Songs of the Baltic Sea

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Mike Brewer

Songs of the Baltic Sea

Songs of the Baltic Sea

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

Mike Brewer

Songs of the Baltic Sea 1 Tau Bet Kokios Sutemos Šviesios Vaclovas Augustinas (b1959)

[5:21]

2 Lacrimosa Mindaugas Urbaitis (b1952)

[5:45]

3 Hymne à St Martin Augustinas

[5:04]

4–8 Nolemtība (Destiny): Symphony for Choir Pēteris Plakidis (b1947)

[28:49]

9–14

Svjatki: Choir Concerto Galina Grigorjeva (b1962) Sarah Champion alto [14] Amelia Berridge soprano [12, 14] Richard Bignall tenor [14] Charlotte Brosnan soprano [13] Stephanie Guidera mezzo-soprano [11] Dominic Barberi bass [12]

[17:57]

15 Cantus Maris Baltici Gabriel Jackson (b1962) Rachel Spencer soprano Felicity Buckland alto

[14:01]

David Jones tenor Dominic Barberi bass

Total playing time Recorded on 26 August 2010 in the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford [1-3]; 28 August 2008 in Lancing College Chapel [4-8]; 14-15 April 2010 in the Church of St Alban the Martyr, Holborn [9-15] Producer and Engineer: Paul Baxter

[76:59] 24-bit digital editing: Adam Binks 24-bit digital mastering: Paul Baxter Design: Drew Padrutt Booklet editor: Henry Howard Delphian Records Ltd – Edinburgh – UK www.delphianrecords.co.uk

With thanks to the Warden and Fellows of the House of Scholars of Merton College, Oxford

Today the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea requires neither expensive instruments gently lap the shores of Estonia, Latvia and nor literacy, became the primary means of Lithuania. Only twenty years ago that same articulating the social and ritual life of an picturesque coast was the north-west border oppressed people. Over the centuries a rich of the vast prison camp that was the Soviet repertory of folk songs evolved which is still Union; heavily policed and with access severely very much a living tradition: a great many of restricted, its sandy beaches were raked nightly these songs are widely known, well-loved so that the footprints of would-be escapees and frequently sung, for even now they carry could be easily detected. When in 1991 these great emotional and cultural resonance. Choir three tiny European countries finally threw membership is widespread at all levels of off the shackles of occupation this act of selfsociety, and the elite groups of the region liberation was dubbed the “singing revolution” – Jauna Muzika of Vilnius, the Latvian Radio by artist/activist Heinz Valk. During the late Choir, the State Choir “Latvija” and the 1980s the mass song festivals of all three Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir – are countries, which were established during the among the great choirs of the world. first National Reawakenings of the late 19th century, and in which thousands of performers In fact the very sound of Baltic choirs has sing to audiences numbered in the hundreds arguably been shaped by occupation too; traces of thousands in specially-built amphitheatres, of Russian, Scandinavian and Germanic singing played a vital role in the re-assertion of national styles meld into a characteristic sonority that is identity, and as a focus for political resistance clean yet rich, transparent but full-bodied, with a to the Soviet tyranny. (Juris Podnieks’ film particular plangency and emotional authenticity.

Krustcelš (Homeland) documents this unique With such resources at their disposal, and with cultural revolution with heroic immediacy: in singing at the heart of the musical life of their a postscript to the film we see camaramen nations, it is no surprise that composers from Gvido Zvaigzne and Andris Slapinš shot by the region have been inexorably drawn to the snipers and Slapinš, mortally wounded, myriad of possibilities offered by the age-old shouting “Keep filming.”) sound of voices in concert.

The USSR was only the most recent occupying power: for most of their history the Baltic peoples lived under foreign rule. When ordinary folk had little access to education or professional music-making, singing, which

In recent years a growing number of composers from the Baltic states have found an appreciative audience west of the Gulf of Riga but there are many more discoveries to be made. This short voyage through three of

Europe’s smallest countries can only encompass a handful of the many fine works that are deserving of a much wider currency.

The journey begins in southern, Catholic Lithuania, with Tau Bet Kokios Sutemos Šviesios by Vaclovas Augustinas. Augustinas has had a distinguished and varied career as prolific composer, choral conductor, pedagogue and, in his youth, rock musician (a past he shares with fellow-composers Ugis Praulinš from Latvia and the Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür). In this short piece we can hear some of the characteristics of Baltic choral music: a virtuoso command of vocal orchestration, a mingled richness and clarity of texture, a fondness for cluster-chords and diatonically saturated harmony and the frequent use of ostinatos. The text, from Psalm 139, is not set in the conventional manner – there is no wordpainting – but, rather, the Psalmist’s optimistic certainty is conveyed through internal pedals and carefully weighted antiphonies between an eight-part choir and a four-part semi-chorus.

Almost entirely homophonic, with open yet sonorous voicing, the piece has an exultant buoyancy, the brightness of its opening gradually darkening into an overlapping chorale-ostinato whose repetitions are abruptly halted by a final phrase of quizzical harmonic ambivalence. The lengthy silence that follows is part of the piece.

Repetition is the very essence of the music of Mindaugas Urbaitis. A leading light of “Lithuanian minimalism”, a 1970s movement whose melodic simplicity and lyrical patternmaking have their origins in folk music rather than the lofts of downtown New York, Urbaitis began in the late 1980s to embrace a lusher, more referential aesthetic. The diatonicism, the overlaid loops and cellular construction remain but in a compositional process he calls “recycling” the building blocks are now clearly recognisable fragments from composers of the past; the intention is to create a music “as simple as everyday life” yet one in which the listener’s memories and associations are an essential part of the work’s Affekt. His Lacrimosa which, significantly, was begun in 1991, is a simple passacaglia; as the music intensifies in textural complexity and harmonic richness the origin of the small motifs that make up its raw material gradually comes into focus and eventually fully reveals itself in a quotation from the “Lacrimosa” from Mozart’s Requiem before, again, being abruptly torn off at the point where death stayed Mozart’s hand. The work is dedicated “to those that died defending freedom in Lithuania”. (Lithuania was the first country to try to break free of the Soviet yoke, and was rewarded with a punishing yearlong economic blockade, and the shooting of fourteen civilians and seven border guards.)

The final panel of this Lithuanian triptych is also by Vaclovas Augustinas. Hymne à Saint

Martin was written in 1996 for a competition to celebrate the 1600th anniversary of the death of St Martin of Tours, which explains why this Latin-texted piece has a French title. Scored for double choir, its triple-time lilt matched by a tripartite structure, this homage to the most modest of saints has an appropriately gentle, unostentatious glow, its artless melodic charm occasionally drifting into more ambiguous harmonic waters. Each stanza ends with pealing alleluias that are both halting and exultant, their rhythmic displacements quietly disturbing the otherwise even metrical flow.

Lithuania and Latvia share not just a border but also a language group, of which they are the only extant members. And the Latvian language, the fate of the Latvian people and their responsibilities towards each other and to their native soil are the subjects of Pēteris Plakidis’ five-movement choral symphony Nolemtība (Destiny). Plakidis is the foremost Latvian composer of his generation, an accomplished pianist and chamber musician and an inspirational teacher of composition.

In the early 1970s he was musical director of the Latvian National Theatre and also served as pianist for the Riga pantomime troupe. This youthful involvement with the stage helped Plakidis to develop a flexible and pragmatic musical language and a flair for dramatic characterisation and vivid immediacy of gesture. A high level of internal organisation and logic is also characteristic of Plakidis’

music, with Renaissance and Baroque techniques like canon, fugue, chaconne and variation serving to offset his natural theatricality with a classical sense of balance and proportion.

Nolemtība is his most substantial work for voices, and owes something to the Russian choir concerto tradition in its variety of texture, extremes of register and use of extensive divisi, though the lucid diatonicism and folk-influenced melos are very much Plakidis’ own. The texts, by poet Ojārs Vācietis, are pithy, earthy and full of tender feeling for the natural world; ecological concerns were a favourite theme for dissident writers in the Soviet Union. Vācietis – a committed communist but an enemy of totalitarianism, feted with a USSR State Award and the title People’s Writer yet unable to publish some works during his lifetime due to their subversive content – was and remains a deeply-respected figure in Latvian literature. His opening images of impending doom are articulated by Plakidis through whispered bass drones of polyrhythmic tension over which angular fragments of melody are subjected to canonic and, later, heterophonic development, building to a brief, assertive chorale. The second movement’s restless ostinatos support a defiant cantilena, flattened fifths darkening the mood, as the poet sings of self-sacrifice in order to save civilisation.

The visionary meditation that follows is calm and ecstatic, “eternal” triads rooting to the

earth the sopranos’ soaring flights of fancy and contrapuntal elaboration. At the close an angry reprise from the first movement insists that “I have to sing of white when it is white… I will never have other rights.” The fourth movement is a scherzo, canonic and bustling, alternately aerated and anchored, an appeal to humanity and for forgiveness. The finale begins with onomatopoeic chirrupings, full of wide-eyed wonder. Out of this nature-music emerges a quiet hymn to the power of human love, at once fragile and determined; as the tenors’ and basses’ chorale-ground descends to its restingpoint one last time, the music dissolves into ever more evanescent wisps of wordlessness, serene in its diatonic purity and repose.

Pärt in the 1970s.) Her output is relatively small, her works carefully and painstakingly constructed: the result is a music of unique radiance and spiritual integrity.

The texts for the concerto are of folkloric origin and have an unselfconscious peasant directness; their shameless amalgam of the sacred and the secular, the earthbound and the elevated, is characteristic of Svjatki (the holiday period between Russian Christmas and Epiphany, a time of feasting and fortune-telling, of pagan as well as Christian rituals). For all its worldliness the air of the opening movement is thick with the incense of Orthodox ceremonial and its alternation of metrically flexible unison phrases with chordal exclamations of “Slava!”

A richer, more intense diatonicism may has (deliberate?) overtones of the first of be heard in Svjatki (Holy Days) by Galina Stravinsky’s Four Russian Peasant Songs, which Grigorjeva. Premiered by a Latvian choir (under is similarly structured. In “Holy Evening” the Māris Sirmais) and written by a naturalised men’s urgent exhortations are answered each Estonian, Svjatki is a bona fide Russian choir time by an identical refrain, their unpredictable concerto. Grigorjeva was actually born in rhythms closely contoured to the stresses Ukraine and studied at the Odessa and St of the words. The primordial technique of Petersburg conservatoires before heading to call-and-response, fundamental to almost all Tallinn for postgraduate work with the great musical traditions, can be heard throughout symphonist Lepo Sumera (who, appropriately, Svjatki; in the third movement a ruminative was also Minister of Culture during the period contralto solo is interwoven with mournful of the singing revolution). Her music is deeply homophonic assertions from the upper voices. rooted in the Russian liturgical tradition and in The climax is dense, and darkly-bright. The her love of European Renaissance polyphony. swirling rivers and mounting menace of “O, (She has had a close association with the early Kalyudka!” are conjured up by interlocking music consort Hortus Musicus, who also gave ostinatos, limited and obsessive in pitch, their a number of pioneering performances of Arvo 3+3+2 metre grimly insistent, building to a

scarily hammered-out conclusion. Throughout looks eastwards, and a fragment by the English the work Grigorjeva uses, albeit to very philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon. different expressive ends, many of the same Retracing the journey taken by the other works building-blocks as Pēteris Plakidis – drones in the programme, the main body of the piece and heterophony in the fifth movement, for begins with a tempestuous seascape setting instance. Here, underpinned by a permanent words by the Lithuanian Romantic nationalist open-fifth bourdon, a lone soprano sings of the Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis). Mirdza coming of spring; the gradual shadowing of her Bendrupe’s poem which follows was suggested supple, minor-key musings is effected through a to me by its English translator Margita Gailitis. rhythmically complex micropolyphony, its canonic It acts as a central slow movement – a proliferation nicely evocative of melting snow and nocturnal barcarolle – as the lower voices’ burgeoning vegetation. The exuberant finale is aqueous musings elicit an increasingly urgent launched with striding confidence by the tenors response from the sopranos, before winding and basses. Again, much of its momentum is down to a peaceful, deep resolution. As well achieved through canonic elaboration. There is an as moving geographically north, the texts appealing directness about this simple Christmas for the piece become more modernist; the celebration (which takes in part of Psalm 150 Estonian Jaan Kaplinski’s somewhat gnomic along the way), and with touchingly unceasing poem is itself Eastern-influenced and my joyfulness the movement ends as the whole piece setting is deliberately hesitant, with frequent began, with a triumphant shout of “Slava!” use of silence. After a brief polyphonic flowering comes a quasi-plainchant coda My own Cantus Maris Baltici also begins in which is progressively more orientalised (with Estonia, with a brief choral fanfare. It was increasingly ornate embellishments of the line) commissioned by the National Youth Choir of as – and this is surely the whole point of our Great Britain and premiered in California in journey – “all face East”. the summer of 2009. It was Mike Brewer’s suggestion that I write a companion-piece to the other works in this programme, setting Gabriel Jackson is a full-time composer with texts from all three Baltic states. Meaning a strong commitment to the choral medium “Songs of the Baltic Sea”, Cantus Maris and a particular interest in the music and Baltici is also about the idea of “East”: three culture of the Baltic states, where he has many contrasting visions of the sea as metaphor friends. He is currently Associate Composer to for the human condition are framed by a very the BBC Singers. polemical poem by Andres Ehin which itself

1 Tau Bet Kokios Sutemos Šviesios Vaclovas Augustinas

Kur pabegsiu nuo Tavo dvasios, nuo Taves pasislepsiu?

Jeigu kilčiau i dangu, ten esi, jei nužengsiu i pragarus rasiu.

Jei aušrines sparnus igyčiau ir gyvenčiau jūros pakrantej, net ir ten Tavo rankos vadžiotu, dešinioji Tavo paremtu.

Jeigu tarčiau: “Teapgaubia tamsa, ir šviesa naktimi tepavirsta.”

Tau bet kokios sutemos šviesios.

Kas tamsu, Tau visai netamsu, o naktis kaip diena Tau nušvinta.

Tau bet kokios sutemos šviesios.

Whither shall I go then from Thy Spirit: or whither shall I go then from Thy presence?

If I climb up into heaven, Thou art there: if I go down to hell, Thou art there also.

If I take the wings of the morning: and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there also shall Thy hand lead me: and Thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me: then shall my night be turned to day.

Yea, the darkness is no darkness with Thee, but the night is as clear as the day: the darkness and light to Thee are both alike.

2 Lacrimosa

Psalm 139:6-11 tr. from the Book of Common Prayer

Mindaugas Urbaitis Lacrimosa dies illa Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus, Huic ergo parce Deus.

Pie Jesu Domine dona eis requiem.

Amen.

3 Hymne à St Martin

Full of tears will that day be When from dust and ashes Guilty Man rises again to be judged: So spare him, Lord God. Faithful Jesus, Lord, give them rest.

Amen. from the Requiem Mass tr. Henry Howard

Augustinas O virum ineffabilem, Nec labore victum, Nec morte timendum, Qui nec mori timuit, Nec vivere recusavit. Alleluia.

O man beyond description, Undefeated by labour, Unfearful in death, Who neither feared death, Nor renounced life. Alleluia.

Oculis et manibus In caelum semper intentus, Invictum ab oratione Spiritum non relaxabat. Alleluia.

With eyes and hands Ever stretched towards heaven, He did not let slip His indomitable spirit from praying. Alleluia.

Martinus Abrahae sinu Laetus excipitus: Martinus, hic pauper et modicus, Caelum dives ingreditur, Hymnis caelestibus honoratus. Alleluia.

Martin, joyful to be welcomed In the bosom of Abraham: Martin, this poor and modest man, Enters heaven a rich man Honoured with celestial hymns. Alleluia. after Sulpicius Severus (360-425) tr. Henry Howard

Nolemtība (Destiny: Symphony for Choir) Pēteris Plakidis 4 Piesaukšana

Calling Up

Kuries slīpa lietū, mana uguns, kuries.

Burn in sloping rain, my flame, burn.

Buries pāri senču kauliem, mana sirdsapzina, buries.

Kur ies mana tauta, mana dūša

tur ies.

Wade on through the bones of ancestors, my conscience, wade on through.

Wherever my nation goes, that’s where my courage will be.

Turies debesīs un zemē, mana nolemtība, turies.

Stand firm in the sky, on earth, my destiny, stand firm.

5

Izkal Pakavu Akmens Zirgam

A Shoe For The Stone Horse

Izkal pakavu akmens zirgam.

Ēze ir krūtīs.

Kur nemšu dzelzi?

Forge a horseshoe for a steed of stone.

The fire is in the breast.

But where shall I get iron?

Pierīgas purā, sarkanā rāvā, no senču asinīm satecinātā.

In the marsh on the outskirts of Riga In the red stagnant waters red from our ancestors’ blood that has spilt there.

Izkal pakavu nelaimīgiem.

Lakta pats būšu.

Kur nemšu āmuru?

Forge a horseshoe for the unfortunate ones.

Let me be the anvil.

Where will the hammer come from?

Paskaties, nelga, Debesīs augšā – liktens stāv zvērojošs ar zibens acīm.

Look up to the skies, you fool – that’s where your destiny lies with lightning in its eyes.

6 Vajadzētu

There Should Have Been

Vajadzētu tik gaišu dziesmu kā pērkons pār smaragda zalo un pirmo zāli.

There should have been a song as bright as a flash of lightning over newly sprouted grass as green as emerald.

Tik gaišu kā acu liesmu, kad izbeidzies karš starp brāli un brāli.

As bright as the flame in the eyes, when the war has ceased, the war between two brothers.

Vieglu kā vītola lapotnē iemestu saulstara liesmu.

As light as a ray of sun cast onto a willow’s leafage.

Kā lietus asaru, kas no cilvēku asarām izmazgā sāli.

As a tear of rain, that washes the salt out of human tears.

Vajadzētu briesmīgi.

There should have been, I need it badly.

Bet man jādzied baltais, kad – balts, un – melns, kad ir melns.

But I have to sing of white when it is white, and of black when it is black.

Nekad man nebūs citādu tiesību.

I will never have other rights.

7 Apvārdošana

Magic

Apstājies, ašā bulta, neskrien uz mazu putnu, atgriezies malkas škilā, aizsācies atkal dzīva, izplauksti zalās lapās, aizziedies medus ziedā, neskrien uz mazu putnu, vinam ir mazi bērni, vēl mazināki.

Stop, arrow fast, don’t fly towards that tiny bird, return to the chip of wood, come live again, unfold in leaves so green, blossom out in a honey flower, don’t fly towards that tiny bird, it has its own fledglings, even smaller.

8 Zeme

Earth

Basām kājām dvēselīte rasas rītā iznāk skatīties, kā mazai zīlei milzīgs ozols iznāk.

Barefoot a soul comes out on a dewy morning to watch a tiny acorn grow into a big oak.

Nav ne lielu, nav ne mazu šajā dzīvē, iznāk – ja ir liela mīlestība, tad viss lielais iznāk.

Nothing’s big and nothing’s small in this life, it just happens so – if a love is really big, big things are free to happen.

Basām kājām mīlestība acu zilgmē iznāk, lai ne pašam, bet lai savai dzimtai zemei iznāk.

Barefoot a love comes out into the azure of an eye, so that there would be love enough for your motherland and not just for yourself.

Ja nav citam, tad nav pašam mīlestības, iznāk, ja ir sirdī labā gaisma, tad viss mīlais iznāk.

If there’s no love you can give to others there’s no love for yourself, so it happens, if there is a flame of kindness in your heart, everything comes out in love.

Basām kājām dvēselīte rasas rītā iznāk skatīties, kā mazai zīlei milzīgs ozols iznāk.

Barefoot a soul comes out on a dewy morning to watch a tiny acorn grow into a big oak.

Ojārs Vācietis (1933-1983) tr. Musica Baltica

Svjatki (Choir Concerto) Galina Grigorjeva 9 Slava!

Glory!

Slava Bogu na nebe, slava!

Gosudaryu nashemu na sey zemle, slava!

Chtoby nashemu Gosudaryu ne starit’sya, slava!

Yego tsvetnomu plyat’yu ne iznashivat’sya, slava!

Yego dobrym konyam ne iz”ezhivat’sya, slava!

Yego vernym slugam ne izmenivat’sya, slava!

Chtoby pravda byla na zemle, slava!

Krashe solntsa svetla, slava!

Chtob tsarëva zolota kazna, slava!

Vek byla polnym polna, slava!

Chtoby bol’shim-to rekam, slava!

Slava byla do morya, slava!

Malym-to rechkam do mel’nitsy!

A etu pesnyu my khlebu poyëm, khlebu chest’ vozdayëm, starym lyudyam na utesheniye, dobrym lyudyam na uslyshan’ye!

Slava!

Glory to God in heaven, glory!

Glory to our Lord in the whole earth, glory!

May our Lord never grow old, glory!

May his brilliant robes never wear out, glory!

May his beloved steed never die, glory!

May his chief servants never betray him, glory!

May truth flourish in the whole world, glory!

May the sun shine over the world, glory!

May the royal treasury be ever full of gold, glory!

May the great rivers run graciously to the sea, glory!

And the little streams down to the mill.

We sing to honour the grain, A comfort to the old, and for good people to hear!

Glory!

10 Svyatyy Vecher

Holy Evening

Vot doma sam Pan khozyain.

Khot’ zhe on doma – nam ne kazhetsya, nam ne kazhetsya, pribirayetsya!

Svyatyy vecher, dobryy vecher.

Vstavay, vstavay s posteli, otkryvay dveri!

Oy budet k tebe troyechka gostey.

Pervyye gosti – zharkoye Solnyshko, drugiye gosti – Yasen Mesyachko, tret’i gosti – Droben Dozhdichek.

Svyatyy vecher, dobryy vecher.

Oy, proydi, proydi, troichna v nochi.

Oy, smochi, smochi zhito pshenitsu vsyakuyu.

Oy zhe bud’ zdorov, da s Novym Godom!

Da so vsem rodom!

Svyatyy vecher, dobryy vecher.

See, the Lord himself is at home.

He is indeed at home.

Make no mistake, it is clear!

Blessed evening, holy evening.

Get up from your bed and open the doors!

You can expect three guests: First – the hot sun.

Second – a bright moon, and Third – the kindly rain.

Blessed evening, holy evening.

But let them come during the night.

O, water our wheat.

Blessed evening, holy evening.

Be fit for the New Year!

For the New Year, With all creation.

Blessed evening, holy evening.

11 Podblyudnaya

Guessing Song

Za dezhoy sizhu, pyaterney vozhu.

Yeshchë posizhu, yeshchë povozhu.

Komu zhe my speli, tomu dobro!

Komu vynetsya, tomu sbudetsya.

All alone I sit by the bowl And mix the dough.

I’ll sit a bit longer And mix a bit longer.

If we have sung to you, You’ll have good luck!

If you endure, your wish will come true!

Stoyat sani snaryazhënnyye i polost’yu podernuty.

Tol’ko sest v sani, da poekhati.

The sleigh stands all ready, Covered with a cloth, Just sit in the sleigh And off you go!

Komu zhe my speli, tomu dobro!

Komu vynetsya, tomu sbudetsya.

If we have sung to you, You’ll have good luck!

If you endure, your wish will come true!

Sidela ya u okoshechka, zhdala k sebe milogo, ne mogla dozhdatisya, spat’ lozhilasya, utrom vstala, spokhvatilasya, glyazhu na sebya – vdova.

Komu my poëm, tomu dobro, tomu dobro budet, sbudetsya, ne minuyetsya.

I sat by the window, Waiting for my dear one to come.

I couldn’t go on waiting.

I lay down to sleep.

I got up in the morning and suddenly remembered I looked at myself: I am a widow.

If we sing, you’ll have good luck, You’ll have good luck, Your wish will come true, without fail!

Idët Smert’ po ulitse, neset blin na blyudtse.

Komu zhe my speli, tomu dobro!

Komu kol’tso vynetsya, tomu sbudetsya, skoro sbudetsya, ne minuyetsya.

Death is walking down the street Carrying a pancake in a little dish.

If we have sung to you, you’ll have good luck!

If you get the ring, your wish will come true.

It will come true soon, without fail!

12 Oy, Kalyudka!

O, Kalyudka!

Za rekoyu za bystroyu okh, lesa tam dremuchiye.

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

V tekh lesakh ogni goryat, ogni goryat velikiye!

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Vokrug ogney skam’i stoyat, skam’i stoyat dubovyye.

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Na tekh skam’yakh dobry molodtsy.

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Za rekoy dobry molodtsy,

Over the swirling river There you’ll find a dreaming forest.

O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Huge fires burn in that forest, O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Around those fires there are oak benches, And on those benches, sit handsome young men.

O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Beyond the river the fair youths Sing songs to beautiful little Kalyudka!

O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Among them there’s an old man,

krasny devitsy poyut pesni Kalyudushke!

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

V sredine ikh starik sidit, on tochit svoy bulatnyy nozh, kotel kipit goryuchiy.

Vozle kotla kozël stoit, khotyat kozla zarezati!

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Oy ty, bratets Ivanushka!

Ty vyydi, vyprygil, bratets Ivanushka!

Ya i rad byl by vyprygnut’, goryuch kamen’ k kotlu menya tyanet, zhëltyye peski serdtse vysosali!

Oy, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

Sharpening his knife.

The pot’s boiling, And just nearby there’s a goat.

They plan to slaughter it!

O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

O, little brother, Ivanushka, Get out, jump out, Little brother, Ivanushka!

“I’d love to jump out, but The hot stones draw me to the pot, And yellow sands have sucked out my heart.”

O, Kalyudka, Kalyudka!

13 Chto Nastanet Vesna

Spring Is Coming

Chto nastanet vesna da krasnaya, da proydët zima kholodnaya.

Rastayut snega belyye, protekut ruch’i tekuchiye.

Narastët trava muravaya, razov’yutsya kusty gustyye, priposleyut sladkiya gody.

Vy lyubeznyye moy podruzhen’ki, vy poydëte v les za yagody, da posmotrite moyu devich’yu krasotu – ne sidit li ona pod kustikom, ne pletet li ona rubchistu kosu.

Narastët trava muravaya, razov’yutsya kusty gustyye.

Oy lyuli!

Vy lyubeznyye moy podruzhen’ki, vy poydëte v les za yagody, da posmotrite moyu devich’yu krasotu – ne pletet li ona rubchistu kosu

Beautiful spring is on its way, Cold winter ends.

All the white snows will melt, Streams will flow again, Grass will grow, And dense bushes will appear.

Good years are on the way.

My dear girls, You’ll be going to the forest to pick berries.

Look out for my beautiful lady, Is she perhaps sitting under a bush, Braiding her flowing hair?

Grass will grow, And dense bushes will appear.

Oy lyuli!

My dear girls, You’ll be going to the forest to pick berries, Look out for my beautiful lady, Is she perhaps sitting under a bush, Braiding her flowing hair?

14 Khristu rozhdënnomu

To the Newborn Christ

Stan’ Davide s guslyami, bryatsay pesni dnes’ s nami.

Stan’ Davide s guslyami, angel’skiye liki sovmestno s cheloveki.

Khristu rozhdënnomu igrayem i veselo spevayem.

Dnes’ vo rozhdestvo Yego.

O Tvortsa nashego Proslavlyayem.

Solntse, luna i zori svetyashi s vyshney goryyu Khristu rozhdënnomu igrayem i veselo spevayem.

Dnes’ vo rozhdestvo Yego.

Tvortsa nashego Proslavlyayem.

Knyazi lyudey slavnyye, v trubakh, guslyakh, timpanakh, glasakh, strunakh, organakh, vsyakoye dykhan’ye izday vosklitsan’ye.

Dnes’ vo rozhdestvo Yego.

Tvortsa nashego Proslavlyayem.

Slava!

Yunoshi, startsy, letni devitsy mlado tsvetni.

V trubakh, guslyakh, timpanakh, glasakh, strunakh, organakh, dnes’ vo rozhdestvo Yego.

Yako Tvortsa nashego Proslavlyayem.

Slava!

Come, join David with his harp, Sing with us.

Come, join David with his harp, Angels’ voices, Blending with our own.

We make music for baby Jesus, And sing with joy, For this is his birthday!

We bless his endeavours.

With the sun, the moon, And beams from on high, We play for Christ, And sing with joy.

For this is his birthday, We bless his endeavours.

O, lords and fine people, Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, Praise him with the harp and lyre, Praise him with timbrel and dancing, Praise him with the strings and pipe, Praise him with the clash of cymbals, Praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath, praise him, For this is his birthday!

We bless his endeavour.

Glory!

Young men and old men, Young girls and women, Praise him with trumpets, harps, Lyres, cymbals and organs, For this is his birthday!

We bless his endeavours.

Glory! trad. Russian tr. Andrew Colin and Lydia Mazzotti

15 Cantus Maris Baltici

From Birute Hill

Gabriel Jackson

Rolling wind-driven breakers ashore from the west, Splash my breast with the chill the fate of the baltic countries will be of your waves, or to me Grant your power with which determined by russia the fate of russia will be determined by japan my own heart could express All its strivings as grandly as you, Baltic Sea! the fate of japan will be determined by the pacific ocean How I longed for you, infinite one!

How I yearned the abyss of tuscarora Just to hear your mysterious voices resound!

You alone understand me, fate rises from the east because you have scorned like a deceitful sun Through the ages to silence Andres Ehin (b.1940) your breakers unbound! tr. J. Talvet and H.L. Hix the fate of the baltic countries

Are you sad? So am I! And I do not know why; I just pray all the storms to howl louder for me: Though they offer no tranquil forgetfulness, I Always strive to be closer to you, Baltic Sea! Maironis (1862-1932) tr Lionginas Pažūsis

By The Seaside The sea is kin to my flesh – salt like tears and blood.

The sea is kin to my thought – luring further, ever further.

The sea is kin to my strength – no burden too heavy to bear.

Kin to my helplessness – she does not run from a safe shore.

Kin she to my solitude – who else could be more sadly silent?

Kin to my restless mind – her shining waves never sleep.

Kin to my tenderness and dreams – at the horizon she clasps the sky.

Kin to my hot-headed recklessness – singing she gives herself to every gale.

Kin to my curiosity – she calls to parts unknown.

To my thirst – she drinks all streams but never drinks her fill.

I fall to my knees in front of the sea; in you I recognize my mother – Teach me what I still don’t possess: the majestic peace of your depths!

Mirdza Bendrupe (1910-1995) tr Margita Gailitis

The sea doesn’t want to make waves.

The wind doesn’t want to blow.

Everything wants balance, peace, and seeking peace has no peace.

If you understand this, does it change something? Can you be peaceful even where there is no peace?

Is it a different kind of peace?

Questions all over again. Answers are few, as always.

The wave goes up and down.

A flock of birds flies down to NNE. This, too, is a wave. Thought is waves, too.

Jaan Kaplinski (b.1941) tr. by the author with Fiona Sampson

...et similiter mare Balticum, quae omnia reflectunt ad orientem... ...and likewise, the Baltic Sea: all face East…

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

National Youth Choir of Great Britain

choir for Augustinas, Urbaitis, Grigorjeva and Jackson

Soprano 1 Amelia Berridge Sarah Bowe* Emily Chadwick# Melissa Davies Robyn Donnelly Eleanor Edmonds Harriet Flower# Alice Halstead Isobel Harris Alice Higgins Gessica Howarth* Katherine Howell# Natalie Hyde* Hannah Jones Anjali Joseph Sarah Killian# Folasade-Nelleke Ladipo* Francesca Mastaglio# Kirsty McLean# Emily Owen* Bethany Partridge Hannah Partridge# Elisabeth Paul Amy Puttick Rachel Spencer Caroline Swarbrick# Jessica Thayer Sarah Thornhill* Kate Thorogood* Charlotte Trepess Sarah Walker Kirsty Williamson

* denotes Augustinas and Urbaitis only [1-3] # denotes Grigorjeva and Jackson only [9-15]

Soprano 2 Anna Cavaliero* Olivia Castle Rachel Balcombe Katie Coventry Lucy Cox* Polly Booth# Rachel Doherty* Elizabeth Curwen# Eleanor Broomfield# Hannah-May Lara de Belder Charlotte Brosnan Elmasry* Harriet Eaves Sarah Champion# Harriet Flower* Jessica Edwards# Rachel Crisp Molly Garfoot Louisa Ellis Lucy Curtis* Lara Rebekah Rosie Ettles# Felicity Davies# Harvey Rebecca Grady Zara Fyfe Eleanor Hicks Sarah Hickling Sophie Gallagher# Eleanor Hobbs Becki Ingram* Frances Gregory Alexandra Rosheen Iyer Stephanie Guidera Jennings# Amy Lyddon-Towl# Nina Hall Rebekah Jones Carla Matthews* Louise Laprun Charlotte La Thrope* Sarah Maxted Charlotte Mason Grace Le Tocq# Jeharna South# Leonie Maxwell# Emma Lewis# Sarah Thornhill# Jessica Smith* Tori Longdon Roberta Turner Elizabeth Stock# Alexander Masters Karen Watura* Catherine Stockall* Ruth McElvanny Abaigh Wheatley Caroline Swarbrick* Shendie McMath* Hannah Wickham Bethan Thomas Vassiliki-Eleni Sheena Wong# Carrie Thompson Milonidis* Rachel Wyllie# Ellen Timothy# Claire Roberts# Tenor 1 Helen Vincent* Hannah Semple Richard Bignall Becky Williams# Octavia Serrano* Ali Colam Jenny Simpson Alto 1 Catherine Stockall# Edward Griffiths# Genevieve Arkle Geoffrey Hicking Kate Thorogood# Lucy Ashlee David Jones# Rosalie Warner* Laura Baldwin* Max Laverack* Bethan Waters Michaela Bennison Rebekah Wheeler Adam O’Shea Isabel Biggs James Slimings# Jessica Blease Alto 2 Matthew Thomson# Felicity Buckland Alex Abley* Jonathan Whitten# Rosina Bullen Liberty Buckland Guy Withers Marguerite Camu* Emma Julia Buckley*

Tenor 2 Samuel Barson* James Bingham* Daniel Daly Jacob Dorrell Nic Ellington William Gosnold# Alex Grainger Ted Lougher William Morgan* Alexander Oliver# Matthew Roughley Benedict Rowe Matthew Thomson* Bass 1 Michael Ash Richard Austin Robi Bhattacharya# Thomas Chevis Christopher Dawson Ben Delmaestro# Timothy Ferguson* Robert Garland William Gillett# Andrew Horton Guy Hughes# James Hutchings Timothy Langston# James Partridge# William Pate James Quilligan Alex Shaw Ben Tomlin

choir for Plakidis [4-8] (section leaders in bold)

Bass 2 Gary Allen William Ball* Dominic Barberi# Joachim Cassel Luke de Belder Tim Edmundson David Ireland* Phil Jackson* Timothy Langston* Greg Link* Charlie Murray Sheevam Pattni* James Ramsden# Greshan Rasiah* Peter St Clair Morgan* Dominic Stewart Harry Thatcher William Wadsworth Ralph Warman* Jonathan Wood Jamie Wright#

Soprano 2 Soprano 1 Hannah Berridge Laura Attridge Charlotte Broadbent Catherine Bell Charlotte Brosnan Amelia Berridge Sarah Champion Zoe Brown Laura Cheetham Hannah Campbell Rachel Crisp Hannah Dobra Jessica Dandy Lucy Hughes Felicity Davies Sarah Killian Emily Dickens Helen Lewis Emily Garland Marie Macklin Francesca Geach Felicity Martin Sarah Griffiths Francesca Katherine Higgens Mastaglio# Natalie Hyde Emily Meredith Tempe Nell Amy Puttick Gillian Plummer Rachael Robinson Emma Price Sarah Rowley Jennifer Sidebottom Elizabeth Stock Alexandra Sorrentino Bethan Thomas Chloe Treharne Rachel Spencer Becky Williams Jenny Stafford Imogen SwartTenor 2 Wilson Max Bodmer Helen Vincent Jonathan Cooke Sarah Walker Nic Ellington Stefan Hargreaves Tenor 1 Edward le Coyte Alex Berman Ted Lougher Richard Bignall David Pim Michael Bradley Sam Robinson Fergus Brignall Matthew Roughley Geoffrey Hicking Robbie Jacobs Felix Leach Barnaby Martin Matthew Thomson Jonathan Whitten

Alto 1 Abigail Berry Felicity Buckland Nancy Cole Rachel Doherty Bethan Langford Eve Langford Rosellen Lloyd Sarah Mapplebeck Felicity McDermott Shendie McMath Vassiliki-Eleni Milonidis Lucy Potterton Bethany Remfry Sian Rogers Verity TrynkaWatson Rebekah Wheeler Bass 1 Rene BloiceSaunders Thomas Chevis Robert Garland Simon Hall Michael Hickman David Horton Guy Hughes Sasha Kasas David le Prevost Jolyon Loy Richard Scott Amar Shah Alex Shaw Ben Tomlin Adam Treadaway David Wigy

Alto 2 Anil Chopra Lucy Cox Elizabeth Curwen Lara de Belder Faith Fairbairn Delphine Gatehouse Alice Hubbard Carla Matthews Sarah Maxted Bethan Moore Sarah Thornhill Rachel Wyllie Bass 2 Dominic Barberi Callum Baxter Andrew Booth Joachim Cassel David Ireland Alexei Kalveks Laurence Kirby Bartholomew Lawrence Reuben McNaughton James Ramsden Sandy Walker Jamie Wright

The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain Founded in 1983 as a single choir of 100 of the nation’s best young singers, NYCGB now provides a wide range of musical experience for over 750 young people aged 9-28. The educational structure comprises four Junior Choirs, “Cambiata Voices” for boys at the voice change, two Training Choirs, the National Youth Choir itself, for singers aged 16-22, and the world-renowned chamber choir, Laudibus. The National Youth Choir has an enviable reputation as one of the world’s most flexible vocal ensembles, and has performed with leading musicians all over the planet. The choir has an equally high profile in the UK, singing in Parliament, the National Gallery, the reopening of the Royal Festival Hall, several BBC Proms, TV documentaries and even the programme Airport, an FA Cup final and rugby internationals. In its commitment to new music, NYCGB has commissioned works by a great number of leading composers. For the choir’s 25th anniversary it commissioned a piece from Mike Brewer OBE A leading figure in choral music, Mike is in demand throughout the world for vocal and conducting workshops and as a guest conductor. Mike is series editor and arranger for a new series called “World Tour” for Faber Music (an NYCGB recording, Mike Brewer’s Word Tour (DCD34080) was released by Delphian in 2010). His books include the bestselling Kick-Start Your Choir, WarmUps, Improve Your Sight-Singing (with Paul Harris) and Fine-Tune Your Choir. Mike’s sets of African songs Hamba Lulu and Banuwa are performed

National Youth Choir on Delphian Eric Whitacre, premiered in collaboration with the King’s Singers. The choir subsequently toured with Whitacre in California, culminating in a concert of his music in Disney Hall, L.A. NYCGB takes great pride in its ongoing recording series with Delphian, which regularly inspires accolades and five-star reviews. This includes discs of the music of Richard Allain (DCD34026) and Giles Swayne (DCD34033), an acclaimed disc of music by Schütz (DCD34043), and of works for multiple choirs (Sanctum est Verum Lumen, DCD34045). Forthcoming recordings include a disc of works by Górecki. Laudibus, NYCGB’s associated chamber choir, has recorded Song of Songs (DCD34042; a Classic FM Record of the Week), and music by Vaughan Williams (DCD34074; a Classic FM Disc of the Month).

In 2010 Scotland at Night (DCD34060) won high praise; their first Christmas disc is scheduled for release in 2012.

worldwide: Hamba can be found on YouTube in nearly 100 different versions. Mike is consultant for over 20 prize-winning UK choirs, and in 2008 led workshops for the TV competition Last Choir Standing. He wrote the song for the Olympic baton handover in August 2008, performed in 27 city centres across the UK. Mike Brewer is a gold medallist double bass player and was a Churchill Fellow for the year 2002-3. A special love is his work with NYCGB of which he has been musical director since 1983.

Giles Swayne: Convocation The National Youth Choir of Great Britain Laudibus Mike Brewer conductor Michael Bonaventure organ Stephen Wallace counter-tenor (DCD34033) When a powerful team of new music exponents come together, magic will happen; when the music is by Giles Swayne, a composer whose light shines brilliantly in its own unique direction, the results will entrance.

This disc offers a bracing sonic experience - vividly communicative music performed with rare verve, passion, and youthful vibrancy.

‘Delicious precision: most of the world’s choirs would die for their clean, blazing sound.’ - The Times ‘Swayne is a master’ - The Independent Sanctum est Verum Lumen: Multi-part music for choir National Youth Choir of Great Britain Mike Brewer conductor (DCD34045) Tallis’s monumental Spem in Alium is one of the greatest glories of Western polyphony, and its pre-echoes and aftershocks reverberate through all the other pieces on this disc. The massed voices of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain shed dazzling light on their multifaceted programme of polychoral jewels from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, interspersed with virtuoso tributes from three leading contemporary composers including Gabriel Jackson’s own 40-part motet.

‘A new piece by Gabriel Jackson lends this collection its title. Despite the funereal origins of the text, it’s a radiant, virtuoso essay and a touching homage to Tallis’s Spem in Alium ... Under Mike Brewer’s expert direction, the young voices of the National Youth Choir make properly massive impact.’

- The Sunday Times, October 2008

DCD34052