Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir And Ensemble
Toccata Classics TOCC 0284
Rose is well known as a conductor, of choirs in particular: he founded Singcircle, famous for its performances of Stockhausen’s Stimmung. He’s a prolific composer, too, and this 28-part essay, sharing its title and even some of its imagery with Saint-Saëns, is a remarkable experiment in music theatre. Inspired by a 16th-century painting series in a Tallinn church,
Rose sets a medley of Latin and medieval German texts, interleaving choral and solo movements and instrumental dances in a startling tapestry of sound. Stravinsky and Britten may be reference points, but distant: the inventiveness is his own.