A lyrical suite of seven chapters for mixed choir a cappella, Jesper Koch’s Choirbook is a meditation on nature, complex and yet simple, communicating openly with the listener. Sincerity and a sense of timelessness pervade this large-scale work based on the poetry of Frank Kjørup, highly accessible and deeply immersed in the mysteries of its own beauty. Danish composer Jesper Koch (b. 1967) wrote very little vocal music until he reached his mid-40’s, primarily focusing on music for symphony orchestra. But in 2012, something unexpected happened. Jesper Koch suddenly felt a strong urge to write for the human voice and go back to the basic principles of melody and tonality, after having written rather complex orchestral music. The music in the vocal project Choirbook is melodic, concise and transparent: ‘When I write purely melodically, nothing must stand in the way of clarity. So everything superfluous is stripped away’, says Jesper Koch.

REVIEW

It is hard to imagine any ensemble such as this sounding better, and this is truly state-of-the-art high definition multichannel sound.

The notes accompanying this recording turned out to be quite illuminating...relating how in 2012 something unexpected happened regarding Koch’s approach to composition: “I suddenly had a strong urge to write for the human voice, and deal with ‘old school’ stuff like melody and tonality. These two things are, for me, closely connected...I wanted to go back to something completely basic, which I missed after having written some rather complex orchestral works.”

Koch’s Choirbook is organized in seven so-called “chapters,” each of which consists of a number of short sub-sections. I am loath to call these “movements” as they don’t really act as such. Chapter 4—at the center of the cycle—contains perhaps the most concentrated music as well as the fewest internal tracks (three). The other six chapters each contain between four and six tracks, none of which are more than three minutes long. The entire Choirbook is only a fraction over 51 minutes, spread over 31 tracks.

[The music] can be seen as a sort of personal journey, and has emotional as well as natural and even mystical overtones. The style is, as Koch set out to achieve, melodic in essence, and also features many familiar tonal gestures, not all of which go quite where the listener might expect.

The real attraction of this new recording...is the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, and the singing here is simply spectacular. I have recently had the occasion to begin to consider for review a new CD by the well-known English specialist vocal ensemble The Sixteen, and while that is a fine group, it is not even in the same cosmos as this Danish group, of much the same size. The singing here is about as close to perfect as anyone could expect, especially in terms of blend, intonation, balance, and ensemble...everything sounds just gorgeous.

The recording matches the singing in every way, and the sound presented here is luxuriously nuanced and detailed, with a massive dynamic range that never sounds anything but totally real. There is a lovely overall bloom to the sound, but also great detail, and the ensemble’s sound fills the room in such a way as only a very few choir recordings I have ever heard can manage. Enthusiastically recommended.

--Fanfare Magazine (William Kempster)