A particularly notable collaboration recently in Latvian classical music is composer Gabriel Jackson working with the State Choir Latvija, conducted by Māris Sirmais.

Working together, the artists have released the CD A ship with unfurled sails, featuring the choral music of Jackson, and, among the ten works on the CD, six are first recordings.

According to the State Choir Latvija website, Jackson, a leading British composer of sacred choral music, began his collaboration with choir in 2007, when the choir premiered a number of his works. Jackson has also been interested in Baltic choir traditions, so it would seem natural that the choir and Jackson would have a successful cooperation.  Jackson has, on a number of occasions, been awarded the British Composer Award for his choral works. A ship with unfurled sails, recorded in 2010 at the St. John’s Church in Rīga, is a testament not just to Jackson’s choral composition prowess, but also the State Choir Latvija’s place among the best choirs in the world.

Though most of the compositions on the CD are of a sacred nature, there are some secular works as well, such as ‘The Voice of the Bard’ by famed British poet William Blake. Blake’s poems are often full of vivid imagery and mysticism, and ‘The Voice of the Bard’ is no exception. Gabriel’s music begins with a tense, anxious introduction, repeating the words ‘hear’ and ‘voice’ a number of times in a unison melody. The titular Bard, who may very well be Blake himself, expressed dramatically through the voices of the male singers, calls on the Earth to return, and ‘Arise from out of the dewy grass’. This is then followed by the somber lyrics ‘night is worn, and the morn rises from the slumberous mass’, which is accented by the soaring soprano solo of Inese Romancāne.

‘Now I have known, O Lord’, based upon the poetry by Al-Junaid (also known as Junayd of Baghdad) is a calm, reflective work that is full of reverence and spirit. Al-Junaid was a Persian Muslim mystic of the 9th century. As the work builds to its culmination, Al-Junaid’s revelation is expressed as a joyous celebration, particularly the final lines of the text, ‘In wondrous and ecstatic Grace I feel Thee touch my inmost ground’. The choir masterfully brings forth the necessary gravity and veneration to the music and the words, making this spiritually deep work particularly memorable.

Jackson’s ‘Missa Triueriensis’, composed in 2005, based upon Latin mass texts, and consisting of five parts – ‘Kyrie’, ‘Gloria’, ‘Sanctus and Benedictus’ and ‘Agnus Dei’ is also a very . ‘Kyrie’ begins with the women’s voices singing ‘Kyrie eleison’ (Lord, have mercy), a somber beginning that continues with the altos, tenors and basses when singing ‘Christe eleison’ (Christ, have mercy), with the full choir culminating in the final ‘Kyrie eleison’. In contrast, the ‘Gloria’ section begins with a dramatically expressive ‘Gloria in excelcis Deo’, and then continues in a quieter and melodic fashion. The ‘Sanctus’ section’s beginning is meditative, then punctuated by some louder moments, and concludes with the expressive and memorable solo by soprano Nora Vītiņa, singing ‘Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini’ (Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord).

Joining the choir for the final work on the CD, ‘Ave regina caelorum’ is Latvian guitarist Kaspars Zemītis, whose guitar work in the song gives the composition a rather dramatic sense of contrast. The electrical guitar, almost like a rock solo, initially seems discordant with the sacred vocal performance, but over the course of the work’s twelve and a half minute duration, perhaps a bit surprisingly, blends in rather seamlessly with the singers and gives the work a much broader palette of colors than it might otherwise have had. Particularly memorable is the interplay of the guitar with the soprano solo by Inese Romancāne. Zemītis, with a solo that reminds one more of the guitar pyrotechnics of musicians like Jimi Hendrix or Edward Van Halen, gives the ‘Gaude virgo gloriosa’ section an almost ethereal quality, a kind of rapturous illumination. Jackson, unafraid to mix styles that might seem contradictory, leads the listener through a journey full of highs and lows.

The extensive CD booklet features texts and English translations for all the songs, as well as detailed notes on each work and biographies of the choir, conductor Māris Sirmais and guitarist Kaspars Zemītis.

The State Choir Latvija continues to hit new highs with each passing year, thanks to not just the immense talents of each singer, but the visionary conducting of Māris Sirmais. Unafraid to be enclosed by musical boundaries, the choir has formed a memorable bond with composer Gabriel Jackson on A ship with unfurled sails, a collection of performances that will entrance and enlighten listeners. This singular release confirms, yet again, the talents of the composer and the choir, and is a worthy entrant in the field of modern choir music.

More information on the State Choir Latvija website – http://www.koris.lv and the Hyperion website – http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk

One of the most ambitious and memorable academic choir projects of the past decade was World Sun Songs, a project organized by legendary conductor Māris Sirmais, where contemporary world composers were asked to compose choir music for the Latvian youth choir Kamēr…, and the theme of the composition had to relate to the sun. A number of composers worldwide (as well as Latvia) – 16 composers from 17 different nations – responded to the challenge and, in 2008, the results were presented and recorded.

In 2011, as a logical follow-up to this project, a similar project, this time with compositions based upon the moon, aptly titled Mēness dziesmas (The Moon Songs) was unveiled.

Unlike World Sun Songs, all of the works on Mēness dziesmas are by Latvian composers. This is also the first CD release to be overseen by new Kamēr… artistic director Jānis Liepiņš, who took over the baton after the shock departure of Māris Sirmais in 2012. Though they lost their founder and guiding light Sirmais, the choir has taken no missteps and Mēness dziesmas is just the latest entry in a discography that is not only simply unique and distinctive, but also reaffirms the choir’s status as one of the most talented youth choirs in the world.

A broad spectrum of contemporary Latvian composers is represented on this collection. One of the best known and most popular tandems in Latvian popular music has been composer Raimonds Pauls and lyricist Jānis Peters, whose words and music have been in many of Pauls’ most popular works. This time, the talent of the two have been combined in ‘Tu esi mēness neredzamā puse’, with classical and jazz elements in the music by Pauls, and some of the most romantic words by Peters – ‘Tu spīdi mēness neredzamā pusē, Es Tevi gaidu gaismā redzamajā’ – ‘On the dark side of the moon, you are shining. I’m waiting for you in the visible light’.

Symphonist Juris Karlsons provides a composition based upon the ancient Greek legend of Selene, a goddess of the moon, who was in love with Endymion. Karlsons uses only ancient Greek names in the text, making this work more of a vocalise. This gives the work a mysterious yet poetic nuance, leaving the listener to decipher the legend from the music.

Besides being a distinguished guitarist, Kaspars Zemītis has also make a name for himself as a composer. His contribution to this collection is ‘Mēnessnakts’, a choir composition with lyrics by Aspazija. Performing guitar on the work, Zemītis’ performance, combined with the romantic words by Aspazija, makes for a dreamy and memorable song.

Though more known for his new age instrumental music, Raimonds Tiguls provides one of the more memorable works in this collection – ‘Moonlight Sound Design’, an arrangement of one of his earlier works. The performance also features Tiguls himself on the instrument known as a ‘hang’, a rare instrument made in Switzerland, an instrument that almost looks like a UFO, but plays soft metallic music. The unique instrument gives the work a haunting and mystical feeling, enhanced by the solo by soprano Ingrīda Krasovska.

Composer Ēriks Ešenvalds has found much inspiration in the poetry of American Sara Teasdale, a poet of the early 20th century. A number of his choir works have featured her lyrical poetry, and Mēness dziesmas features her poem ‘The New Moon’ set to music. This work is Teasdale at her most tormented (her life ended by suicide), with Kamēr… running the gamut of emotions in this one work, beginning with the bleak words ‘Day, you have bruised and beaten me down’, and finishing with the hopeful ‘Oh who could be bitter and want to die when a maiden moon wakes up in the sky’, concluding with a trademark mystical and enigmatic conclusion, with the voices of the choir slowly dissipating.

The closing work on the CD is the epic fifteen minute ‘Mēnesim robs’, a fairy-tale by poet Ojārs Vācietis set to music by Andris Sējāns. The story, about a monster called the ‘Šlopsters Klopsters’ who swallows the moon, follows the attempts by a number of characters to retrieve the moon from the monster’s clutches. The Latvian Jānitis, the Mongolian Angasay, the African Mambo (who, for whatever reason, is introduced with ‘Jamaica, Jamaica’, which isn’t quite in Africa), when finally the smallest boy of all convinces the Šlopster Klopster to hang the moon back in its rightful place. Sējans keeps up the interest and story for the course of the work, with varied changes in style and tempo, making for an engrossing adventure.

The CD booklet contains extensive notes, as well as comments by the composers themselves, on all of the compositions in Latvian and English, as well as brief biographies of the choir and Jānis Liepiņš.

The youth choir Kamēr…, in one of their most satisfying and intriguing collections, shows that even the departure of conductor Māris Sirmais does not make a dent in their performance or even their ability to select the most striking works for their repertoire, as well as extract some of the finest music from Latvian composers, who always seem to bring it up a notch when they know they are composing for Kamēr… A worthy companion to World Sun Songs, Mēness dziesmas is yet another document of a choir, along with artistic director Jānis Liepiņš, at the top of their games.

Choir Kamēr… website: http://www.kamer.lv