Search - Alfred Schnittke, Stephen Layton :: Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Voices of Nature; Minnesang

If the idea of an unaccompanied choral work, sung in Russian and lasting more than 40 minutes, sounds like hard work, don't be too quick to dismiss it. Schnittke's Choir Concerto (1984-85) has the unmistakable whiff of greatness and is unquestionably one of his most compelling achievements. It finds him in ecstatic mode, setting eloquent prayers by a 10th-century Armenian poet. The result is mellifluous, compelling, and quite overwhelming. Technically and musically, it's a real challenge to any choir, let alone an amateur one such as the Holst Singers. All credit, then, to conductor Stephen Layton for turning fine individual singers into a group of the first rank. Two other works bulk out the disc. Voices of Nature is a short, wordless piece for 10 female voices with the ghostly addition of a vibraphone. It's the earliest composition here (1972) and the very embodiment of the simplicity that Schnittke had newly embraced. Minnesang is a clear precursor of the Choir Concerto, both technically and musically, with the 52 voices honed with intense precision to powerful effect. But it's the Concerto that makes this disc indispensable. Rather like the Górecki Third Symphony phenomenon a few years back, the Concerto has the potential to become a cult work, and this performance more than does it justice. --Harriet Smith