CHIAROSCURA, by The Esoterics

CHIAROSCURA

by The Esoterics

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1.	Sleep Canticle (John Joubert) 08:11	buy track
2.	Let there be light (John Joubert) 05:16	buy track
3.	Elucidation (Eric Banks) 04:25	buy track
4.	Deutsche Motette 19:24	buy track
5.	Concerto for chorus: I. O sovereign ruler of all things... (Alfred Schnittke) 14:02	buy track
6.	Concerto for chorus: II. This collection of songs... (Alfred Schnittke) 08:13	buy track
7.	Concerto for chorus III. For all those who understand... (Alfred Schnittke) 12:57	buy track
8.	Concerto for chorus: IV. This work that I began... (Alfred Schnittke) 04:16	buy track

about

CHIAROSCURA, The Esoterics’ fourteenth CD is an exploration of light and darkness, good and evil, truth and falsehood, the known and the mysterious – opposite and yet interdependent forces in our lives. The repertoire of CHIAROSCURA features two motets by the South African composer John Joubert, Alfred Schnittke’s masterfulConcerto for chorus a cappella, and Richard Strauss’ Deutsche Motette. In Joubert’s Sleep canticle, verses by Thomas Browne portray sleep as a midpoint between life and death, and in his motet Let there be light, St Augustine prays for clarity, wisdom, and virtue. Strauss’ Deutsche Motette is arguably the composer’s most notorious choral work, rarely performed due to its sheer virtuosity. Scored for twenty parts that span over four octaves, Strauss composed his setting of Friedrich Rückert’s poem in 1913 on a dare from the Berlin Philharmonic Choir “to write the most challenging piece imaginable.” Also on this recording is Alfred Schnittke’s monumentalConcerto for Choir a cappella, setting verses from The book of sorrowful songs by the Armenian mystic, St Gregory of Narek. This dramatic masterpiece brings together ancient and modern inspiration, evoking a solemnity that transports the listener into a distinctive, unquestionably Russian world of spirituality.

credits

released December 12, 2011

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about

The Esoterics Seattle, Washington

discography

AEONIA

Dec 2014
SIRENE

Dec 2014
BARBER

Jun 2014
CHIAROSCURA

Dec 2011

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