Credo State Choir Latvija & Māris Sirmais

• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949): Deutsche Motette, Op. 62:
• 1Strauss: Deutsche Motette, Op. 6219:12
• Sven-David Sandström (1942 - 2019): 4 Songs of Love:
• 2Sandström: 4 Songs of Love: No. 1, Let Him Kiss Me01:58
• 3Sandström: 4 Songs of Love: No. 2, Until the Daybreak02:30
• 4Sandström: 4 Songs of Love: No. 3, Awake, O North Wind02:30
• 5Sandström: 4 Songs of Love: No. 4, His Left Hand01:44
• Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992): Louange à l'éternité de Jésus:
• 6Messiaen: Louange à l'éternité de Jésus (Arr. Gottwald for Choir)07:15
• Ambrož Čopi (b. 1973): He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven:
• 7Čopi: He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven04:51
• Richard Strauss: Der Abend, Op. 34 No. 1:
• 8Strauss: Der Abend, Op. 34 No. 110:14
• Matej Kastelic (b. 1994): Credo / I Believe:
• 9Kastelic: Credo / I Believe05:38
• Total Runtime55:52

Info for Credo

Two opulent choral masterpieces by Richard Strauss frame an eclectic program from one of Europe's most highly acclaimed choirs. The name of the young Slovenian composer Matej Kastelic may still be relatively little known, but the title track "Credo / I believe" is simply extraordinary, and demands to be heard.

The overarching theme of the music on this recording is that of love-love among people, love of faith and of God, and love as emotion and sensuality. Forming the backbone are two pieces by Richard Strauss: the Deutsche Motette and Der Abend. The former is a masterpiece for unaccompanied choir and soloists that is both polyphonically rich and technically sophisticated, albeit very delicate in its musical shape. Both works rarely receive performances due to the sheer number of vocal forces called for; I am glad that the State Choir LATVJA can enjoy the benefits that come with being a large choir, including the ability to perform large-scale choral works. Although I am not a particularly strong advocate of choral transcriptions of instrumental music, I shall happily admit that I find Clytus Gottwald's transcription of Messiaen's Louange a leternite de Jesus even more splendid and interesting than its original for piano and cello, indeed, Gottwald's use of an original text by Messiaen lends further artistic merit.

This recording also features some works by composers whose music is new to me, one of them being the Swedish composer Sven-David Sandstrom, who has also been a guest of honour at the International Sacred Music Festival organized by the State Choir LATVJA. It was during my time studying conducting that I discovered Sandstrim's work, which revealed to me a whole new point of view. His Four songs of love are subtle, nuanced and sensual pieces-characteristics that in part have come to define much of Sandstrom's writing. Recording these pieces has also given valuable space and time to reflect on both our friendship over the years and Sandstrom's recent passing. ...

State Choir Latvija
Māris Sirmais, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Credo