NYYD Ensemble

Anyone who attempts to write about the musical aesthetics of our time in the future will have to include at least one chapter entitled “Now”. For hardly any other word has caused such a stir in recent years as this one. Being constantly in the present, perceiving the moment, experiencing the moment of listening and thereby experiencing oneself – these are essential compositional questions. And the Estonian NYYD Ensemble has taken them up programmatically: ‘nüüd’ or “nyyd” translates as ‘now’. And the musicians understand this now as an interaction of simultaneous polyphonies, without aesthetic boundaries. The NYYD Ensemble, led by conductor Olari Elts (born 1971), is one of the most important and active groups of new music from the Baltic States. The ensemble is still relatively unknown in Germany, but this is likely to change rapidly with their concert at MaerzMusik 2003. Especially since the ensemble from Tallinn is presenting an impressive programme of moving works by Nordic composers, some of whom are already among the best-known composers of our time, such as the two Estonians Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Magnus Lindberg from Finland. The other pieces are by Jüri Reinvere, Lepo Sumera, Toivo Tulev and Helena Tulve. These are composers whose names you should remember if you are looking for expressive and fresh sounds from Scandinavia and the Baltic States.