Enchanting choral sounds with Sigvards Klava
Programme
- Anton Bruckner Os justi
- Anton Bruckner Christus factus est
- Anton Bruckner Locus iste
- Anton Bruckner Ave Maria
- Felix Mendelssohn Warum toben die Heiden (from Drei Psalmen, opus 78)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Liturgy of St. John Crysostomos
The hardcore choral conductor Sigvards Klava is back in front of the Groot Omroepkoor in the NTR Saturday Matinee. He brings together spiritual choral works from East and West.
Intimate choral work from unexpected source
Intimate choral music by Bruckner and Tchaikovsky? Yes indeed - in addition to grand works, these composers also wrote music of a subdued nature. The Austrian Bruckner, nevertheless known for his colossal symphonies, had even begun composing because he was immersed in spiritual music as a choirboy in a monastery. Throughout his life, he wrote spiritual, vocal works of surprisingly pure beauty.
New sounds from the past
For his Liturgy of St. John Chrysostomos, Tchaikovsky drew on ancient Orthodox chants, but he also wrote from his personal experience. The composer told how deeply the enchanting poetry of a psalm could touch him when he heard a choir singing during Russian Orthodox church service. Tchaikovsky's Liturgy is a wonderful echo of this. It was premiered in Kyiv in 1879 - not in a church, by the way, because the authorities had forbidden it.