Confessions of Faith: Choral Concertos by Bortniansky & Schnittke

Featuring

Risto Joost
Dorothea Sprenger
Alba Vilar-Juanola
Falk Hoffmann
Kim Jae-Hyong
MDR Rundfunkchor

Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky
Alfred Schnittke

Did you know?

1/7

Performer Biography

The MDR Leipzig Radio Choir, featured on this recording, is regarded as one of the best choirs in the world and received the European Cultural Prize in 2013.

Composer Biography

Dmitry Stepanovych Bortniansky, revered as the 'Orpheus of the Neva', is considered a leading representative of the classical period in Russia.

Album & Artwork

The album title, 'Confessions of Faith', features choral concertos by Dmitry Bortniansky and Alfred Schnittke.

Composition History

Bortniansky's sacred choral music was exclusively composed during his 30 years as director of the Imperial Chapel Choir, where no instruments were allowed in Orthodox services.

Compositional Technique

Bortniansky's choral concertos, such as No. 9 and No. 24, combine the Eastern choral sound with Western melodic and Baroque techniques like homophony, imitation, and fugato.

Recording & Production

All works on this album are sung in the Russian language.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Alfred Schnittke, a major 20th-century composer, coined the term 'polystylism' to describe his aesthetic of consciously playing out stylistic differences to create new musical space.