Arvo Part, Adam's Lament

The release of new Arvo Part on ECM promises to be an event. Adam's Lament (ECM New Series B0017591-02) lives up to the promise. The Latvian Radio Choir, Vox Clamantis, Riga Sinfonietta, soloists, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, all under the direction of Tonu Kaljuste, alternate and combine in various configurations for the distinguished performance of eight recent Part choral works, some short and lovely but relatively incidental, the rest first-rate, serious works.

The title work is the longest at nearly a half-hour. It has the archaic-yet-modern quality and spiritual impact of Part at his innovative best. It is a through composed work that flows and ebbs with mystical majesty even as it suggests echoes of ancient chant.

The other works add quite nicely to the impact of the disk. There's is even a short Christmas Lullaby for a seasonal plus.

As expected the performances are impeccable, the sound of the ECM four-star sort, perfect for this kind of music.

Nothing is lacking here--another smashing Part offering. He remains one of the world's most important composers today and this CD confirms it in a spendid manner.

Seeking & Finding: The Choral Works of Hans Bakker and Howard Richards

After nearly a week without power, phone or internet thanks to Hurricane Sandy, I am happy to be back, safe and dry.

Today a look at the choral music of Hans Bakker and Howard Richards, in a collection entitled Seeking and Finding (Navona 5877).

Neither composer is particularly well-known. Both show an affinity to and sensitivity towards the choral medium. Each contributes seven short a capella works, Bakker covering both sacred and secular subjects, Richards strictly secular.

Both work imaginatively in a tonal, modern idiom. If I had to choose I would have to say I prefer Bakker slightly over Richards. The Kuhn Choir under Marek Vorlicek do a quite reasonable job performing these works and the sound is good, matter-of-fact and not especially resonant.

All-in-all an interesting and captivating collection that should appeal to all who favor the modern choral mode.

Valentin Silvestrov, Sacred Songs

Sacred Songs (ECM New Series B0017359-02) looks at Ukranian composer Valentin Silvestrov's very original choral work while celebrating his 75th birthday year.

It is music that retains something of the sonic world of Russian Orthodox liturgical chant but remakes it all for today with pedal tone suspensions underpinning elaborate, sequential melody lines that have a decidedly modern harmonic-mystical tang to them.

The music unfolds with an internal logical and yet explores sacred ambiances with a kind of passion that nods to tradition while making brilliant use of contemporary melodic-harmonic possibilities in a directly communicating way.

Like Arvo Part, Silvestrov references early music without hearkening back to it, creating in the process his own unmistakably original, engaging music.

The Kiev Chamber Choir under Mykola Hobdych sound angelic. The reverberant cathedral space that serves as the setting for the recording adds atmosphere and sets off the aurally striking music perfectly. A ravishing recording!

Ola Gjeilo, Northern Lights, Choral Works, Phoenix Chorale

We talked about Ola Gjeilo's piano improvisation disk recently on these pages (see below). Now we backtrack to an earlier disk called Northern Lights (Chandos), where the Phoenix Chorale under Charles Bruffy perform a number of his choral works.

This is a kind of post-minimalist lyrical music. The chorale sounds marvelous a capella or with the accompaniment of string quartet, piano, etc.

The music is enchanting and moving in a way that no doubt has had wide appeal. Ola writes for the chorale with a sure hand, taking advantage of vocal ranges and their special qualities to map out an otherworldly vocal landscape.

This is not in any way avant music so much as pleasing and sometimes very moving sonances that bring to the forefront the beauty of the human voice.

If you revel in the possibilities of the new tonality, and respond to a great sounding chorus singing very strongly lyrical, well constructed music, you will no doubt love this one,