25th International Sacred Music Festival | Ligeti REQUIEM. Andris Poga

State Choir LATVIJA

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra

Conductor Andris Poga

Soprano Yeree Suh (Corea)

Mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen (Finaland)

Program:

Olivier Messiaen simphonic meditation Les Offrandes oubliées

Alexander Zemlinsky Psalm 23

György Ligeti Requiem

Ligeti’s Requiem is an apocalyptic, shattering opus in which the composer expands his micropolyphonic composing techniques to their fullest extent. The composer called it frozen expressionism, comparing it with liquid crystals. Ligeti dedicated this piece to all who perished in the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. The writing ranges from dark suffering and a global ocean of tears to frozen fears and eternal light. Ligeti’s Requiem was famously used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. The solo parts will be performed by world-class early and modern music performers Yeree Suh and Virpi Räisänen, who also took part in the State Choir LATVIJA’s performance of this piece at the 2019 Ruhrtriennale.

Messiaen’s unique sounds muse on the heavens and focus on the sounds of nature. Symphonic meditation Les Offrandes oubliées is a piece from his youth, in which Messiaen illustrates sacred symbols: the Cross, Holy Communion and Sin. Alexander von Zemlinsky’s music is at the 20th century crossroads of late Romanticism and the Second Viennese School. Von Zemlinsky taught Arnold Schönberg and also influenced Alban Berg’s music.

Von Zemlinsky’s Psalm 23 paints a pastoral, optimistic landscape which brings forth a belief in the goodness which God has promised for the future.