Choir Concerto - Schnittke, Vedel and Bortniansky SWR Vokalensemble & Yuval Weinberg

• Alfred Schnittke (1934 - 1998): Concerto for Choir:
• 1 Schnittke: Concerto for Choir: I. O Pavelitel' sushcheva fsevo 15:58
• 2 Schnittke: Concerto for Choir: II. Sabran'je pesen sikh, gde kazhdyj stikh 07:57
• 3 Schnittke: Concerto for Choir: III. Fsem tem, kto vniknet fsushchnast' 11:43
• 4 Schnittke: Concerto for Choir: IV. Sej trud, shto natchinal ja supavan'jem 04:40
• Artemy Vedel (1767 - 1808): Sacred Concerto for Choir No. 21 "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept":
• 5 Vedel: Sacred Concerto for Choir No. 21 "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept" 10:23
• Dmitry Bortniansky (1751 - 1825): Sacred Concerto for Choir No. 32 "Lord, let me know my purpose":
• 6 Bortniansky: Sacred Concerto for Choir No. 32 "Lord, let me know my purpose" 08:34
• Total Runtime 59:15

Info for Choir Concerto - Schnittke, Vedel and Bortniansky

The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Cultural Revolution did everything in their power to destroy the influence of religion in the Russian Empire. Sacred music became forgotten by the general public in the process. Although Schnittke, whose German-born father emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1926, was atheistically influenced by the state education system, he believed spiritually in ‘something greater’. In 1982, he was bapti sed a Catholic, and shortly before his death he was accepted into the Orthodox Church. The search for a religious identity can also be traced in his works.

Vedel and Bortniansky are among the most important composers of Ukrainian classical music of the 18th century. Little is known about Vedel’s life. The works attributed to him, including 31 choral concertos, are all set to liturgical texts or Bible verses. In these works, the traditions of the Orthodox church music of his homeland, Ukrainian Baroque tradition and folk songs merge with a new Western European operatic and instrumental style.

Bortniansky is highly credited with bringing the genre of the sacred concerto to fruition. Consisting of psalm verses set to music, which were sung during the Eucharist in church services, its purpose at the time was far-reaching: as a universal genre, it was the highlight of the Orthodox liturgy, an adornment of the state ceremony that was additionally intended for a kind of domestic music-making. In the Western repertoire, it comes closest to the instrumental concerto grosso, the difference being that no instruments are permitted in the Orthodox service.

SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart
Yuval Weinberg, conductor

Yuval Weinberg
studied choral conducting with Jörg-Peter Weigle at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin and with Grete Pedersen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. He then began his training in orchestral conducting and singing at the Buchmann-Mehta Academy of Music at the University of Tel Aviv.

From 2015 to 2017 he was the conductor of the NOVA Chamber Choir in Oslo and the Norwegian National Youth Choir. Since summer 2019 he has been principal guest conductor of the Norwegian Soloist Choir and artistic director of EuroChoir. In October 2019 he was appointed chief conductor of the SWR Vocal Ensemble and will take up his post at the beginning of the 2020/21 season.

He also regularly conducts the Bavarian Radio Chorus in concert and on recordings. He has taken rehearsals for conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Ottavio Dantone, Keri-Lynn Wilson and Tõnu Kaljuste. As a scholarship holder and finalist of the German Conductors’ Forum, supported by Tenso, the European network for professional chamber choirs, he has collaborated with such renowned choirs as Cappella Amsterdam, the Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the MDR Radio Choir, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the NDR Choir, the RIAS Chamber Choir, the Berlin Radio Choir and the Swedish Radio Choir.

Yuval Weinberg has won numerous international competitions. In 2017 he won first prize and the special prize for best conducting at the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf with the NOVA Chamber Choir from Oslo. In 2015 and 2016 he was sponsored by the Gary Bertini Foundation as the winner of the Young Talent Prize for Israeli choir directors. In 2014 he received first prize at the International Choir Conducting Competition in Wroclaw, as well as the jury’s special prize at the 2013 International Choir Conducting Competition in St Petersburg.

In addition to his work as music director of various youth choirs promoting young singers, he gives conducting courses and workshops at international festivals such as Europa Cantat and Les Choralies.

Booklet for Choir Concerto - Schnittke, Vedel and Bortniansky