Ensemble Floridante

“Musica Borealis. Estonian Pathways”

Marco Ambrosini (nyckelharpa)
Anna-Liisa Eller (kannel)
Taavi Kerikmäe (clavichord, harmonium)
Villu Vihermäe (viola da gamba)
Saale Fischer (harpsichord)

Meder, Kellner, Ambrosini, Ariosti

Estonia has been an independent country for just over 100 years. The roots of our musical culture are thus firmly based in Estonian folk music. The first professional Estonian composers only received their musical education in the late 19th century in Saint Petersburg.

Nevertheless, at least some music was composed in Estonia during the 17th–19th century. The pieces were written by German ex-pats who lived and worked in Estonia and Livonia (Livland) for a certain period of their lives. Cantor Johann Valentin Meder was active in Reval (Tallinn) between 1674 and 1683. He is the author “Die beständige Argenia”, one of the first operas with an original libretto in the German language. 2014 the Harpsichord Suite in C-minor was discovered in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek. Renowned lute-composer David Kellner also spent some time in Estonia/Livonia. Kellners older brother Philipp even served as the mayor of Dorpat (Tartu) from 1719 onwards. Attilio Ariosti, an Italian, served as an ex-pat composer at the King’s court in Stockholm. In this program, another Italian living in exile, Marco Ambrosini, steps up as a composer and as a soloist on the Swedish folk instrument nyckelharpa.