John Cage: Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir & Sigvards Kļava

• John Cage (1912 - 1992): Five:
• 1Cage: Five05:07
• Hymns & Variations:
• 2Cage: Hymns & Variations: Hymn A (After W. Billing's "Old North")02:05
• 3Cage: Hymns & Variations: Hymn B (After W. Billing's "Heath")01:53
• 4Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 101:55
• 5Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 202:06
• 6Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 302:05
• 7Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 401:55
• 8Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 502:05
• 9Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 602:04
• 10Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 701:55
• 11Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 801:55
• 12Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 901:55
• 13Cage: Hymns & Variations: Var. 1002:05
• Four²:
• 14Cage: Four²07:09
• Four⁶:
• 15Cage: Four⁶30:06
• Total Runtime01:06:20

Info for John Cage: Choral Works

This new album release by the Latvian Radio Choir and conductor Sigvards Klava on Ondine is devoted to choral works by the legendary American composer and music pioneer John Cage (1912-1992), one of the most leading figures in 20th Century music. John Cage is the dictionary definition of an avant-garde composer. Choral music and John Cage might seem like an odd pairing. And indeed, strictly speaking, Cage wrote only two compositions for chorus, both of which appear on this album: Hymns and Variations (1979) and Four2 (1990). The other works on the album are written for ensembles that are more or less open-ended and which have been interpreted here for choral forces. One reason Cage and choruses did not mix well may have been his notorious hostility to harmony in music. Arnold Schoenberg told Cage that he lacked any feeling for harmony, and that this would be a wall between him and his goal of being a composer. Given all this, it is no wonder that Cage and choruses didn't tend to mingle together. And so it was not until Cage was 67 years old that he wrote his first work for choral forces: Hymns and Variations.

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 John Cage: Choral Works