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Navona

Parallel Worlds

$16.99

Details

Composer
JIRASEK, JAN
Artist
Skopal, Chrobak, Misek, Jirasek, Plasil
Format
CD
Label
Navona
Released
Jun 09, 2017
Catalog #
NV6101
UPC
896931004015

About

With Parallel Worlds, Czech composer Jan Jirasek provides a portal into his intricately textured and resonant choral music. These works are enhanced by Czech children's choir Jitro, whose singers imbibe Jirasek's delicate and earnest compositions with authority, maturity, and captivating grace. A varied collection of Jirasek's sacred and secular choral music, Parallel Worlds reveals the composer's affinity for non-traditional sounds, as well as vocal forms rooted in Renaissance and Medieval traditions. These subtle, period-based influences are most evident in the nuances of compositions such as works like Missa Propria that evoke the voice-leading techniques of Italian Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo. Most obvious of these subtleties is Jirasek's contrast of polyphony and monophony in Missa Propria and Si, Vis, Amari, Ama, which use chant-like melodies scored for the entire choir. These moments strongly recall the structural role of Gregorian chant in Medieval, Renaissance, and even later musical settings of the mass text. King Lavra presents a subtler allusion to earlier eras of choral music, as its dramatic scoring recalls teh Medieval genre of the liturgical drama. This composition is also one of several works on this album to feature atypical sounds, including percussive vocal sounds ranging from spoken text to individual isolated consonants. Jirasek's use of a pair of scissors as a percussion instrument on King Lavra is a brilliant and wholly unpredictable reinterpretation of a mundane object, and the clear, precise attack of the swiftly closing scissors works impressively well with the piano and vocal forces. Throughout Parallel Worlds, Jirasek's creations are vibrant and profound, often suggesting the choir's singing is filling an enormous venue. The composer constantly plays with layering fixed materials, and he often manipulates the density of these musical strata to pull the listener through his intricate compositional mazes.

Tracklist 15 tracks

  1. 1 Kyrie Eleison 07:18
    Track
    1
    Title
    Kyrie Eleison
    Duration
    07:18
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  2. 2 Gloria - Miserere - Gloria 05:08
    Track
    2
    Title
    Gloria - Miserere - Gloria
    Duration
    05:08
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  3. 3 Credo - Agnus Dei 04:41
    Track
    3
    Title
    Credo - Agnus Dei
    Duration
    04:41
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  4. 4 Omnia Vincit Amor 01:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    Omnia Vincit Amor
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Performer
    Michal Chrobák, Jan Míšek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  5. 5 Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit 02:12
    Track
    5
    Title
    Quod Me Nutrit Me Destruit
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Performer
    Michal Chrobák, Jan Míšek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  6. 6 Audentes Fortuna Iuvat 01:13
    Track
    6
    Title
    Audentes Fortuna Iuvat
    Duration
    01:13
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Performer
    Michal Chrobák, Jan Míšek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  7. 7 Si, Vis Amari, Ama 02:36
    Track
    7
    Title
    Si, Vis Amari, Ama
    Duration
    02:36
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Performer
    Michal Chrobák, Jan Míšek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  8. 8 Miserere 00:20
    Track
    8
    Title
    Miserere
    Duration
    00:20
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  9. 9 Benedictus - Baruch Haba 01:39
    Track
    9
    Title
    Benedictus - Baruch Haba
    Duration
    01:39
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  10. 10 Sanctus 06:01
    Track
    10
    Title
    Sanctus
    Duration
    06:01
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  11. 11 Agnus Dei - Wheresoever you look… 01:44
    Track
    11
    Title
    Agnus Dei - Wheresoever you look…
    Duration
    01:44
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  12. 12 Miserere - Avinu Malkenu 02:26
    Track
    12
    Title
    Miserere - Avinu Malkenu
    Duration
    02:26
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  13. 13 Te Deum Laudamus - Om Ah Hum 06:15
    Track
    13
    Title
    Te Deum Laudamus - Om Ah Hum
    Duration
    06:15
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  14. 14 Dona Nobis Pacem…Is the Face of God 01:36
    Track
    14
    Title
    Dona Nobis Pacem…Is the Face of God
    Duration
    01:36
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal
  15. 15 King Lávra 16:47
    Track
    15
    Title
    King Lávra
    Duration
    16:47
    Composer
    Jan Jirásek
    Performer
    Michal Chrobák, Jan Jirásek
    Ensemble
    Jitro Czech Girls Choir
    Conductor
    Jiří Skopal