piece Poeme d'Amour.  Very short, but very popular in Estonia. It was written for violin + piano - this is the first recording for orchestra (that I am aware of). Orchestration by Peeter Saul.

[Alan Howe]

Thank you very much for this.

[MartinH]

That was beautiful! A very appropriate and tasteful orchestration. I wonder if the score & parts are available. Lemba's Symphony in C# minor and the piano concerto are favorites of mine, and yet we know so little about him as a composer. Hardly anything is recorded which is a shame.

[Gareth Vaughan]

The Estonian Music Information Center holds a lot of Lemba's music, including the MSS of all 5 of his piano concerti and his 2 symphonies. They also have this entry:

Poéme d'amour [Armastuse poeem]
Ülo Krigul's arrangement of the chamber piece of the same title (1916)
2008

violin, string orchestra
Fp:Tallinn Music High School Symphony Orchestra, conductor Risto Joost; April 3, 2008, Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonian Music Days Festival
Publisher: Eres Edition

Note that it is published by Eres Edition - but this is not the same arrangement, as you say the one you posted was done by Peeter Saul. Here is the link:
http://www.notenpost.de/en/Instrumental-Music/Chamber-Music/String-Orchestra/Poem-d-amour-String-Orchestra-111.html?listtype=search&searchparam=Lemba

[MartinH]

Thanks for the research and that information!

[Christopher]

Martin - I have the following recordings of pieces by Lemba:

Festive Overture ("Pidulik avamäng") No.1, Op.4 * (see http://www.emic.ee/eesti-helisalvestised-1939-2 or http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/various_artists_f2/eesti_helisalvestised_1939__estonian_sound_recordings_1939_/
For the 40th Anniversary of the Revolution - symphonic poem
Little Suite for brass orchestra
Estonian Rhapsody (solo piano)
Fantasy on Estonian Ways (solo piano)
Heitti's arioso from the opera "The Wife from the Grave" (Act 1)
Elga's arioso from the opera "Elga"
Pastorale
Scene from the opera "Elga"
Reeda's song from the opera "Love and Death"
Narva - cantata
Over the Cherry Trees * ("Nüüd üle kirsipuude" - song - soprano and orchestra - see as for the Festive Overture)
Piano Concerto No.1* (see http://a.co/0r9uUo1)
Piano Concerto No.2
Piano Concerto No.3
Piano Concerto No.4
Piano Concerto No.5
Lullaby from the opera "Tamara" *  (see http://www.opera.ee/e-pood/cd-kogumik-estonia-100/)
Symphony No.1 in C# minor, dedicated to Alexander Glazunov * (see http://a.co/3cWLrVv)

Those marked with an *asterisk are commercially available.

The Festive March and "Over the Cherry Trees" are on a 12-CD compilation of Estonian recordings from 1939 (before Estonia's Soviet occupation). At the bottom of the EMIC page, where it says "The set is available:" is a list of links where the compilation can be bought. Each has a very different price for the compilation, from €57 to €95.

The others - I am pretty sure are not commercially available though I can't be 100% sure.  If the moderators allow it, I am happy to post them up here. A lot of them are very poor quality, sound like transfers from very old LPs.   (The non-commercially available piano concertos were posted in the downloads section in May 2012).

[Christopher]

I'm glad people seem to like this piece - I do too.  I bracket it in with Elgar's Salut d'Amour and and Rachmaninov's Vocalise - short and sweet pieces for violin and orchestra.

I never cease to be amazed by the ability of Estonian composers to "hit the spot" - a country of less than 1.5 million has, in my view, a disproportionate number of extremely talented late romantic composers who deserve to be "sung"! I can't stop listening to Artur Kapp's "Last Confession of Job" (or indeed the whole Job oratorio); Tobias's Sanctus (from "Jonah's Mission") regularly blasts my windows out; Kreek's Requiem; Aav's The Vikings (especially the "Battle of Sigtuna scene"); various Aavik pieces; Vedro's Lullaby; Kull's Battle of Kriuša symphonic poem and Popurrii-Fantasia; etc etc.

[Mark Thomas]

Christopher: please do post any of the non-commercial recordings. Lemba is always an enjoyable listen - I'm especially fond of the Symphony No.1 and the piano concertos.

[semloh]

Christopher: please do post any of the non-commercial recordings. Lemba is always an enjoyable listen - I'm especially fond of the Symphony No.1 and the piano concertos.

Seconded! 

[Mark Thomas]

Many thanks for the downloads, Christopher. As jerfilm suggests in an addendum to the Downloads Board post, the low-volume recordings respond really well to straightforward "normalisation" in an audio editing program like Audacity or Audition. 

[Gareth Vaughan]

(The non-commercially available piano concertos were posted in the downloads section in May 2012)

I'm probably being very stupid, but I can't find them.

[Alan Howe]

They're here, Gareth (scroll down!):
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1526.msg17841.html#msg17841

[Gareth Vaughan]

Thank you, Alan. Can't understand why I couldn't find them!

[Alan Howe]

I did a whole-site search.

[Christopher]

Thanks for the information about Audacity/Audition Mark and Jerfilm - never played with those before so will give them a go.  Certainly it's good to hear that the recordings can be normalised, as to be honest I gave up listening to these recordings as I can barely hear them! So I will be discovering them properly if it works. 

Interested to hear anyone's critique of them....are they any good?