Dawn, Almost Dawn
Toivo Tulev composer
Estonian composer Toivo Tulev is an idiosyncratic visionary in contemporary composition, and this Navona Records disc, DAWN, ALMOST DAWN, delves into themes of imagination and transcendence. The album could be considered an immersive journey through Tulev’s oeuvre, one not least afforded by its heterodox instrumentation, including solo violin with scordatura, ney, kaval, a symphonic orchestra, and the bare human voice.
The strings featured in this album lend an ethereal dissonance to the program, while the breathy tones of the ney and kaval add a strange, almost mythical warmth. Both the orchestra and the human voice seem paradoxically otherworldly in comparison. The elusive light of consciousness unfolds, wavers, then disappears; when the music stops, one is left with the feeling that nothing is as it was.
Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | And I Loved You Like a Branch Breaking Under the Snow (2021) | Toivo Tulev | Mari Targo, violin solo; YXUS Ensemble | 15:13 |
| 02 | Dawn, Almost Dawn (2021) | Toivo Tulev | Ayça Arın, mansur ney | 9:17 |
| 03 | Black Mirror (2016) | Toivo Tulev | Hoca Nasreddin Trio | Nick Hobbs, voice; Serkan Sener, kaval; Robert Reigle, baritone saxophone; Estonian National Symphony Orchestra | Michael Wendeberg, conductor | 18:30 |
| 04 | Fana (2023) | Toivo Tulev | Iris Oja, mezzo-soprano; Kristjan Kannuke, viola | 6:13 |
And I Loved You Like a Branch Breaking Under the Snow, Black Mirror
Session Engineer & Editing Siim Mäesalu
Dawn, Almost Dawn
Session Engineer Oğuz Oz
Editing Malle Maltis, Siim Mäesalu
Fana
Session Engineer Nikita Šiškov
Editing Siim Mäesalu
Mastering Siim Mäesalu
Cover photo by Toivo Tulev
Liner Notes by Toivo Tulev
The recording of Fana and And I Loved You Like a Branch Breaking Under the Snow as well as the creation of the master for all tracks of the album was made possible by the generous support from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Executive Producer Bob Lord
VP of A&R Brandon MacNeil
A&R Chris Robinson
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Aidan Curran
Digital Marketing Manager Brett Iannucci
Artist Information
Toivo Tulev
Estonian composer Toivo Tulev is a visionary voice in contemporary classical music, known for his multi-layered and intricate compositions that balance complexity with emotional depth. Tulev’s works are marked by rich polyphony, innovative harmonic language, and new means of expression on instruments that transcend geographical boundaries. His music invites listeners into contemplative soundscapes, where the distinctions between the familiar and the unfamiliar, as well as the temporal and the eternal, beautifully blur and dissolve.
Mari Targo
Violinist Mari Targo (b. 1986) is a longtime member of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. Her interest in chamber music has led her to participating in various ensembles, regardless of the style or era of the music played. “More and more, I’m curious about the personal ideas of the composer. I try not only to give the music my face, but also imagine how to identify with the author. Toivo Tulev’s And I Loved You contains a unique microsphere — being at times lonely, tenderly fragile, yet bursting with powerful waves which resonate through the ensemble as a whole.”
photo: Mait Visnapuu
YXUS Ensemble
Mari Targo, violin; Olga Voronova, violin; Laur Eensalu, viola; Leho Karin, cello; Age Juurikas, piano
Inspired by musical experiments and a completely new approach, YXUS Ensemble sets its goal to accost the audience and involve them into music in a surprising and special way. YXUS Ensemble is not just a group of musicians — it’s like a laboratory for ideas, where musicians, composers, video artists and directors willing to experiment are involved.
Ayça Arın
Ayça Arın, Istanbul, is a student of masters Salih Bilgin and Niyazi Sayın. Since 2015, Arın has been working as a ney artist in the Samsun State Classical Turkish Music Choir of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. She has been dedicated to the performance of contemporary works written for solo ney since 2014.
Hoca Nasreddin Trio
Based in Istanbul, Hoca Nasreddin is composed of three musicians from three countries. The group focuses on timbre and the complexity of sound. Fluidly working with timbre is essential to their notion of contemporary musicality. They free-improvise and also work with notions of spontaneous composition. They collaborate with composers, other musicians and dancers.
The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester, ERSO) is a vivid and versatile orchestra who’s always striving towards excellence. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, ERSO has become the most prominent orchestral ambassador of Estonia abroad, powerfully increasing its international scope particularly in recent decades. ERSO’s releases demonstrate a quality that has been recognised by several renowned music magazines and the orchestra has won several prizes, including a GRAMMY® award for the recording of cantatas by Sibelius. ERSO’s concerts have been broadcasted by Mezzo, medici.tv and they have also reached many radio listeners via the EBU. In 2020, the orchestra launched its own channel — erso.tv. Since the 2020/21 season, the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the orchestra is Olari Elts. Neeme Järvi, the longest-serving chief conductor of the ERSO, continues to cooperate with the orchestra as an Honorary Artistic Director for Life and the Artistic Adviser of the orchestra is Paavo Järvi.
Michael Wendeberg
Michael Wendeberg, conductor and pianist, is one of the most demanded musicians both in the field of modern and classical music. Wendeberg has conducted among others Staatskapelle Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Ljubljana, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Modern, Remix Ensemble Porto, Ensemble intercontemporain, and Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Wendeberg served as Music Director of the Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva from 2011 to 2018.
photo: Magdalena Höfner
Iris Oja
Iris Oja is an Estonian freelance singer and choir master with a Master’s degree in Opera Singing. For a long time, she has worked together with Paul Hillier both as singer and choirmaster in his various choirs and ensembles (Theatre of Voices, Coro Casa da Musica, Ars Nova, Irish Chamber Choir).
She often also participates in productions of Yxus-ensemble, ensemble U:, jazz duo UMA (Estonia), and various other European groups. Oja sings music from all eras, but is mostly known for her contemporary music performances.
photo: Tarvo Tiivits/Pikstrik
Kristjan Kannukene
Kristjan Kannukene is an Estonian performer-composer and improviser whose artistic focus is on uniting his voice and viola. He is keen on collaborating with composers and artists from various disciplines, as well as creating live-electronic and multimedia works himself. Driven by intermedial ideas, he has released his debut album, 333, in a blue-gold tetrahedron cover and created an interactive spherical sound sculpture, 9.
