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Cover: Ramon Humet – Light (Llum)

Ramon Humet

Light (Llum)

Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Klava, conductor

ODE 1389-2 · CD · June 2021

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Track listing

7 tracks · 50:19

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Ramon Humet

  1. Llum (Light) (2013-16) 50:26
  2. 1 Tanca els ulls (Close Your Eyes) 7:04
  3. 2 Camina endins (Walk Inside) 7:03
  4. 3 Baixa al cim de l'Ànima (Descent to the Summit of the Soul) 6:00
  5. 4 Pedra nua (Naked Stone) 3:10
  6. 5 Paul al Cor (The Peaceful Heart) 10:46
  7. 6 Engrunes de Llum (Luminous Crumbs) 11:28
  8. 7 Al·leluia (Alleluia) 4:48

About this recording

With this new release the award-winning Latvian Radio Choir together with its director Sigvards Kļava are returning to contemporary music after a series of recordings of 19th Century sacred choral works. Ramon Humet’s (b. 1968) new choral work, Llum, is a deep, spiritual journey to the gift of life, peace and love.

Humet’s Llum was due to be premiered by the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Kļava in Barcelona in March 2020 when the global pandemic broke out. This 7-movement work is based on spiritual texts and poems by Vicenç Santamaria, a monk from the monastery of Monserrat in Catalunya and close friend of the composer. This timeless work is radiating serene joy and ends with an ‘Alleluia’. In this first recording, the Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Klava are offering an impressive account of this new 21st Century choral work.

The Latvian Radio Choir (LRC) ranks among the top professional chamber choirs in Europe and its refined taste for musical material, fineness of expression and vocal of unbelievably immense compass have charted it as a noted brand on the world map. The repertoire of LRC ranges from the Renaissance music to the most sophisticated scores by modern composers; and it could be described as a sound laboratory – the singers explore their skills by turning to the mysteries of traditional singing, as well as to the art of quartertone and overtone singing and other sound production techniques. The choir has established a new understanding of the possibilities of a human voice; one could also say that the choir is the creator of a new choral paradigm: every singer is a distinct individual with his or her own vocal signature and roles in performances.

Sigvards Kļava is one of the most outstanding Latvian conductors, also a professor of conducting and producer, music director of the Latvian Radio Choir since 1992. As a result of Sigvards Kļava’s steady efforts, the Latvian Radio Choir has become an internationally recognized, vocally distinctive collective, where each singer possesses a creative individuality. Under Sigvards’ guidance, the choir has recorded a number of choral works by little known or completely forgotten composers of the past, as well as formed a friendly collaboration with a number of notable Latvian composers. Sigvards Kļava is a professor at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music. Kļava is a multiple winner of the Latvian Great Music Award.

Features

Sleeve notes in English, sung texts with English translation.

World première recording

The artists

Latvian Radio Choir

The Latvian Radio Choir is a full-time professional chamber choir founded in 1940. Chief Conductor Sigvards Kļava and Conductor Kaspars Putniņš have led the choir since 1992. The ensemble's repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the present day, with a primary focus on exploring the capabilities of the human voice and seeking to extend its limits. A major part of the repertoire is dedicated to contemporary music and composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. The choir is also open to creative experiments and often participates in dramatic performances and multimedia projects. The ensemble regularly commissions works from leading Latvian composers such as Pēteris Vasks and Ēriks Ešenvalds.

Full biography

Sigvards Klava

Sigvards Kļava began working with the Latvian Radio Choir in 1987 and was appointed its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director in 1992. As one of Latvia's most prolific choral conductors, Sigvards Kļava has collaborated with every leading choir and orchestra in the country, performing the great works of the standard repertoire in addition to conducting most premieres of new choral works by Latvian composers. He has recorded numerous albums with the Latvian Radio Choir. Sigvards Kļava has also been Chief Conductor at a number of Latvian and Nordic song festivals. He is a co-founder of the Latvian New Music Festival ARENA and serves as a member of its artistic board. He teaches young conductors at the Choral Department of the Latvian Academy of Music and the Choral College of the Riga Lutheran Cathedral. Sigvards Kļava appears as a guest conductor with leading European choirs. He has received the Latvian Great Music Award and the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers Award.

Full biography

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