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Cover: Alexander Grechaninov – All-Night Vigil

Alexander Grechaninov

All-Night Vigil

Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Klava, conductor

ODE 1397-2 · CD · November 2021

Buy / listen

Track listing

10 tracks · 45:54

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Alexander Grechaninov

  1. All-Night Vigil, Op. 59 46:01
  2. 1 Bless the Lord, O My Soul 5:46
  3. 2 Kathisma: Blessed is the Man 5:08
  4. 3 Gladsome Light 3:33
  5. 4 Rejoice, O Virgin 1:19
  6. 5 Praise the Name of the Lord 5:15
  7. 6 Blessed Art Thou, O Lord 6:28
  8. 7 From My Youth 3:03
  9. 8 Having Beheld the Resurrection of Christ 3:41
  10. 9 The Great Doxology 10:14
  11. 10 To Thee, the Victorious Leader 1:27

About this recording

With this new album the award-winning Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava is turning its attention to the music of Alexander Grechaninov (1864–1956), one of the masters of Russian liturgic music. Grechaninov’s All-Night Vigil is a fitting continuation to the choir’s albums of sacred music by Sergey Rachmaninov and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Together with the two latter names, Grechaninov’s All-Night Vigil belongs to the central repertoire of Russian liturgic music.

Also known as author of several symphonies and over 200 opus-numbered works, Grechaninov’s choral music has an important position among his oeuvre. His All-Night Vigil, written in the 1910s during the golden era of Russian liturgic music before the October revolution, belongs to its highlights. Unlike the Vigils by Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, Grechaninov’s work was written primarily for concert use. Grechaninov’s All-Night Vigil is a bright, optimistic work full of light. Grechaninov used old traditional Slavic chants as the basis of this work and selected the uplifting, solemnly glorious chants to emphasize the character of joy, exultation and jubilance.

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 Klava’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 Klava is a professor at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music. Klava is a multiple winner of the Latvian Great Music Award.

Features

English notes and sung text enclosed

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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