Wolfgang Rihm: Sieben Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen SWR Vokalensemble & Marcus Creed

• Wolfgang Rihm (b. 1952): 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen:
• 1Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 1, Tristis est anima mea02:48
• 2Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 2, Ecce vidimus eum03:57
• 3Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 3, Velum templi scissum est02:57
• 4Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 4, Tenebrae factae sunt05:36
• 5Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 5, Caligaverunt oculi mei a fletu meo04:23
• 6Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 6, Recessit pastor noster02:47
• 7Rihm: 7 Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen: No. 7, Aestimatus sum04:51
• Total Runtime27:19

Info for Wolfgang Rihm: Sieben Passions-Texte für sechs Stimmen

The premiere of Passion Texts Six and Seven was also that of Vigilia, a work that complements the Seven Passion Texts with instrumental interludes. In the last piece, "voices and instruments unite in a plea for forgiveness." (Clemens Goldberg). The vocal ensemble Singer Pur was joined by members of the musikFabrik ensemble. Stefan Asbury conducted. The total duration was 65'.

Wolfgang Rihm completed his DEUS PASSUS Passion Pieces after Luke in 2000. When the vocal ensemble Singer Pur asked him for a cappella music for Holy Week, the composer hesitated at first. He would rather "take off the monk's robe again". But then he felt so attracted by the project that he immediately set the seven selected texts to music.

In the review of the premiere of the first two parts in Rome, we learn from S. Dimitrov: "Even the conservative Cardinal Ratzinger absolutely approved of the commissioned productions for Rihm and Sciarrino".

The composer is said to have advised the vocal sextet: "Sing it like old music - then you'll hear that it isn't."

The SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, which performs the present recording, was founded in 1946 and is one of the leading international ensembles specialized in the vocal music of the 20th and 21st centuries. The ensemble was awarded the Echo Klassik in both 2011 and 2012 as well as the European Choral Prize of the Pro Europa Cultural Foundation for its pioneering commitment to contemporary vocal music in 2011. In 2013 it was nominated for a Grammy.

SWR Vocal Ensemble
Marcus Creed, conductor

SWR Vokalensemble
A spirit of musical research, a passion for experimentation, a wide range of style and perfect singing – these are the hallmarks of the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart. For many years now, it has been counted among the top international ensembles for contemporary music, and in the course of its seventy-year history has sung more premieres than any other chorus. Conductors, composers and organisers hold the musical intelligence of the chorus members in high esteem, as well as their professional treatment of the difficulties of contemporary scores, and their constructive open-minded attitude toward today’s utopias. Apart from new music, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart also devotes itself to the more demand¬ing choral works of earlier periods – their concert programs often set the old and the new into an evocative contrast. Musical directors Marinus Voorberg, Klaus Martin Ziegler and Rupert Huber have each put their mark on the SWR Vokalensemble in the past. Voorberg and especially Huber molded the sound typical of the SWR Vokalensemble, characterised by slender, straight-edged vocalisation, and an equally great perfection as regards intonation and articulation. Many of the more than 250 performances noted in the chronological history of the SWR Vokalensemble were conducted by Rupert Huber. Marcus Creed has been artistic director since 2003. His interpretations combine a sure sense of style, a beautiful sound, technical expertise and musical dynamism, and have met with great admiration from audiences and professional journals alike. The SWR Vokalensemble is a welcome and well-liked guest on international concert stages and at renowned music festivals at home and abroad. Its concert programs are recorded for radio and many are then released on CD. International record prizes confirm the quality of these recordings, including the German Music Critics’ Award, the Echo Klassik Prize, the Diapason’dor and the Grand Prix du Disque.

Marcus Creed
was born and raised on the south coast of England. He began his studies at King’s College, Cambridge, where he had the opportunity to sing in the famous Chapel Choir. Further studies took him to Christ Church, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Marcus Creed has been living in Berlin since 1977. In the city, he has worked at the Deutsche Oper as an operatic coach and chorus director and at the University of the Arts as lecturer on Lieder, as well as with the Gruppe Neue Musik and with the Scharoun Ensemble as a pianist and conductor. From 1987 to 2001 Marcus Creed was artistic director of the RIAS Chamber Choir. In 1998 he accepted the position of professor of conducting at the University of Music in Cologne.

Since 2003 Marcus Creed has been artistic director of the SWR Vocal Ensemble in Stuttgart. His particular mission with the ensemble is to revive outstanding compositions from recent history, including works by Luigi Nono, György Kurtág, Wolfgang Rihm and Heinz Holliger. Marcus Creed regularly makes guest appearances at international festivals, giving performances of both old and new music. Since 2014 he has been music director of the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble in Copenhagen.

His work is documented on numerous CD recordings with the SWR Vocal Ensemble, which have received many international awards, including the German Music Critics’ Award of the Year, the Edison Classic Award, the Diapason d’Or, the Echo Klassik Award and the Cannes Classical Award.

This album contains no booklet.