Sep. 17, 2010
Now that the new century has run almost one tenth of its course, it's not too early to take a look at new compositions that are especially striking and that seem likely to endure. A genre that has been flourishing with fresh vitality is that of large choral works.
One of the 20th century's most popular classical hits remains Orff's secular scenic cantata, Carmina Burana, but in general it was not a particularly friendly century for large-scale choral pieces. There have been some acknowledged masterpieces -- Martin's Mass for double chorus, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Poulenc's Mass, Britten's War Requiem and A Ceremony of Carols, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and perhaps his Mass; works that enjoyed broad popularity but whose reputations are somewhat faded -- Honegger's Le Roi David, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast; and works that are widely admired but seldom performed, often because of their difficulty -- Bartók's Cantata Profana, Stravinsky's Mass, Messiaen's La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ and Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine, Ligeti's Requiem, Penderecki's St. Luke Passion -- and there are certainly others that could be added to these lists.
As the 20th century was drawing to a close, though, major choral works started appearing with more regularity. Holy minimalism, a movement toward simplicity that avoided the extreme use of the dissonance that had been the norm in "serious" new music since the middle of the century, attracted new audiences with its serenity, austerity and sense of mystery. In this tradition, Arvo Pärt of Estonia, John Tavener of the UK, and Henryk Górecki of Poland, among others, created works that incorporated ancient musical traditions and managed to sound both very old and very new. Most of the new pieces here, whether minimalist or not, sound thoroughly contemporary, but draw eclectically on music of other eras or other cultures, creating distinctive new sounds.
In recognition of the turn of the millennium, and to honor the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach's death, the International Bach Institute of Stuttgart commissioned four composers to write Passion settings, one for each of the Gospels. The composers selected were Wolfgang Rihm of Germany, Sofia Gubaidulina of Russia, Tan Dun of China and the U.S., and Osvaldo Golijov of Argentina, Israel, and the U.S. The Passions by Tan Dun and Golijov have gone on to great success, and have been widely performed. While it can't be claimed that the commissions were a significant catalyst for new choral music beyond the four Passion settings, the organizers were certainly astute in picking up on a feeling that the time was ripe for new choral works.
Innumerable composers working in smaller forms have turned out some stunning choral pieces, but this feature will look at larger works. The works presented here are representative of some of the new approaches composers have taken to writing large choral works for our time. These pieces for the most part use texts from the Christian tradition, but John Tavener also incorporates Sufi poetry and sacred Islamic and Hindu texts in The Veil of the Temple, and Osvaldo Golijov employs secular Spanish poetry in his passion and closes it with a Kaddish, a Jewish prayer of mourning in Aramaic.
Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960): Pasión según San Marcos (2000)
Osvaldo Golijov was born in Argentina, lived in Israel, and settled in the United States, but it's the Latin American, particularly Afro-Cuban influence that most strongly shapes La Pasión según San Marcos. It's a populist work in the best sense; while it is structured with great sophistication, it has the feeling of a poor Central or South American community artlessly enacting the Passion story in the village square on Good Friday. The piece is subtly political in its elevation of the chorus and members of the orchestra to the same level of significance as the named soloists, and the dramatic roles, most notably that of Jesus, are portrayed not by an individual, but at different points by the chorus in various configurations, as well as both male and female soloists. The Passion is dominated by the energy of popular Latin dances and songs and is driven by the use of indigenous percussion instruments. Given the widespread, often ecstatic enthusiasm it has received, Golijov's Passion seems destined to be around for a long time.
Maria Guinand, cond. - Golijov: Pasión según San Marcos
Primer Anuncio
¿Por qué
El Cordero Pascual
Agonia (Aria de Jesús)
Tan Dun (b. 1957): Water Passion after Saint Matthew (2000)
Of the four commissioned Passion settings, Tan Dun's Water Passion is by far the most avant garde. Instead of an orchestra, the composer uses violin and cello soloists, synthesizer, sound designer and a "water instruments orchestra" of three percussionists. Unlike most Passions, but not surprisingly given the work's theme, Tan's work begins with Jesus' baptism, and he inventively deploys the water instruments to evoke the Jordan River. He also draws on a variety of Eastern and Middle Eastern folk traditions, including Mongolian overtone singing and the Peking Opera, as well as extended vocal and instrumental techniques. It's a mysterious, contemplative piece that offers a startlingly fresh approach to the Passion narrative, and despite its daunting technical demands, has been widely performed since its premiere.
Tan Dun, cond. - Tan Dun: Water Passion after Saint Matthew
Temptations
Water Cadenza
Stone Song
Pawel Lukaszewski (b. 1968): Via Crucis (2000)
Via Crucis (The Stations of the Cross) by Polish composer Pawel Lukaszewski would work as part of a liturgical service as well as in concert performance. While the composer is fluent in the advanced compositional procedures of the 20th century, he integrates them into the eclectic score with such skill and appropriateness that even conservative listeners are liable to be swept up in the music's propulsive momentum. The work is beautifully structured; the use of the repetition of some music in all of the 15 stations creates a sense of familiarity and of inexorable progress toward the grim climax, and the repetitions are balanced with bracingly diverse new material in each section. The dazzling inventiveness of Lukaszewski's choral and orchestral writing and the intensity of its cumulative power make this one of the most gripping large choral works to appear in many years.
Stephen Layton, cond. - Lukaszewski: Via Crucis
Introduction
Station 3. Jesus falls for the first time
Station 9. Omnes nos quasi oves erravimus
Peteris Vasks (b. 1946): Missa (2001 - A cappella or organ; 2005 - organ or strings orchestra)
When his country was part of the Soviet Union, Latvian composer Peteris Vasks was not free to write music with religious texts, but after its fall he wasted no time in producing a wealth of sacred choral works. His choral music, which is very much in the quiet, mystical style of his instrumental and orchestral music, is idiomatically close to that of other holy minimalists like Pärt, Górecki, and Kancheli, but Vasks' tonal language tends to be more harmonically lush. While it is idiomatically related to music of earlier eras, Missa has just enough quirkiness to make it recognizable as a contemporary work. Notable for its heartfelt emotional honesty, it is largely a meditative and subdued setting, except for the urgently pleading Kyrie and the playful Sanctus, which the composer imagines being "sung by happy little angels."
Latvian Radio Choir - Vasks: Missa
Kyrie
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
John Tavener (b. 1944): The Veil of the Temple (All night vigil) (2002)
With a running time of seven hours, John Tavener's The Veil of the Temple really does last all night, but he has also made a two-hour version for those without the endurance to forego sleep and stay up until dawn. Those who have experienced the whole piece have described it as primordial, astonishing, enrapturing, glorious, overwhelming, transcendent, and there has been widespread agreement that it is Tavener's masterpiece. Having turned from his ardent Orthodox faith, Tavener embraces a more universal view, using Islamic, Hindu, and Christian texts in English, as well as writings in Greek, Church Slavonic, Sanskrit, and Aramaic. Conceived as a religious ritual rather than a concert piece, the vigil uses an array of instruments from Eastern cultures, a brass ensemble, percussion, antiphonal choirs, boys' choir, and soprano. The monumental work is probably not going to be widely performed, but for those lucky enough to experience it in its entirety, it can have an overpowering visceral impact.
Stephen Layton, cond. - Tavener: The Veil of the Temple
Cycle 2. Alleluia. Theos Erastos
Cycle 5. You Mantle Yourself in Light
Cycle 6. Jesus Having Risen from the Tomb
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): In Principio (2003)
Arvo Pärt's In Principio (In the Beginning) sets the first 14 verses of the Gospel of John. The 20-minute work is in five distinct movements, all characteristic of holy minimalism, a style that Pärt pioneered in the late 1970s. In Principio doesn't break new ground for the composer, but it's an eloquent work of profound feeling. Pärt's unique take on minimalism is perhaps most evident in the first movement, in which the chorus declaims the entire text on a single chord, as the orchestral punctuations move around the chord with harmonic freedom, creating dramatically differentiated sections of light and darkness.
Tonu Kaljuste, cond. - Pärt: In Principio
In principio erat Verbum
Fuit homo missus a Deo
Erat lux vera
Jyrki Linjama (b. 1962): Vesper (2003)
Finnish composer Jyrki Linjama has long had an interest in the gap between contemporary compositional techniques and the worship services of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church and he successfully addresses it in his Vesper, which can be used liturgically or in a concert setting. He uses 12-tone procedures (virtually undetectably) and other contemporary techniques as well as ancient Church music in a way that seems entirely natural and integrated. The melodies are largely modal and chant-like, so that even when they are undergirded with dense harmonic clusters they provide listeners with a familiar point of contact. This is complex music whose point isn't to sound complex, but to but to be an emotionally honest treatment of the text that makes a visceral, immediate connection with listeners.
Juha Kotilainen, cond. - Linjama: Vesper
Kantillaatio: Psalm 113
Lord's Prayer
Recessional
Joby Talbot (b. 1971): Path of Miracles (2005)
Path of Miracles, an hour-long work for a cappella mixed choir by British composer Joby Talbot, has established itself as one of the most striking and ambitious choral compositions of the new century. The piece celebrates the Medieval pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the resting place of St. James' remains. Talbot's musical language is broadly eclectic, using non-Western singing, Medieval and Renaissance styles, minimalist procedures, and lush contemporary harmonies, but the piece achieves a completely satisfying sense of unity. Dividing the choir into 17 parts, Talbot creates a work of ravishing richness and textural complexity, with a multitude of antiphonal opportunities. Heard live, with the singers deployed on all sides of the audience, it can be overwhelming, and even on disc it is hugely compelling.
Tenebrae; Nigel Short, cond. - Talbot: Path of Miracles
Roncesvalles
Leon
Santiago
Phil Kline (b. 195?): John the Revelator (2006)
American composer Phil Kline's mass, John the Revelator, which takes its title from a 1930 gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson, might not be technically considered a choral work since it was written for Lionheart, a male vocal sextet, but it could easily be performed by a mixed choir. The reference to the Revelation of John suggests that this will be a dark, apocalyptic work, but its tone is largely one of affirmation and redemption. Kline sets the six movements of the Ordinary of the Latin Mass, but interpolates ten other movements using modern poetry, and bookends the piece with his gorgeous harmonizations of two American hymns from the Sacred Harp. The mass is characterized by a warm, densely chromatic lyricism that is immediately appealing.
Lionheart - Kline: John the Revelator
Northport
Hear my Prayer
Sanctus
Calliope Tsoupaki (b. 1963): St. Luke's Passion (2008)
St. Luke's Passion by Calliope Tsoupaki, who was born in Greece and settled in the Netherlands, is firmly rooted in Orthodox chant and Byzantine musical traditions, and it can be heard as both archaic and contemporary. The intensely mystical piece unfolds with unhurried, magisterial gravity and the tone is largely meditative and serene; this Passion doesn't attempt a dramatic depiction of the story, but is meant to provide a space for contemplation and veneration. Although it is largely melodically modal, it is sometimes underpinned by atmospheric clouds of dissonance that have a raw, primordial power. The piece uses a trio of soloists -- an operatic tenor, a Byzantine singer, and an Eastern singer, three solo male voices, three Near Eastern folk instruments, a Byzantine choir, and a large chamber ensemble, and it doesn't sound quite like anything that's come before it. St. Luke's Passion establishes Tsoupaki as an exceptionally imaginative composer with a distinctive voice and vision, destined for a flourishing career.
Ed Spanjaard, cond. - Tsoupaki: St. Luke's Passion
Hymnos
Aria
Pathos
Stay tuned for more features on masterworks of the new century.
One of the 20th century's most popular classical hits remains Orff's secular scenic cantata, Carmina Burana, but in general it was not a particularly friendly century for large-scale choral pieces. There have been some acknowledged masterpieces -- Martin's Mass for double chorus, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Poulenc's Mass, Britten's War Requiem and A Ceremony of Carols, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and perhaps his Mass; works that enjoyed broad popularity but whose reputations are somewhat faded -- Honegger's Le Roi David, Walton's Belshazzar's Feast; and works that are widely admired but seldom performed, often because of their difficulty -- Bartók's Cantata Profana, Stravinsky's Mass, Messiaen's La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ and Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine, Ligeti's Requiem, Penderecki's St. Luke Passion -- and there are certainly others that could be added to these lists. As the 20th century was drawing to a close, though, major choral works started appearing with more regularity. Holy minimalism, a movement toward simplicity that avoided the extreme use of the dissonance that had been the norm in "serious" new music since the middle of the century, attracted new audiences with its serenity, austerity and sense of mystery. In this tradition, Arvo Pärt of Estonia, John Tavener of the UK, and Henryk Górecki of Poland, among others, created works that incorporated ancient musical traditions and managed to sound both very old and very new. Most of the new pieces here, whether minimalist or not, sound thoroughly contemporary, but draw eclectically on music of other eras or other cultures, creating distinctive new sounds.
In recognition of the turn of the millennium, and to honor the 250th anniversary of J.S. Bach's death, the International Bach Institute of Stuttgart commissioned four composers to write Passion settings, one for each of the Gospels. The composers selected were Wolfgang Rihm of Germany, Sofia Gubaidulina of Russia, Tan Dun of China and the U.S., and Osvaldo Golijov of Argentina, Israel, and the U.S. The Passions by Tan Dun and Golijov have gone on to great success, and have been widely performed. While it can't be claimed that the commissions were a significant catalyst for new choral music beyond the four Passion settings, the organizers were certainly astute in picking up on a feeling that the time was ripe for new choral works.Innumerable composers working in smaller forms have turned out some stunning choral pieces, but this feature will look at larger works. The works presented here are representative of some of the new approaches composers have taken to writing large choral works for our time. These pieces for the most part use texts from the Christian tradition, but John Tavener also incorporates Sufi poetry and sacred Islamic and Hindu texts in The Veil of the Temple, and Osvaldo Golijov employs secular Spanish poetry in his passion and closes it with a Kaddish, a Jewish prayer of mourning in Aramaic.
Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960): Pasión según San Marcos (2000)
Osvaldo Golijov was born in Argentina, lived in Israel, and settled in the United States, but it's the Latin American, particularly Afro-Cuban influence that most strongly shapes La Pasión según San Marcos. It's a populist work in the best sense; while it is structured with great sophistication, it has the feeling of a poor Central or South American community artlessly enacting the Passion story in the village square on Good Friday. The piece is subtly political in its elevation of the chorus and members of the orchestra to the same level of significance as the named soloists, and the dramatic roles, most notably that of Jesus, are portrayed not by an individual, but at different points by the chorus in various configurations, as well as both male and female soloists. The Passion is dominated by the energy of popular Latin dances and songs and is driven by the use of indigenous percussion instruments. Given the widespread, often ecstatic enthusiasm it has received, Golijov's Passion seems destined to be around for a long time.Maria Guinand, cond. - Golijov: Pasión según San Marcos
Primer Anuncio
¿Por qué
El Cordero Pascual
Agonia (Aria de Jesús)
Tan Dun (b. 1957): Water Passion after Saint Matthew (2000)
Of the four commissioned Passion settings, Tan Dun's Water Passion is by far the most avant garde. Instead of an orchestra, the composer uses violin and cello soloists, synthesizer, sound designer and a "water instruments orchestra" of three percussionists. Unlike most Passions, but not surprisingly given the work's theme, Tan's work begins with Jesus' baptism, and he inventively deploys the water instruments to evoke the Jordan River. He also draws on a variety of Eastern and Middle Eastern folk traditions, including Mongolian overtone singing and the Peking Opera, as well as extended vocal and instrumental techniques. It's a mysterious, contemplative piece that offers a startlingly fresh approach to the Passion narrative, and despite its daunting technical demands, has been widely performed since its premiere.Tan Dun, cond. - Tan Dun: Water Passion after Saint Matthew
Temptations
Water Cadenza
Stone Song
Pawel Lukaszewski (b. 1968): Via Crucis (2000)
Via Crucis (The Stations of the Cross) by Polish composer Pawel Lukaszewski would work as part of a liturgical service as well as in concert performance. While the composer is fluent in the advanced compositional procedures of the 20th century, he integrates them into the eclectic score with such skill and appropriateness that even conservative listeners are liable to be swept up in the music's propulsive momentum. The work is beautifully structured; the use of the repetition of some music in all of the 15 stations creates a sense of familiarity and of inexorable progress toward the grim climax, and the repetitions are balanced with bracingly diverse new material in each section. The dazzling inventiveness of Lukaszewski's choral and orchestral writing and the intensity of its cumulative power make this one of the most gripping large choral works to appear in many years. Stephen Layton, cond. - Lukaszewski: Via Crucis
Introduction
Station 3. Jesus falls for the first time
Station 9. Omnes nos quasi oves erravimus
Peteris Vasks (b. 1946): Missa (2001 - A cappella or organ; 2005 - organ or strings orchestra)
When his country was part of the Soviet Union, Latvian composer Peteris Vasks was not free to write music with religious texts, but after its fall he wasted no time in producing a wealth of sacred choral works. His choral music, which is very much in the quiet, mystical style of his instrumental and orchestral music, is idiomatically close to that of other holy minimalists like Pärt, Górecki, and Kancheli, but Vasks' tonal language tends to be more harmonically lush. While it is idiomatically related to music of earlier eras, Missa has just enough quirkiness to make it recognizable as a contemporary work. Notable for its heartfelt emotional honesty, it is largely a meditative and subdued setting, except for the urgently pleading Kyrie and the playful Sanctus, which the composer imagines being "sung by happy little angels." Latvian Radio Choir - Vasks: Missa
Kyrie
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
John Tavener (b. 1944): The Veil of the Temple (All night vigil) (2002)
With a running time of seven hours, John Tavener's The Veil of the Temple really does last all night, but he has also made a two-hour version for those without the endurance to forego sleep and stay up until dawn. Those who have experienced the whole piece have described it as primordial, astonishing, enrapturing, glorious, overwhelming, transcendent, and there has been widespread agreement that it is Tavener's masterpiece. Having turned from his ardent Orthodox faith, Tavener embraces a more universal view, using Islamic, Hindu, and Christian texts in English, as well as writings in Greek, Church Slavonic, Sanskrit, and Aramaic. Conceived as a religious ritual rather than a concert piece, the vigil uses an array of instruments from Eastern cultures, a brass ensemble, percussion, antiphonal choirs, boys' choir, and soprano. The monumental work is probably not going to be widely performed, but for those lucky enough to experience it in its entirety, it can have an overpowering visceral impact. Stephen Layton, cond. - Tavener: The Veil of the Temple
Cycle 2. Alleluia. Theos Erastos
Cycle 5. You Mantle Yourself in Light
Cycle 6. Jesus Having Risen from the Tomb
Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): In Principio (2003)
Arvo Pärt's In Principio (In the Beginning) sets the first 14 verses of the Gospel of John. The 20-minute work is in five distinct movements, all characteristic of holy minimalism, a style that Pärt pioneered in the late 1970s. In Principio doesn't break new ground for the composer, but it's an eloquent work of profound feeling. Pärt's unique take on minimalism is perhaps most evident in the first movement, in which the chorus declaims the entire text on a single chord, as the orchestral punctuations move around the chord with harmonic freedom, creating dramatically differentiated sections of light and darkness. Tonu Kaljuste, cond. - Pärt: In Principio
In principio erat Verbum
Fuit homo missus a Deo
Erat lux vera
Jyrki Linjama (b. 1962): Vesper (2003)
Finnish composer Jyrki Linjama has long had an interest in the gap between contemporary compositional techniques and the worship services of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church and he successfully addresses it in his Vesper, which can be used liturgically or in a concert setting. He uses 12-tone procedures (virtually undetectably) and other contemporary techniques as well as ancient Church music in a way that seems entirely natural and integrated. The melodies are largely modal and chant-like, so that even when they are undergirded with dense harmonic clusters they provide listeners with a familiar point of contact. This is complex music whose point isn't to sound complex, but to but to be an emotionally honest treatment of the text that makes a visceral, immediate connection with listeners.Juha Kotilainen, cond. - Linjama: Vesper
Kantillaatio: Psalm 113
Lord's Prayer
Recessional
Joby Talbot (b. 1971): Path of Miracles (2005)
Path of Miracles, an hour-long work for a cappella mixed choir by British composer Joby Talbot, has established itself as one of the most striking and ambitious choral compositions of the new century. The piece celebrates the Medieval pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the resting place of St. James' remains. Talbot's musical language is broadly eclectic, using non-Western singing, Medieval and Renaissance styles, minimalist procedures, and lush contemporary harmonies, but the piece achieves a completely satisfying sense of unity. Dividing the choir into 17 parts, Talbot creates a work of ravishing richness and textural complexity, with a multitude of antiphonal opportunities. Heard live, with the singers deployed on all sides of the audience, it can be overwhelming, and even on disc it is hugely compelling.Tenebrae; Nigel Short, cond. - Talbot: Path of Miracles
Roncesvalles
Leon
Santiago
Phil Kline (b. 195?): John the Revelator (2006)
American composer Phil Kline's mass, John the Revelator, which takes its title from a 1930 gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson, might not be technically considered a choral work since it was written for Lionheart, a male vocal sextet, but it could easily be performed by a mixed choir. The reference to the Revelation of John suggests that this will be a dark, apocalyptic work, but its tone is largely one of affirmation and redemption. Kline sets the six movements of the Ordinary of the Latin Mass, but interpolates ten other movements using modern poetry, and bookends the piece with his gorgeous harmonizations of two American hymns from the Sacred Harp. The mass is characterized by a warm, densely chromatic lyricism that is immediately appealing.Lionheart - Kline: John the Revelator
Northport
Hear my Prayer
Sanctus
Calliope Tsoupaki (b. 1963): St. Luke's Passion (2008)
St. Luke's Passion by Calliope Tsoupaki, who was born in Greece and settled in the Netherlands, is firmly rooted in Orthodox chant and Byzantine musical traditions, and it can be heard as both archaic and contemporary. The intensely mystical piece unfolds with unhurried, magisterial gravity and the tone is largely meditative and serene; this Passion doesn't attempt a dramatic depiction of the story, but is meant to provide a space for contemplation and veneration. Although it is largely melodically modal, it is sometimes underpinned by atmospheric clouds of dissonance that have a raw, primordial power. The piece uses a trio of soloists -- an operatic tenor, a Byzantine singer, and an Eastern singer, three solo male voices, three Near Eastern folk instruments, a Byzantine choir, and a large chamber ensemble, and it doesn't sound quite like anything that's come before it. St. Luke's Passion establishes Tsoupaki as an exceptionally imaginative composer with a distinctive voice and vision, destined for a flourishing career. Ed Spanjaard, cond. - Tsoupaki: St. Luke's Passion
Hymnos
Aria
Pathos
Stay tuned for more features on masterworks of the new century.