Helena Tulve (born 28 April 1972) is an Estonian composer.
Born in Tartu, she studied composition at the Tallinn Secondary Music School under Alo Põldmäe and from 1989 to 1992 at the Estonian Academy of Music with Erkki-Sven Tüür, being the latter's sole student of composition thus far. In 1994 Tulve graduated with the Premier Prix from Jacques Charpentier's composition class at the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris. Between 1993 and 1996 she furthered her knowledge of Gregorian chant. She has also attended György LigetiâÂÂs and Marco StroppaâÂÂs summer courses.
Tulve belongs to the younger generation of Estonian composers who, in contrast to the neo-classicist tradition of rhythm-centeredness, create music which focuses on sound and sonority. TulveâÂÂs works give a fair idea of the richness and variety of her cultural experience: the French school of spectral music, IRCAMâÂÂs experimentalism, Kaija Saariaho and Giacinto Scelsi, echoes of Gregorian chant and Eastern musics. Deriving from her refined sound processing, TulveâÂÂs approach to form is âÂÂfluidâ â more process based than architectonic.
She is married to composer Jaan-Eik Tulve.
[fl.in C (fl. picc./ fl. basso) & fl. in C (fl. picc./ fl. in G)]
[ 1-1-1-0/ 0-0-0-0/ pno-arpa-mandolino-guit.-1batt./ 1-1-1-1]
[14 female voices & ensemble: flauto-corno-vla-cb.-arpa-batt.]
[fl.picc./in C/alto/basso-fl.picc./in C/alto-ob.-fag.- tr.ne-batt.-v.la-vc. ]
[fl.-cl.-ob.-fag.-corno-vln.-vla- vc.-cb.]
[fl.-cl.-vln.-vc.-cb.-2 batt.-2 pn.]
[fl.-ob.-cl.-sax.bar./sax.alto-batt.-vln.-cb.]
and piano (2000)
[3-3-3-3/ 4-3-3-0/ 5 batt./ 1 pn./ 1 arpa/ 16-14-12-10-8/ didgeridoo]
[ 1-1-1-1/ 1-1-1-0/ 1 batt./ 1pn./ 1-1-1-1-1]
[ 1-1-1-1/ 1-0-1-0/ 1 batt./ 1-1-1-1-1]