Alfred Momotenko: Choral Works

Featuring

Sigvards Kļava
Ieva Sablovska
Latvian Radio Choir
Alfred Momotenko

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Composer Biography

Momotenko's early musical creations, including bundles of songs based on his own poetry, were recorded in the early 1980s but were left behind when his family emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1990s.

Performer Biography

Sigvards Kļava, the conductor of this album, has been the music director of the Latvian Radio Choir since 1992 and is a professor of conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.

Compositional Technique

A constant feature of Momotenko's style is the coexistence of ancient Znamennyj Chant and modern musical languages, reflecting the blend of Church Slavonic and contemporary lexicon in the poetry he sets.

Composer Biography

Alfred Momotenko, born in Lviv in 1970, studied percussion at the Moscow State University of Culture and Art before moving to the Netherlands to study improvised music, music theory, composition, and sonology.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded at St. John's Church (Sv. Jāņa baznīca) in Riga, Latvia, across several sessions between March 2019 and May 2022.

Performer Biography

The Latvian Radio Choir is an award-winning ensemble, having recorded the Grammy Award-winning album Adam's Lament by Arvo Pärt and receiving the Great Music Award of Latvia multiple times.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Momotenko's album concept evolved from a mere collection of sacred music to a stimulus for propagating individual inner ethics and honesty, aiming to reach a broader audience beyond traditional Christian faith.