Credits:

Karl Richter

Description:

This is a collection of unaccompanied choral works by Hungarian composer György Ligeti. His best known choral work is the 16-part unaccompanied "Lux Eterna" with a Latin text. This difficult piece, with its complex interplay of individual parts and shifting harmonies, was used to great effect in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" and captivated audiences. However, Ligeti was influenced by Kodály to write choral works, and with the exception of "Lux Eterna" and "Three Fantasies by Friedrich Holderlin," which has German lyrics, all of his choral works have Hungarian lyrics, and they are all written in Hungarian, with a distinctive rhythm, intonation, and accent. The choral works are all in Hungarian, with the emphasis on the distinctive rhythms, intonations, and accents of the Hungarian language. This 2-CD set includes all of Ligeti's unaccompanied choral works, including world premiere recordings. The styles of the pieces have changed over the years, sometimes experimental, as in the aforementioned "Lux Eterna," but basically they all bring out the charm of the chorus, written with rich sound and concise rhythms. Even if you do not understand the words, you can enjoy them to the fullest. Singing on the album is the SWR (Southwest German Radio) Vocal Ensemble, made up of selected members of the Southwest German Radio Choir, which has been in existence for over 75 years.From 2004 to 2020, Marcus Creed served as Chief Conductor, helping to improve the ensemble. Starting with the 2020/21 season, Yuval Weinberg, who was born in 1990 and studied music in Tel Aviv and studied in Berlin and Oslo, is the new principal conductor. This album is the first recording of him and the ensemble. Naxos Japan