The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was the stage for bloody clashes, joined in the name of religion, attended by their cortege of atrocities, famines and epidemics, resulting not only in destruction, but also, above all, a deep demoralisation. What faith could reside in Man, when his spirit could only hope to find rest in the afterlife? This recording presents without doubt some of the most moving 17th-century settings of Penitential Psalms and biblical texts. One is struck, on listening to this music, by the depth of feeling – a blend of humility, pain and anguish – on the one hand, and by the power of the musical composition itself on the other. 17th-century sacred music was not intended as an end in itself, but as a means to move the spirit of the faithful, and render them open to the word of God, and the message of Jesus Christ. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was the stage for bloody clashes, joined in the name of religion, attended by their cortege of atrocities, famines and epidemics, resulting not only in destruction, but also, above all, a deep demoralisation. What faith could reside in Man, when his spirit could only hope to find rest in the afterlife? This recording presents without doubt some of the most moving 17th-century settings of Penitential Psalms and biblical texts. One is struck, on listening to this music, by the depth of feeling – a blend of humility, pain and anguish – on the one hand, and by the power of the musical composition itself on the other. 17th-century sacred music was not intended as an end in itself, but as a means to move the spirit of the faithful, and render them open to the word of God, and the message of Jesus Christ.

• Wykonawca L'Armonia Sonora , Kooij Peter , Blazikova Hana
• Data premiery 2010-01-01
• Nośnik CD

For the the new album touched the Calmus Ensemble chose songs about “love” from different centuries. There is Sting next to Henry Purcell and Michael Jackson beside Adriano Bachieri. The pieces are connected by interludes especially composed for this recording. The CD offers the opportunity to see the texts of the songs, which are also from different epochs, in a new light and new perspective. The longer you listen to this CD, the more you lose time and epochs. Everything becomes timeless.

• Wykonawca Calmus Ensemble
• Data premiery 2012-10-01
• Nośnik CD

Jean Sibelius' emergence as a composer coincided with the rapid development of choral singing in Finland, at a time when new choirs were being established all over the country. The importance of the genre may be measured by the fact that one of Sibelius's most deeply felt pieces for mixed choir, Män från slätten och havet (Men from Land and Sea), received its first performance by a choir of gargantuan proportions – around 1,300 singers – gathered at a festival in the city of Vaasa in 1912. Choral music also forms an important part of Sibelius' production: besides the present collection of more than 7 hours of music for choir a cappella and with piano or organ accompaniment, there are a large number of orchestral works involving choir. (These are included in volume 3, 'Voice and Orchestra', of this edition.) As a consequence of the division in Finland between Finnish- and Swedish-speakers, Sibelius set texts in both languages, and while a large majority of his solo songs use Swedish texts, in the choral music we find a much larger proportion of settings in Finnish - often, if far from always, of texts from Kalevala, the national epic poem, or its lyric counterpart Kanteletar. Like previous volumes in the SIBELIUS EDITION, the present collection includes not only the published works, but also unpublished pieces, revisions and early versions. Many of these are here recorded for the first time, such as the version with piano of the two choral movements of Kullervo and the reconstruction of the Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897. Other rarities, quite unexpected for those whose knowledge of Sibelius is mainly restricted to his symphonic output, are the two brief arrangements of 'Italian Folk Songs', and the collection of Chorales for mixed choir written during the student years in Helsinki and in Berlin. Performing this wealth of music are some of Finland's finest choirs, with the YL Male Voice Choir and Akademiska Sångföreningen sharing the pieces for male choir, with contributions from their Swedish colleagues in Orphei Drängar. The music for mixed choir is championed by the Dominante and the Jubilate choirs, while most of the piano accompaniments are signed Folke Gräsbeck, whose recordings of Sibelius' complete music for solo piano have just been released.

• Wykonawca Various Artists
• Data premiery 2010-06-01
• Nośnik CD

Famed for her highly intelligent performances and deep engagement with music, Swedish soprano Miah Persson is in great demand throughout the world. She returned to Wigmore Hall last February with internationally renowned accompanist Roger Vignoles to perform a wonderfully emotive and dramatic programme.Opening with some of the most celebrated Schubert Lieder, Persson revealed a refined interpretation of each song, searching deep within the texts to convey emotions from agony to ecstasy. With great passion, Persson then entered the Scandinavian sound world to complete her programme with Grieg’s stormy Six Songs and a beautiful collection of Sibelius’s most evocative settings.

• Wykonawca Persson Miah , Vignoles Roger
• Data premiery 2013-03-01
• Nośnik CD

Jean Sibelius' emergence as a composer coincided with the rapid development of choral singing in Finland, at a time when new choirs were being established all over the country. The importance of the genre may be measured by the fact that one of Sibelius's most deeply felt pieces for mixed choir, Män från slätten och havet (Men from Land and Sea), received its first performance by a choir of gargantuan proportions – around 1,300 singers – gathered at a festival in the city of Vaasa in 1912. Choral music also forms an important part of Sibelius' production: besides the present collection of more than 7 hours of music for choir a cappella and with piano or organ accompaniment, there are a large number of orchestral works involving choir. (These are included in volume 3, 'Voice and Orchestra', of this edition.) As a consequence of the division in Finland between Finnish- and Swedish-speakers, Sibelius set texts in both languages, and while a large majority of his solo songs use Swedish texts, in the choral music we find a much larger proportion of settings in Finnish - often, if far from always, of texts from Kalevala, the national epic poem, or its lyric counterpart Kanteletar. Like previous volumes in the SIBELIUS EDITION, the present collection includes not only the published works, but also unpublished pieces, revisions and early versions. Many of these are here recorded for the first time, such as the version with piano of the two choral movements of Kullervo and the reconstruction of the Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897. Other rarities, quite unexpected for those whose knowledge of Sibelius is mainly restricted to his symphonic output, are the two brief arrangements of 'Italian Folk Songs', and the collection of Chorales for mixed choir written during the student years in Helsinki and in Berlin. Performing this wealth of music are some of Finland's finest choirs, with the YL Male Voice Choir and Akademiska Sångföreningen sharing the pieces for male choir, with contributions from their Swedish colleagues in Orphei Drängar. The music for mixed choir is championed by the Dominante and the Jubilate choirs, while most of the piano accompaniments are signed Folke Gräsbeck, whose recordings of Sibelius' complete music for solo piano have just been released.

• Wykonawca Various Artists
• Data premiery 2010-06-01
• Nośnik CD

An absolutely lovely recording of Buxtehude sacred music, which was named Gramophone Editors Choice. Buxtehude’s cantata cycle, Membra Jesu Nostri, is a totally unique work. Based on texts from a medieval Latin hymn, ‘Salve mundi salutare’, the cycle contains seven cantatas each dedicated to a different part of Christ’s crucified body. The texts are based on the concept of an observer contemplating Christ’s body on the cross starting with his feet and moving up to his knees, hands, side, breast, heart and finally his head. Buxtehude plays cleverly with musical colours and textures and changes the mixture of voices and instruments to dramatic effect as the work develops. Originally recorded for and released on Linn Records. “The Sixteen’s performances bring a rapt, meditative intimacy to this ravishing music.” The Sunday Times “Encapsulates everything that is wonderful about the Baroque era.” Sunday Herald

• Wykonawca The Sixteen , Sampson Carolyn , Blaze Robin
• Data premiery 2010-01-01
• Nośnik CD

The collections of airs published in France by Ballard between 1608 and 1643 contain 17 airs on Italian words, of which six are in the polyphonic collections, six are for voice with lute tablature and five for voice with guitar tablature. Taking account of variants and different versions, polyphonic or monodic, of the same pieces, we are left with ten texts – a rather insignificant group amid a repertoire of over 2,000 French airs. The present recording manages to include all these ten texts, thereby presenting almost all the Italian airs published by French composers during Louis XIII’s reign.  The musicians of Il Festino have interspersed these airs with a number of instrumental pieces and songs to Spanish texts of the same period. All the Italian airs are by three of the foremost French composers of the time, each of whom moved in court and salon circles.  

• Wykonawca Il Festino
• Data premiery 2012-04-01
• Nośnik CD