USM's Southern Chorale presents Kreek’s Notebook by Tõnu Kõrvits, with guest musicians from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO)
Kreek’s Notebook, oratorio by renowned Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits, has been very successful in Europe and is now approaching 30 performances in the United States.  Southern Miss Choral Activities presented the US premiere in 2014, and this is the 10th anniversary of that event. The work is in eight movements, each featuring melodies and text from Estonian folk hymns collected by Cyrillus Kreek in the early part of the 20th century around WWI.  Cyrillus Kreek is one of the greatest influencers of development of national characteristics in Estonian art music. The hymns were being lost, so students of Kreek went to the villages to write down these texts and notate the melodies so they would survive.  Many regard this work as mystical with its beautiful melodies and cannons.  Tõnu Kõrvits, related by family to descendants of Cyrillus Kreek, was able to gain access to the notebooks containing these transcribed folk hymns.  Kõrvits will travel from Estonia to be present for the presentation