It’s another of Gjeilo’s settings of the Ubi caritas text, and this one is schmaltzy and pretty and peaceful, and the listening is easy, as is all of the listening throughout the 11 pieces on this program, which clocks in at a surprisingly light 48 minutes. The short instrumental Reflections is a pleasant-enough throwaway filler before the final piece, Sacred Heart, sung this time by Voces8 accompanied by string quartet. Gjeilo likes to improvise on piano to some of his a cappella choral pieces, which works very well (the entrancing, chantlike, eventually lushly harmonized opening Ubi caritas), and in other instances he adds strings, once even a guitar, in an intriguing rhythmic/melodic partnership with piano (and string quartet) in a setting of a couple of stanzas from Yeats’ The Lake Isle of Innisfree.Ī penetrating cello solo joins the otherwise unaccompanied choir (Tenebrae, in this case) for a poignant O magnum mysterium in Tundra, also with Tenebrae, accompanied by piano and strings, a swift minimalist-style ostinato figure sweeps us in a cinematic rush across the low landscape (Gjeilo admits to deriving much inspiration from film music) before the choir enters in a mostly unintelligible expression of text by Charles Anthony Silvestri (who’s also famously worked with Eric Whitacre)-a not particularly inspired verse, and likewise the music. He’s not quite one of the former either, for the works on this program are not innovative as much as they are comfortable in familiar territory of composers such as Rutter, Pärt, and Whitacre. Happily, at least on evidence here, Norwegian-born/New York-based composer Ola Gjeilo (nearly every review or article about him comes with the tag after his name: “pronounced Yay-lo”) is not one of the latter.
I’m not talking about composers who thoughtfully and creatively influence the development and possibilities of choral music, encouraging us to listen and think about choral singing in new ways I’m referring to those who appear to equate advancement of art with making its practice and expression (performance) just more difficult, and thus less and less accessible to both performers and consumers. In these cases, meaningful musical or emotional connection is elusive, as is any relationship of music to the text. Instead, I’m confronted with sounds and effects, complexly constructed and technically difficult, seemingly for the sake of complexity and difficulty.
But in recent years, so often on recordings of new choral works the pleasure is missing.
YOUTUBE UBI CARITAS OLA GJEILO PDF
Soprano 1: Ubi Caritas – Ola Gjeilo – Soprano 1.Some tracks are also provided via YouTube.įull recording (Central Washington University Chamber Choir): Parts
YOUTUBE UBI CARITAS OLA GJEILO ANDROID
For SoundCloud, you can download the iOS or Android SoundCloud app, use the player below, or listen from a computer at. Below, you’ll find some resources to help with your personal practice for Chamber Choir.
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