Cyrillus Kreek (1889-1962) is acknowledged today as one of the most important figures in 20th-century Estonian choral music, and the solid foundation on which Arvo Pärt and Veljo Tormis established themselves. Like Kodály in Hungary he was an avid collector of his native folksong. He used it to colour his own music and to establish the tradition of large-scale choral writing now beloved of Estonian composers. His desire to create a unique Estonian sound caused him to be labelled a ‘bourgeois nationalist’ by the Soviet authorities, who removed him from his position as a professor at the Tallinn conservatory and forced him to return to Haapsalu, the small town of his birth.

ln writing his Taaveti laulud (Psalms of David), Kreek was determined to convey the depth of his religious fervour without compromising his devotion to Estonian folk music. Not surprisingly, therefore, he opted to set the psalms in his native Estonian, and combine the rich and stately homophonic style of Eastern European sacred music with the beautiful and quirky melodies that give us a real feeling for his home land.

from notes by The King's Singers © 2006