RENÉ EESPERE (b.1953): Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, For Violin and Guitar: Respectus, Matbeth, Modus vivendi, For Flute, Violin and Guitar: Tres in unum, Trivium, For Violin, Vibraphone and Guitar: The Morning of Sculpture, For Flute and Guitar: Ludus tactus, For Soprano, Flute and Guitar: Epigramm VI, For 2 Guitars: Ante diem, For Solo Guitar: Evocatio, Immutatio, Tactus sensus, The Empty Room I, III, IV, V and VI, Motus, Staminis.

Description: The most substantial work here by a distance is the concerto. The composer's style is consistently tonal, in an eclectic idiom that encompasses elements of New Spirituality, lush, neo-romantic harmony and orchestration, minimalism, and sudden, unexpected neoclassical and neo-baroque references. There are two movements; the first, which also exists as a work for guitar and organ, begins dramatically, progresses through a melancholy-tinged allegro and ends in meditative mood. The second covers a wider range of emotional territory, with a strongly narrative feel. For a non-guitarist composer, Eespere has written a surprisingly large proportion of his chamber output for the instrument in various combinations. Like the concerto, these pieces explore a range of accessible styles, more or less influenced by minimalism, folk idioms, and meditative contemplation, with a vein of gorgeous melodic invention a common thread throughout. 2 CDs. Multiple guitarists and other artists, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Paul Mägi.