Schnittke : Concerto pour chœur. Dijkstra.

   in Choir & Organ (Mar, 2014)
Taken from Gregory of Narek’s Book of Lamentations, Schnittke’s Concerto for Choir is an example of how to illustrate a text skilfully. Here the tortured soul, fervent and lamenting, seeks salvation from God. The composer uses swooping dissonances rising to searing crescendos, with the high women’s voices acting as a shaftof light breaking through the angst. The choir gives a stimulating and rapt performance of this thought-provoking work. The Three Sacred Hymns to Orthodox texts are uncomplicated, homophonic settings that are sung sensitively. Voices of Nature, written to complement a documentary film, is a vocalise for ten women’s voices and vibraphone. It’s excellent in that particular genre, but has …