Ludensemble | Riley “In C”

Ludensemble appears in the programme of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale with two concerts exploring the relationships between music, space, and time. The evening begins at the Small Hall of Kultuurikatel with a performance of Gérard Grisey’s “Vortex temporum” and continues at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia with a spatial interpretation of Terry Riley’s minimalist classic “In C.” Between the two concerts, the audience moves from one architectural environment to another, experiencing two fundamentally different ways of listening to contemporary music.

At 18:00, Kultuurikatel hosts Gérard Grisey’s “Vortex temporum” (“The Vortex of Time”), a landmark work of spectral music composed between 1994 and 1996 and widely regarded as one of the major chamber music masterpieces of the twentieth century. Written for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano, this virtuosic work explores the passage and perception of time through music. Grisey’s compositional language is rooted in the sound spectrum and the acoustic properties of tones, creating extraordinarily rich timbres and constantly evolving textures. Through shifting rhythms, multiple temporal layers, and intricate sonic processes, “Vortex temporum” becomes a work in which time itself functions as one of the principal musical materials. At the Tallinn Architecture Biennale, “Vortex temporum” will be presented in collaboration with visual artist Alyona Movko, whose site-specific visual environment complements the work’s architectural thinking and opens a new dimension to the musical experience.

Following a short interval, the audience moves to the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, where Terry Riley’s “In C,” composed in 1964 and widely regarded as the starting point of musical minimalism, begins at 19:30. The composition consists of 53 short musical phrases that performers progress through at their own pace, deciding individually how long to remain on each motif. As a result, every performance is unique, emerging collectively through the musicians’ attentive listening to one another. In Ludensemble’s interpretation, “In C” expands throughout the entire Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. The musicians are distributed across different floors and spaces, connected only by a shared pulse heard through headphones. Audience members are free to move throughout the building, discovering the music from constantly changing perspectives and creating their own individual listening journey.

Founded in 2024, Ludensemble is a contemporary music collective dedicated to developing concept-driven concert programmes, connecting music with other art forms, and commissioning, performing, and promoting new works. Depending on the project, the ensemble ranges in size from a chamber ensemble to a chamber orchestra. During its first years of activity, Ludensemble has presented music by Kirke Karja, Madli-Marje Gildemann, Arnold Schönberg, György Ligeti, Gérard Grisey, Frank Zappa, and many other composers. In early 2026, the ensemble released its debut album, “Dream Sequence of an Ancient Forest,” on the Kairos label, featuring works by Madli-Marje Gildemann.

Performing with Ludensemble at the Tallinn Architecture Biennale are Maria Luisk (flute), Alexander Avramenko(clarinet), Kaija Lukas (violin), Sandra Klimaitė (viola), Theodor Sink (cello), Kärt Ruubel (piano), and conductor Kaspar Mänd.

Tickets are available either for each concert separately or as a combined ticket covering the entire evening.

Presented in collaboration with the Tallinn Architecture Biennale.