Incantatio maris aestuosi
Encyclopedia
Incantatio maris aestuosi ("Incantation for a Stormy Sea") is an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...

choral composition by the Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n composer Veljo Tormis
Veljo Tormis
Veljo Tormis is an Estonian composer, regarded to be one of the greatest living choral composers and one of the most important composers of the 20th century in Estonia. Internationally, his fame arises chiefly from his extensive body of choral music, which exceeds 500 individual choral songs, most...

 completed in 1996. The piece was commissioned by the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 Orphei Drängar
Orphei Drängar
Orphei Drängar is a Swedish male choir and singing society founded in 1853, based in Uppsala and one of the two notable singing societies traditionally affiliated with the university there...

 and Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 YL Male Voice Choir
YL Male Voice Choir
YL Male Voice Choir was founded by P.J. Hannikainen in 1883 to become the choir of the Helsinki University. It is also the oldest Finnish-language choir. Nowadays the choir is not completely tied to the university, but all applicants are expected to have passed the matriculation exam or study at...

 male choirs in remembrance of the victims of the MS Estonia ferry that sank on September 29, 1994. The piece is about six minutes in length.

Text

The text of the piece is from the 18th and 42nd songs of the Finnish national epic
National epic
A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation; not necessarily a nation-state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with aspirations to independence or autonomy...

 Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...

. The Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 translation of Kalevala from 1986 by Tuomo Pekkanen is used. Latin was chosen as the commissioning choirs conditioned that the choirs' native languages Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

 and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 should not be used.

Recordings

  • YL Male Voice Choir on Best of Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat (2008)
  • Cantus
    Cantus (vocal ensemble)
    Cantus is a nine-member male vocal a cappella ensemble based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.-Biography:Cantus is a full-time, professional vocal chamber ensemble, made up of nine men singing in a TTBB , changed male voice arrangement. The artists are self-led, with programming and musical direction...

    on There Lies the Home (2006)
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