Biography

Veljo Tormis was born on August 7, 1930 in Kuusalu, Estonia. He was a composer and actor, known for Spring (1969), Libahunt (1968) and Ühe katuse all (1963). He was married to Lea Tormis. He died on January 21, 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia.

His best-known and most performed work, "Curse Upon Iron", is an ode to the horrors of war written for choir and hoop drum.

He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1956, and wrote symphonic music and other mainstream forms early in his career. He eventually focused on ancient forms after researching Estonian and Finnish music going back centuries.

He was an Estonian composer whose innovative choral music helped inspire his nation's quest to regain independence. He was a national icon in a country where choral music has been central to the culture going back hundreds of years. Estonia's independence drive in the 1980s was dubbed the Singing Revolution for the massive, peaceful rallies when crowds often sang in old-form, chanting styles popularized by Tormis.

It is not I who makes use of folk music. It is folk music that makes use of me.