Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem Domine Latvian Radio Choir & Sigvards Kjava

• Arvo Pärt (1935): Triodion:
• 1 Introduction: ad libitum 00:27
• 2 Ode I: O Jesus the Son of God, Have Mercy upon Us 04:10
• 3 Ode II: O Most Holy Birth-giver of God, Save Us 05:26
• 4 Ode III: O Holy Saint Nicholas, Pray to God for Us - Coda: ad libitum 04:59
• 5 Coda 00:58
• 7 Magnificat Antiphons:
• 6 No. 1. O Weisheit 01:33
• 7 No. 2. O Adonai 02:33
• 8 No. 3. O Spross 01:04
• 9 No. 4. O Schlussel 02:25
• 10 No. 5. O Morgenstern 02:00
• 11 No. 6. O Konig 01:22
• 12 No. 7. O Immanuel 03:13
• 13 Nunc dimittis 07:45
• 14 Dopo la vittoria 09:20
• 15 Virgencita 08:11
• 16 The Woman with the Alabaster Box 05:57
• 17 Tribute to Caesar 05:31
• 18 Da Pacem Domine: Da pacem Domine (version for mixed choir a cappella) 04:24
• Total Runtime 01:11:18

Info for Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem Domine

The deeply spiritual and timeless music of Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) has touched many listeners in a profound way during the last few decades. Today he is among the most frequently performed living composers. This new recording includes eight choral pieces by the Estonian composer performed by the prestigious Latvian Radio Choir under Sigvards Kļava.

The works on this recording span a period of nearly 25 years, from 1988 to 2012, and include some of Pärt’s finest works in vocal writing, including the three-movement Triodion and the 7-movement Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen. The dominant stylistic feature of these works is his famous tintinnabuli style which he adopted after distancing himself from his early style that adopted neo-classicism, serialism and polystylism.

Latvian Radio Choir’s previous releases on Ondine have been highly successful. For instance, the recording of Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil (ODE 1206-5) was chosen as the Record of the Month, Editor’s Choice and received a nomination in the Gramophone Awards in 2013. Also their recent release of choral works by Valentin Silvestrov (ODE 1266-5) received Gramophone Editor’s Choice.

Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Klava, conductor

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. Since 1992, LRC has two conductors – Sigvards Kļava, Music Director and Principal Conductor; and Kaspars Putniņš.

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. The expertise of singers has made LRC a remarkably flexible ensemble able to deal with vocal and instrumental music, as well as with opera performances, multi-media projects, intimate a capella talks, and theatrical shows where singers can express themselves as soloists and talented actors.

e choir has participated in the top international musical forums in Salzburg and Montpellier, the Baltic Sea Festival, Klangspuren Festival, La Musica, Ultima, the Venice Biennale, White Light Festival USA, Soundstreams in Canada; and performed in renowned concert halls such as the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Berlin, and Cité de la Musique in Paris, Lincoln Center in New York and Dresden Frauenkirche. LRC has successfully worked with many outstanding guest conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Heinz Holliger, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Stephen Layton, Tõnu Kaljuste, James Wood, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, among others. The Latvian Radio Choir records on a regular basis. Every season, three or four new CDs appear in collaboration with such labels as Hyperion Records, BIS, GB Records, Ondine, and Naïve.

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 Kļava’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 Kļava is a professor at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. Kļava is a multiple winner of the Latvian Grand Music Award. He has performed at the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw of Amsterdam, Berliner Konzerthaus and Philharmonie, Théâtre des Champs- Élysées in Paris, Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, Dresdner Frauenkirche as well as in the New York Lincoln Centre.

Booklet for Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem Domine