Górecki: Miserere; Gubaidulina: Alleluja

On this CD:

1. Alleluia, for chorus, boy soprano & orchestra
Composed by Sofiya Gubaydulina
Performed by Karl-Gustav Andersson, Peter Fog, Hedwig Rummel
Conducted by Dmitri Kitajenko

2. Miserere, Op 44
Composed by Henryk Gorecki

Tracks:

Alleluia: I Alliluija, quarter note = 100 -
Alleluia: II quarter note = 60, legato simile -
Alleluia: III Alliluija: quarter note = 144, con spirito -
Alleluia: IV Alliluija: legato simile -
Alleluia: V Alliluija: quarter note = 84-88 -
Alleluia: VI Vjeruju: quarter note = 60-66 -
Alleluia: VII Da ispolnjatsja usta maja: quarter note = 100-92
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento, Imporingly
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento, Imploringly, dolce cantabile
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento, Imploringly, poco espressivo
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento, Imploringly, molto espressivo
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Meno mosso, lento molto tranquillo, Imploringly, tenderly
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Molto lento - Poco piso ma lento assai, Imploringly, somewhat plaintively
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Molto lento - Lento maestoso
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento, Imploringly, affettuoso
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Poco piso, lento moderato, molto espressivo, molto appassionato
Miserere, Op. 44: Domine Deus noster: Lento
Miserere, Op. 44: Miserere nobis: Lento, tranquillissimo, cantabilissimo, dolcissimo, IMPLORINGLY

Customer Reviews:

Gubaidulina ups the ante by adding choir to the massive orchestra of "Pro et contra".......2006-07-20

This Chandos disc, recorded in 1996, pairs Gorecki's work for unaccompanied choir "Miserere" with Sofia Gubaidulina's massive "Alleluia" for choir, boy soprano, and orchestra. I'm not too big a fan of Gorecki, so I'll limit my comments here to Gubaidulina's work, which is performed by the Copenhagen Boys' Choir and Danish National Radio Symphony and Choir conducted by Dmitri Kitajenko.

Gubaidulina wrote "Alleluia" in 1990. The piece continues the theme of initial religious doubt and final victory of faith introduced in "Pro et contra" for large orchestra (1989). In fact, Gubaidulina intended the two to be played together, and wrote the oratio "Lauda" to form a trilogy called "Prayer for the Age of Aquarius". Since "Alleluia" shares so much of its soundworld and pacing with "Pro et contra", if you didn't like the first piece, you probably won't like this one. Though I should implore anyone in doubt about "Pro et contra" to listen to it on a good stereo system first, since its basses, so much a part of the work, don't come out well on lesser equipment.

So here the Russian "Hallelujah" hymn, which remained hidden throughout most of "Pro et contra" is here expressed openly by the (adult) choir. But all is not quite yet well, for the singers lack conviction in this statement. The form of the work is the struggle with making a sincere confession of God's glory, and the percussion seems to represent the turmoil of the soul in doubt. After several movements consisting of only the word "Alleluia", the piece climaxes in the sixth movement with a fear-inducing statement of the word "Vjeruju" ("I believe"), and both choir and orchestra collapse in exhaustion. At that point the boy soprano choir humbly intones the hymn "Da ispolnatsja usta maja" ("Let my mouth be filled with thy praise").

Keeping with the tradition established in her work since the early 1980s, the piece heavily uses the Fibonacci sequence in its rhythm. But the Fibonacci sequence and attendant numerical mysticism plays an important role in one part of the work regrettably missing from a compact disc recording: the use of coloured lights. Inspired by Alexander Scriabin's "Promethei", this work uses a colour organ to display various lights whose mixing represents certain theological truths for Gubaidulina. The same effect is a major part of her fourth string quartet.

I'm inclined to mope that no live performance seems on its way so that I can see "Alleluia" as it is meant to be, but still this disc is worth hearing for Gubaidulina fans, and the sound quality is by no means as bad as reviews lead me to fear. If you are as yet unfamiliar with this greatest of contemporary religious composers, I think her symphony "Stimmen... Verstummen..." or her violin concerto "Offertorium" (on a fine recent DG reissue) make better introductions, but still, don't wait long to get "Pro et contra" and "Alleluia".

sublime pieces.......2003-06-07

I have to say that this recording is sort of shoddy, but the beauty of the pieces themselves mostly help one ignore the defects in sound. I'm not sure what they did when they were recording it, but the sound is crammed together, with the voices sometimes getting lost in the mix with the orchestra in the Gubaydulina piece. But, this is the only option, so get it! Just don't turn it up too loud or the sound will become horribly distorted...

Poor performance.......2001-05-22

As a big fan of Gubaidulina, I needed to hear this work but the performance is so poor that I doubt if any idea of what this work is like can be gained. The same is true for the Gorecki.

Dark Ritual.......2000-08-04

Gubaidulina's 'Alleluia' is not the straightforward declaration of faith that one might expect from the title - instead it is a dark, mostly quiet, usually tension-filled meditation on the sound as well as the meaning of the single word of its title. The work's spiritual stance is made clear by the only two passages in the work that set words other than 'Alleluia'. The first of these is at the climax - the only really sustained section of loud music in the work - where 'vjeruju' ('I believe') is set to a terrifying choral-orchestral storm that eventually collapses in on itself without resolution. Relief comes only when, against a background of crotales and other tintinnabulating intsruments, children's voices intone an ancient Russian prayer extolling the virtues of the simple faith that comes without struggle. The composer's characteristic burning musical iconography is always in evidence throughout. I have some slight objections to this recording. Although the performers struggle heroically with this very difficult work, the boomy and often congested sound tends to blur together the multiplicity of choral and instrumental 'Stimmen' that are so important in Gubaidulina's large scale works. My other objection is purely a matter of taste :) - I heard a live performance of this piece at the Adelaide festival some years ago, and the conductor on that occasion (the excellent David Porceljin) chose to use a single amplified child's voice instead of a childrens' choir. The effect of this was extraordinarily poignant, and I am a little disappointed that this recording did not do likewise. Apart from these minor quibbles, an important recording of a marvellous piece.

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