Mart Saar – Bog Bard With a Worldview

“Mart Saar – Bog Bard With a Worldview”
Collected songs III and Piano pieces album presentation

Arete Kerge (soprano), Iris Oja (mezzo-soprano) and Kadri–Ann Sumera (piano). The conversation is led by Riina Roose (in Estonian).

Mart Saar (1882-1963) belongs to the first generation of Estonian composers, whose importance in the development of our cultural history cannot be overestimated. The restless soul of this master of small forms was constantly experimenting, trying out the most diverse styles and sound language, from romantic-impressionist to the most novel dissonant. His passion was to find our national identity in music and to develop a sound language that would go hand in hand with world culture, but still contain something recognizably Estonian. He found this peculiarity of ours in folk music, whose influences in intonation and structure can be sensed even in works where folk tunes are not directly used, and in nature, especially in the bogs and forests of his home village. He “translated” these impressions of nature into the language of sounds with attention to detail and love.

We cannot forget Mart Saar’s contribution as a pedagogue. Several of his students have in turn left their mark on our music, the most famous of them was probably Ester Mägi, who certainly shared his teacher’s affection for primitive folk music and nature. If you want to make sense of our modern music and culture, you can’t go beyond or around Mart Saar. And one really doesn’t even want to. Because the value of his music lies not only in history, but it is lively, soulful, surprising, humorous and thoroughly enjoyable even now.

Saar is still Estonia’s most prolific composer of songs for solo voice with nearly 200 preserved songs. Iris Oja and Kadri-Ann Sumera are leading the project, during which they plan to record all of Saar’s songs. The first two discs (with Taavi Tampuu and Atlan Karp) have a total of 67 songs, this third one has 29 (with Arete Kerge). Among them there are also first recordings and some songs “brought to life” from sketches, as well as three duets. There are also several well-known and beloved songs, such as “Ilmud kui unistus” or “Üksainus kord” in the selection. There is still material for two more albums.

Saar is also important as a piano composer. Many of his pieces are in the repertoire of several Estonian pianists, but some of them are still unrecorded. Now Kadri-Ann Sumera has recorded and released a digital album with 26 tracks, many of which are first recordings.