#4557, Ritual Choral Music
Hear ritual-sounding choral music by Trondheim Voices, a women's choir from Norway, by Latvian composer Eriks Eschenwalds, and New York composer Richard Einhorn, writing for the group Anonymous 4. Many of the works are based on old sources – an Inuit creation myth, a medieval weapons makers’ curse, and an incantation from early Gnostic Christian.
From the women’s choir, Trondheim Voices, listen to music from their record, Rooms & Rituals, where the group of vocalists moves through the space where they are performing, and live-process their voices at the same time. Improvising is a large part of their music making, and their extended vocal techniques combine to serve the collective sound. They also use unique effect controllers - Maccatrols - to “create wide electroacoustic soundscapes, subtle noise, hauntingly beautiful chorales, and ambient beats,” (TrondheimVoices.no.)
Then, hear “First Tears,” by Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds which uses Native American flutes, jaw harps and extended vocal techniques like throat singing. Ešenvalds’ work is a setting of the Inuit legend of The Raven and the Whale – a cautionary tale about how grief came into the world (story synopsis here), which he learned from native elders in Greenland and Alaska.
Also, there’s music by the late Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, his “Curse Upon Iron,” a suggestive symphony for voices, which is based on traditional Estonian folklore - where a chant was sung while shaping an iron weapon or tool, so that it doesn’t come back to kill you. Plus, hear some of a song cycle, Carnival of Miracles, that WNYC commissioned of Richard Einhorn and was written for the group Anonymous 4. The work is in six parts, each dealing with a specific kind of freedom (religious, scientific, artistic, cultural, sexual, and political.) Listen to the first of the six movements, which uses an ancient text from a Nag Hammadi codex sung in Coptic, and accompanied by two cellos. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4557, Ritual Choral Music (First Aired 11/2/2021)
ARTIST: Trondheim Voices + Asle Karstad
WORK: Steamsaw [5:35]
RECORDING: Rooms & Rituals
SOURCE: Grappa
INFO: trondheimvoices.no
ARTIST: Portland State Chamber Choir, Ethan Sperry, Cond. ft. Jeff Evans, Native American flute, Max Kolpin, percussion; Erick Lichte, Jaw harp; Kenan Koenig, overtone singing
WORK: Eriks Esenvalds: The First Tears [14:05]
RECORDING: The Doors of Heaven
SOURCE: Naxos 8.579008
INFO: www.naxos.com
ARTIST: Trondheim Voices + Asle Karstad
WORK: Ritual #3 [4:27]
RECORDING: Rooms & Rituals
SOURCE: Grappa
INFO: trondheimvoices.no
ARTIST: Veljo Tormis / Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
WORK: A Curse Upon Iron [9:58]
RECORDING: Litany to Thunder
SOURCE: ECM 1687
INFO: ecmrecords.com
ARTIST: Trondheim Voices + Asle Karstad
WORK: Hymn [4:18]
RECORDING: Rooms & Rituals
SOURCE: Grappa
INFO: trondheimvoices.no
ARTIST: Anonymous 4
WORK: Richard Einhorn: Carnival of Miracles: Part 1, Enigma [8:41]
RECORDING: Live, Corpus Christi Church, NY, June 26, 2001
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available
INFO: richardeinhorn.com | anonymous4.com
