Ludwig van Beethoven / Peeter Vähi
Total time 10:46
Recorded on May 20th, 2020 in Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn
Engineered and mastered by Siim Mäesalu
October 3rd, 2019, just half an hour before midnight the composer’s mobile rings – Andres Mustonen calling. “Peeter, a man with whom you and I have shared the spiritual world, Giya, has left this world… I know that sometimes you are capable of composing a shorter piece in just a few hours and this is the case now – the day after tomorrow Hortus will hold memorial concerts in Arvo Pärt Centre and the Dome Church with the rehearsal already tomorrow (!) at 2 pm. The staff would be violin, piano or organ, trombone and double bass. Erkki-Sven (Tüür – editor’s note) also promised to write a few-minutes piece.”
“Let’s light the candle and lower our heads… But, sorry, Andres, I will not be able to create something new for tomorrow. However, as the next year will be Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, I have been thinking about a work for oboe and organ on the theme from his Moonlight Sonata. I could maybe complete this to commemorate our Georgian friend. I will take a couple of hours tonight to adapt this halfbaked idea for Hortus Musicus.”
The new day saw the composer entering the rehearsal room of Hortus Musicus with a bunch of parts and a score still warm from the printer. A day later, the music inspired by Beethoven was performed in commemoration of Giya Kancheli at three concerts in Arvo Pärt Centre and Tallinn Dome Church. By today, Hommage à brilliance de Lune has sounded by various performers and staffs including oboe and organ at multiple places, but this recording presents it exactly the way it was premiered.