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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Nordic Sounds 2
The CD features a.o. arrangements by Jan Sandström of improvised folk songs of the Sami people - whose singing is among the earliest continuing vocal traditions of Europe - but also recent works like the sixteen-part Kosijat (The Suitors; 2001) by one of the best-known contemporary composers in Finland, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. The final piece on the cd, Muoayiayaoum is a phonetic formula, a sequence of vowels which open and close. This is the purpose of the twelve-minute piece, as the composer Anders Hillborg ventures in search of the greatest possible precision in terms of timbre, pulse and dynamics. The level of vocal virtuosity that Peter Dijkstra elicits from his singers of The Swedish Radio Choir, collectively, is breathtaking and his cd ‘Nordic Sounds 1’ with music of Sandström as well as his most recent Poulenc recording ‘Figure Humaine’, received great critical acclaim and important awards! “Traditional Swedish folksongs are interwoven with newer choral works” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 **** “This is such a choral feast that one can only shake one's head in wonderment that such lovely music is so little known outside Scandinavia. The Swedish Radio Choir's reputation for flawless singing is as solid as ever and, under Peter Dijkstra's direction, it has become a powerful though flexible instrument capable of tremendously warm and gilded singing.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2012 “The timbral and rhythmic precision of their performances does not prevent the singing from projecting a genuinely human warmth. The choir is responsive to the wide variety of styles represented here; one senses the singers' enjoyment.” International Record Review, December 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | New FavouritesModern Swedish Masterworks for Choir
Swedish Chamber Choir, Simon Phipps This CD takes the listener on an exciting trip through the repertoire created during the "Swedish choir miracle". Great modernists like Lidholm and Sven-David Sandström are of course represented and they are take turns with more relaxed or folk-orientated works by Malmberg, Larsson, Parkman and others. One important novelty is Karin Rehnqvist's masterly "Till ängeln med brinnande händer" for choir, soloists and oboe. Tradition and modernity also meet in Jan Sandström’s ”Biegga luohte” and Karin Rehnqvist’s ”I himmelen”. It's a CD that everyone can enjoy. During the autumn of 2011, the Swedish Chamber Choir has won both the European Grand Prix at the prestigious Tolosa festival in Spain and EBU’s choir competition “Let the Peoples Sing”. As participants in élite competitions, it has thus become Sweden’s most successful choir hitherto. | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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| |  | ResonanserSwedish Choral Music - New Perspectives
The choir featured on this disc, Allmänna Sången, is a student choir with a history going back for more than 175 years. A collaboration with Swedish jazz pianist Anders Widmark lends unusual colours to settings of ancient folk chorales (I Himmelen) and traditional harvest songs (Slåttervisa), as well as to classics from the treasure of Swedish choral music such as Stenhammar’s Three Choral Songs and Alfvén’s Evening (‘Aftonen’). “At first glance this might seem a curious concept, Swedish folksongs as sung - exceptionally so, let me say straightaway - mostly unaccompanied by a modest chorus through some of which jazz improvisations weave a separate counterpoint. … a fine and varied programme, beautifully recorded in a spacious but not over-resonant acoustic. As a programme - and this is definitely a disc to be played through in one sitting - the total effect is greater than the sum of its parts.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2009 | | | (also available to download from $10.50) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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Gramophone Magazine