Ludensemble presents: Gérard Grisey “Vortex temporum” and Terry Riley “In C”

Ludensemble appears in the programme of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale with two concerts that explore the relationships between music, space and time. The evening begins in the small hall of Kultuurikatel with Gérard Grisey's monumental “Vortex temporum” and continues at the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art with a spatial interpretation of Terry Riley's minimalist classic “In C”. Between the two concerts the audience moves from one architectural setting to another, experiencing two entirely different ways of listening to contemporary music.

At 18:00 Kultuurikatel hears Gérard Grisey's “Vortex temporum” (“Vortex of Time”), a landmark of spectral music completed in 1994 to 1996 and one of the most important chamber works of the 20th century. Written for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano, the virtuosic work explores the passing of time and how we perceive it through music. Grisey's music starts from the spectrum of sounds and their acoustic properties, creating exceptionally rich timbres and constantly shifting textures. Through different rhythms, layers of time and sound processes, “Vortex temporum” becomes a work in which time itself is one of the main musical materials. At the Tallinn Architecture Biennale the performance of “Vortex temporum” is created together with visual artist Alyona Movko, whose spatial visual design complements the architectural thinking of the work and opens a new dimension for the music.

After a short break the audience moves to the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art, where at 19:30 Terry Riley's “In C” of 1964 is performed, a work regarded as the starting point of minimalist music. The composition consists of 53 short musical fragments that the performers move through at their own pace, deciding for themselves how long to stay on each motif. So every performance takes a unique shape and is formed jointly as the musicians listen to one another. In Ludensemble's interpretation “In C” spreads across the whole of the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art. The musicians are placed on different floors and in different rooms, connected only by a shared pulse heard through headphones. The audience can move freely through the building, discovering the music from constantly changing perspectives and shaping their own listening journey.

Founded in 2024, Ludensemble is an ensemble devoted to contemporary music whose aim is to create conceptual concert programmes, to connect music with other art forms, and to commission, perform and spread new work. The ensemble's line-up varies from project to project, from chamber ensemble to chamber orchestra. In its first years Ludensemble has brought to audiences the music of Kirke Karja, Madli-Marje Gildemann, Arnold Schönberg, György Ligeti, Gérard Grisey, Frank Zappa and many other composers. At the start of 2026 the label Kairos released the ensemble's debut album “Dream Sequence of an Ancient Forest”, featuring the music of Madli-Marje Gildemann.

Credits

Performers

Maria Luisk (flute), Alexander Avramenko (clarinet), Kaija Lukas (violin), Sandra Klimaitė (viola), Theodor Sink (cello), Kärt Ruubel (piano), Ludensemble

Conductor

Kaspar Mänd