Sviridov: Canticles & Prayers Latvian Radio Choir & Sigvards Kļava

• Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov (1915 - 1998): Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder:
• 1 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 1, Lord, Save the Pious 01:34
• 2 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 2, Holy God 04:52
• 3 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 3, It Is Worth Eating 02:10
• 4 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 4, Christmas Song 01:21
• 5 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 5, Glory and Hallelujah 03:59
• 6 Canticles & Prayers, Inexpressible Wonder: No. 6, The Inexpressible Miracle 02:41
• Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity:
• 7 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 7, Glory (Fast) 01:12
• 8 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 8, Come, Let Us Worship 02:34
• 9 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 9, Glory (Monastic) 00:43
• 10 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 10, Repentance of the Prodigal Son 02:49
• 11 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 11, Glory (Quiet) 01:01
• 12 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 12, Have Mercy on Us, Lord 02:37
• 13 Canticles & Prayers, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity: No. 13, Having Beheld a Strange Nativity 04:35
• Canticles & Prayers, From the Old Testament:
• 14 Canticles & Prayers, From the Old Testament: No. 14, King of Glory 03:03
• 15 Canticles & Prayers, From the Old Testament: No. 15, The Song of Purification 03:24
• 16 Canticles & Prayers, From the Old Testament: No. 16, The Lord's Land 05:35
• Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs:
• 17 Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs: No. 17, Glorification of the Mother of God 02:04
• 18 Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs: No. 18, Prayer to the Holy Apostle John the Theologian 04:35
• 19 Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs: No. 19, Lord, Raise Up Your Power 02:28
• 20 Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs: No. 20, Behold the Bridegroom Comes 03:41
• 21 Canticles & Prayers, Other Songs: No. 21, The Last Supper 04:36
• The Red Easter:
• 22 The Red Easter 03:30
• Total Runtime 01:05:04

Info for Sviridov: Canticles & Prayers

Georgy Sviridov's (1915–1998) Canticles and Prayers is considered by many as one of the most important works in Russian sacred music. In this new recording Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Klava offer impressive renditions of music from this collection by the Russian master. Sviridov, a pupil of Shostakovich, began writing religious works since 1969. Since then these works came to form an important part of his oeuvre. In the 1980s Sviridov had several projects to write a liturgy or a mass. In the end, the sketches of his sacred music came to form a cycle titled Canticles and Prayers. The work was created at a turning point in the history of Russia, the perestroika years that ended in the collapse of the Soviet state. The composer was keenly affected by the events of those years, building a monument to his era. The main body of Canticles and Prayers was assembled between 1988 and 1992. In September 1997, Sviridov selected the versions he thought best, approving the final order for the first three parts and making the final edits to the score. This work remained incomplete at the time of his death in 1998. Canticles and Prayers was thus Sviridov's last work. The recording also includes chorus The Red Easter (1978) based on a cycle of Easter hymns.

Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Klava, direction

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.

Booklet for Sviridov: Canticles & Prayers