ESTONIAN SYMPHONIC MUSIC. THE FIRST CENTURY 1896-1996.
abolished, since it reflected a Stalinist approach, as subjective and erroneous. This
allowed a renewal in symphonic music. The breakthrough towards a modern spirit of
contemporary symphonism was led by a younger generation of composers, the first was
Eino Tamberg (b. 1930) with his Concerto Grosso (1956), Symphonic Dances (1957)
and the Ballet-Symphony (1959).
The genre of concerto grosso was then quite unknown in the whole of the
Soviet music. Tamberg’s Concerto Grosso3 is an extensive composition in three
movements, with chamber-like orchestration, its solo group (concertino) consisting of
flute, clarinet, trombone, alto saxophone, bassoon and piano. The main theme of the
first movement can be described as vigorous and reminiscent of an oratorio:
1
Ivar Kosenkranius, Film ja aeg : esseid, etüüde, portreevisandeid (Film and Time. Essays, etudes and
sketches) (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1974) 84.
2
Sirp ja Vasar (Sickle and Hammer) no 5 1955: 6.
3
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