Erkki-Sven Tüür: 7 Etudes in Pictures

Colour, DIGIBETA
Estonia, 2010, 77 min
Section: 2011: A Musical Odyssey

Synopsis

The northern Baltic landscape, disputations about music, a look at Estonia’s culture and modern history. Erkki-Sven Tüür is the best known Estonian composer after Arvo Pärt. The film presents a visually compelling portrait of a "spiritual minimalist” who used to be a lighthouse keeper on the Faroe Islands, plus a musical feast: a work clearly made for the big screen. Tüür’s music is purportedly influenced by King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Frank Zappa and Genesis, yet the composer also employs a broad spectrum of compositional techniques, from Gregorian chant to explosive theatricality. What does it mean to be a composer? How is a musical work born? The film observes the composer at work in his rural home environment, it also follows him onstage (with renowned conductor Neeme Järvi) and captures a reunion with his progressive rock band In Spe.

About the director

Marianne Kõrver (1980), an Estonian filmmaker, initially studied film and video at the Tallinn Pedagogical University and then graduated in film direction and cinematography from the Baltic Film and Media School in 2009. She works mainly as a documentarist. Selected filmography: The Sum of Absent Days (Äraoldud päevade summa, 2005), a documentary about the composer Eduard Tubin; Death in Venice (Surm Veneetsias, 2004), a documentary on the Venice Biennale contemporary art fair. For her latest film the director shot footage of composer Erkki-Sven Tüür over a period of three years.