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Vox Clamantis

Music by Henrik Odegaard

ECM
Release Date: June 2, 2023

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1 Ødegaard: Jesu, dulcis memoria  
2 anon.: Alleluia. Pascha nostrum  
3 Ødegaard: O filii et filiæ  
4 anon.: Kyrie  
5 anon.: Pater Noster  
6 Ødegaard: Meditations over St. Mary Magdalene's Feast in Nidaros / Maria dilexit multum  
7 I. Psalm 62 (Vul. 63), antiphon  
8 III. Canticum Trium Puerorum, antiphon  
9 IV. Psalm 148-150, antiphon  
10 V. Benedictus, antiphon  
11 VI. Hymn  
12 VII. Magnificat, antiphon  
13 VIII. Maria, tibi persolvum  
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After dedicating past ECM New Series recordings to the works of contemporary composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve and most recently Cyrillus Kreek, the Vox Clamantis choir, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve, turns its attention towards Norwegian composer Henrik Ødegaard with a fine-drawn programme of liturgical choral music. Vox Clamantis are at home in the worlds of both old and new music, having addressed Gregorian chant and the polyphony of Pérotin as well as present-day compositions on previous albums. The ensemble and the works of Ødegaard make a perfect match, as the composer’s work, in a subtle sleight of hand, interweaves Gregorian chant with Norwegian folk song.

“In this recording, Gregorian chant is the protagonist,” writes Kristina Kõrver in the liner notes, “sometimes in its pure beauty, sometimes intertwined with the ‘new song’ of Henrik Ødegaard. As an organist and choir conductor, his musical thinking has been strongly influenced by two important traditions, Gregorian chant and Norwegian folk music, both of which have found unique expressions in his work.”

While these two traditions appear inextricably merged into one in the performance of the choir, they are visibly separated from one another in Ødegaard’s scores – the passages of Gregorian chant being marked in square notation, the predominant musical notation form in European vocal music from the 13th to the early 17th century. It’s a symbolic divide, translated gracefully into the music by opening up monophonic plainchant with modern polyphonic ingredients. The composer employs liturgical hymns as source material, from which he then branches off with his own compositional voice. 

  • Henrik Odegaard's music doesn't shout. It scarcely even whispers / LIMELIGHT
    Posted At: August 9, 2023 12:00 AM
    After dedicating past ECM New Series recordings to the works of contemporary composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve and most recently Cyrillus Kreek, the Vox Clamantis choir, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve, turns its attention towards Norwegian composer Henrik Ødegaard with a fine-drawn programme of liturgical choral music. Vox Clamantis are at home in the worlds of both old and new music...
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  • On new Vox Clamatis, Henrik Odegaard's sacred compositions are a dreamy blend of modernist & ancient sounds / CD Hotlist
    Posted At: July 1, 2023 12:00 AM
    After dedicating past ECM New Series recordings to the works of contemporary composers Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Helena Tulve and most recently Cyrillus Kreek, the Vox Clamantis choir, under the direction of Jaan-Eik Tulve, turns its attention towards Norwegian composer Henrik Ødegaard with a fine-drawn programme of liturgical choral music. Vox Clamantis are at home in the worlds of both old and new music...
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  • Vox Clamantis - Cyrillus Kreek: 'Suspended Harp of Babel' is highly responsive to the music of the Estonian language / Planet Hugill
    Posted At: July 23, 2020 12:00 AM

    To listen to the choral pieces on this disc is to hear music which is somehow familiar. The name of the composer Cyrillus Kreek may well be unfamiliar, but his use of Estonian folk-song as material and his way of treating it musically has had great influence in Estonia. To listen to this music is to hear an essential component of the DNA of much 20th century and contemporary Estonian music. The Suspended...
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  • Vox Clamantis - The Deer's Cry makes IPR's 2016 Mega-Meta-List
    Posted At: March 6, 2017 12:00 AM

    With no snafus, IPR's 2016 classical mega-meta-list gave its coveted "top choice of the year" honor to the breakout Let Me Tell You and correctly named the other albums that got 10 votes or more. But don't let anyone tell you that the meta-list picks the "best" albums, since there can be no such thing. The term "classical" covers music so inconceivably varied that any year's finest albums can...
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  • Arvo Part. The world's most performed living composer for sixth year running / estonian world
    Posted At: January 11, 2017 12:00 AM

    The Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt, has, for the sixth year in a row, been given the title of the "world's most performed living composer" by the classical music event database, Bachtrack, Estonian World can disclose. Bachtrack calculates a series of statistics each year that show the number of times the work of each composer has been performed, along with information regarding the "hardest-working" c...
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  • Vox Clamantis - The Deer's Cry / WFMT: Featured Release
    Posted At: October 6, 2016 12:00 AM

    The second ECM New Series album to fully showcase the pure-toned Estonian vocal group Vox Clamantis and its artistic director/conductor Jaan-Eik Tulve is devoted to compositions by their great countryman, Arvo Pärt – whose music has been the most performed globally of any living composer over the past five years. Pärt: Summa (6:02); Veni Creator (2:32) from Vox Clamantis: The Deer's C...
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