Bergmaniana – E. Bergman

   in Choir & Organ (Jan, 2017)
It’s ten years since the great Finn’s death and this is a major documentation of core work. Bergman found all the tone colours he needed in male voices and used them in an astonishing variety of ways. The singers here execute long slides, percussive breaks and outbreaks of what sounds almost like bar room singing, but all within a language tinged by serialism and other modernist devices. Hyökki’s close reading of the scores is remarkable and detailed, and every piece reveals new subtleties of execution on fresh hearing. There’s probably too much to absorb in one go; an album to savour over time, and piece by piece. …