Vox Clamantis

"The level of artistry necessary to achieve the kind of living, breathing

performance given here by the Estonian choir Vox Clamantis is a rarity.

The 15 singers sound is complete, comfortable possession of the music and

its incantatory intentions – unsurprisingly, as they have extensive experience performing it, and Pärt himself was at the recording sessions."

- Terry Blain, BBC Music Magazine

The Grammy Winning vocal ensemble from Estonia. Fifteen musicians who share their passion for Gregorian chant, contemporary music and musical discoveries.

Formed in 1996, ensemble VOX CLAMANTIS comprises a diversity of musicians – singers, composers, instrumentalists, and conductors – who have a common interest in the Gregorian chant. Next to the Gregorian chant, considered to be the foundation of all European professional music culture, Vox Clamantis often performs early polyphony and contemporary music. Many Estonian composers, among them Arvo Pärt, Helena Tulve, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Tõnis Kaumann, and Sven Grünberg have written compositions for Vox Clamantis.

Vox Clamantis has performed with Catalan soprano Arianna Savall, French pianist Jean-Claude Pennetier, Italian nyckelharpa player Marco Ambrosini, Israeli oud player Yair Dalal, Tunisian singer Dhafer Youssef, the Cello Octet Amsterdam, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Continuous collaboration with different musicians has inspired the birth of impromptu programmes, based on improvisation.

Vox Clamantis has recorded for ECM Records and Mirare. The CD «Liszt - Via crucis» have won Diapason d’Or award in 2013, the CD «Arvo Pärt - Adam’s Lament» (conductor: Tõnu Kaljuste) has won GRAMMY-Award for Best Choral Performance in 2014. The film featuring Vox Clamantis music, «The Great Beauty» (La Grande Bellezza), received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The CD «Arvo Pärt. The Deer’s Cry» (ECM) won a Diapason d’Or Award, Chock in French magazine Classica, the Album of the Year Award in Estonia and was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Danish Classical Radio Award 2018. The latest CD «The Suspended Harp of Babel» (ECM) won the best choir album prize in Estonia and was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of the best classical albums released in 2020.

The ensemble gives concerts in Estonia as well as abroad. Concert tours have taken Vox Clamantis to the entire world. They have participated Sydney Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival, RCM’s 21C festival in Toronto, Manchester International Festival, La Folle Journée festival in France and Japan, The International Piano Festival of La Roque d’Anthéron, etc.

In 2017 Vox Clamantis received National Culture Award of the Republic of Estonia. Their latest CD, Music by Henrik Ødegaard, was chosen as the choral music album of the year 2023 in Estonia.

The artistic director and conductor of Vox Clamantis is Jaan-Eik Tulve.

Jaan-Eik Tulve was born in Tallinn (Estonia). After obtaining his diploma in choral conducting at the Tallinn Conservatory in 1991, he learned to conduct Gregorian chant at Le Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSM), where he had the diploma in 1993. He then worked at the CNSM as assistant to Louis-Marie Vigne, who had a determining influence on his musical development. He has also given many courses in Gregorian Chant, in France, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Scotland, the Faeroe Islands, Israel, Tasmania, Lithuania, Finland, and Estonia. In 1996 he took up a post teaching Gregorian Chant at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. He is often invited to conduct work sessions in monasteries. In his musical training – Gregorian, in particular – Jaan-Eik Tulve has learned a great deal from his work in common with Dom Daniel Saulnier of Solesmes Abbey.

In 1992 Jaan-Eik Tulve became conductor of the Paris Gregorian Choir, with which he has appeared in many countries. In 1993 Jaan-Eik Tulve formed the Lac et Mel ensemble in Paris, for the performance of medieval polyphonic works. He also formed the female-voice section of the Paris Gregorian Choir in 1994. Finally, in 1996, he formed the Vox Clamantis ensemble in Tallinn. Many of the recordings made with Vox Clamantis have received great critical acclaim (Diapason d’Or in France, Album of the Year Award in Estonia, nomination for the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Danish Classical Radio Award). Jaan-Eik Tulve has also conducted Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Male Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Chamber Choir, ensemble Hortus Musicus, etc.Jaan-Eik Tulve was chosen as the Musician of the Year 2017 by music editors of the Estonian Public Broadcasting.

DISCOGRAPHY

Their clarity, their precision, their sheer musicianship make them easily one of the best vocal ensembles currently active anywhere in the world.

Ivan Moody, Gramophone

Music by Henrik Ødegaard	Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel
Arvo Pärt's, The Deer's Cry	Helena Tulve: Arboles Iloran por Iluvia
Arvo Pärt Musica Selecta	Arvo Pärt - Adam's Lament
Filia Sion	Erkki-Sven Tüür, Oxymoron
Arvo Pärt – Annum per Annum & Grégorien	Ieremias
Graduel d’Aliénor de Bretagne	Sacrum Convivium
Liszt Via Crucis	Stella Matutina