Nowowiejski / Choir Of The University Of Warmia - Sea Songs for Mixed Choir 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Benedykt Blonski - Sea Songs for Mixed Choir a Capella 1 [COMPACT DISCS] date 02/26/2008

Supraskie Kantyki [Suprasl Canticles] are a collection of 49 musical pieces, written for 6 male voices (treble a, treble b, tenor a, tenor b, bass a, bass b). They were created in Suprasl in the 1670s-80s. At that time, the monastery belonged to the Greek Catholic Order of Basilians. Since it's inception, the Suprasl convent has been an independent monastery; it used to serve as an all Orthodox Church reference center, first for the Orthodox Christians (1500-1603) and then for the Eastern-rite Catholics - Uniates (1603-1839) of the Kyivan Metropolitanate. In the monastery's library, relics of Slavic literature were kept; there was also a publishing office of the Basilian Fathers (1696-1803). The recording of the works featured on this album, made by the Warsaw-based DUX record tag, took place in 2021 at the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic. The Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic was prepared by Prof. Violetta Bielecka, director of that distinguished institution, for which we are extremely grateful. She interpreted and arranged the reconstructed works. Thus, the Suprasl Canticles could be heard again after almost 350 years since their creation!

Nowadays Krzysztof Meyer is considered one of the greatest Polish composers. Initially, he pursued an education as a pianist, but his subsequent contacts with Krzysztof Penderecki and Stanislaw Wiechowicz contributed to the fact that Meyer quickly revealed his compositional talent to the global audience. The artist has succumbed to many musical fascinations, which is why his works often combine the influences of various composing techniques. This album is another project signed by DUX, familiarizing music lovers with the colorful work of Meyer. The album contains two vocal and instrumental compositions Songs of the Lonely Dreamer and the Symphony No. 8 Sinfonia da requiem inspired by crimes against the Jewish nation. Both pieces, concerning diametrically distant themes, perfectly illustrate the composer's ability to flexibly adapt the musical language and applied composing techniques to overtones and themes of vocal and instrumental works.