Cooman / Convivium Singers / Waggott - Evening Choir - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Various Artists - Tudor Choir Book [COMPACT DISCS] date 05/01/2017

Artistic prodigy of Vilnius residents Alina Rotaru and Darius Stabinskas, ensemble MORGAINE is devoting themselves to the Late Renaissance and Early Baroque repertoire, and especially to the Golden Age of the Polish-Lithuanian-Commonwealth. The programme of their debut album InchGiesmewakarine Piesn wieczorna Evening songInch is concentrated on the musical creation of Waclaw z Szamotul, Mikolaj Gomólka, Krzysztof Klabon and Cyprian Bazylik, with the original texts in Polish, as well as with their first translations into Lithuanian language which appeared in the 17th Century. Artistic prodigy of Alina Rotaru and Darius Stabinskas, the Vilnius based international ensemble Morgaine was brought together with the goal of performing European early music in Lithuania, as well as to bring the little-known Lithuanian music heritage on European stages. Dedicated to the music of Late Renaissance and Early Baroque, ensemble Morgaine chooses in most of their performances to involve the dynamics between music, visual arts, theatre, and poetry. Although there is only one native Lithuanian in this ensemble, Morgaine proudly represents Lithuania abroad.

Another album in the Anthology of Polish A Cappella Music series was being created on the eve of the first anniversary of Juliusz Luciuk's death. This time, the 'Collegium Cantorum' Choir of the Czestochowa Philharmonic reached for the internationally unique work Vesperae in assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis - Vespers on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. While researching the output of the Czestochowa-Cracow composer one can sense his individual style, based on a few indefeasible pillars. One of them is profound respect for tradition, with particular emphasis on the Gregorian chant, both in terms of the melodic solutions of the monody and the entire culture and performance conditions surrounding the chant. Other pillars of his work are the quest for colour in harmony and the peculiar simplicity of emotions reflecting the composer's personality. The Vespers presented on this album can be considered the quintessence of the style of Juliusz Luciuk, an artist who was particularly passionate about sacred music.