Baltic Voices 2

1	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns fo
2	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns fo
3	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns fo
4	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns fo
5	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns fo
6	And then in silence there
7	Winter Hymn, for chorus
8	On Leaving, for chorus: L
9	On Leaving, for chorus: O
10	On Leaving, for chorus: O
11	On Leaving, for chorus: K
12	On Leaving, for chorus: I
13	Sacred Hymns (3) for chor
14	Sacred Hymns (3) for chor
15	Sacred Hymns (3) for chor
Baltic Voices 2
1.	Gloria Patri, 24 hymns for chorus 16:24
	Composed by Urmas Sisask
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
2.	And then in silence there with me be only You, for chorus 13:40
	Composed by Toivo Tulev
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
3.	Winter Hymn, for chorus 9:06
	Composed by Per Nørgård
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
4.	On Leaving, for chorus: Lord, have mercy 4:42
	Composed by Galina Grigorjeva
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
5.	On Leaving, for chorus: Ode 1 4:47
	Composed by Galina Grigorjeva
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tiit Kogermann, Mikk Üleoja and Neeme Punder
6.	On Leaving, for chorus: Odes 7-8 4:52
	Composed by Galina Grigorjeva
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
7.	On Leaving, for chorus: Kondakion 2:19
	Composed by Galina Grigorjeva
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
8.	On Leaving, for chorus: Ikos 5:18
	Composed by Galina Grigorjeva
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja
9.	Sacred Hymns (3) for chorus 6:50
	Composed by Alfred Schnittke
	Conducted by Paul Hillier
	Performed by Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Mikk Üleoja

Barnes & Noble

Twenty years ago, the Baltic states of the Soviet Union were practically a blank on the musical map for most listeners in the West. The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt changed all that, and his influence can be felt in many of the more recent choral works from the region that are collected on Baltic Voices 2. The disc -- whose title refers both to a diverse group of composers and to the astonishingly pure and well-blended singing of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir -- surveys sacred music in three traditions: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. It also looks across the Baltic Sea to Denmark for Per Norgard's Winter Hymn and acknowledges Russia's potent influence with the earnest Three Sacred Hymns of Alfred Schnittke (a far cry from this composer's usual pastiche antics). But the music of some little-known Estonian composers makes a particularly strong impression. The highlight of Urmas Sisask's set of sacred songs, "Oremus" ("Let Us Pray"), is an eight-minute meditation upon a single word of text, a bold concept that is fully matched by the choir's mesmerizing performance. Galina Grigorjeva's On Leaving is perhaps the most indebted to Pärt, and also to the Orthodox choral tradition, but is still no less individual a work. Grigorjeva writes striking incantations for soloists against hazy choral harmonies and also exploits the deepest range of the bass voices to excellent effect. Now two volumes into his exploration of the region's music, director Paul Hillier -- who was also an early champion of Pärt -- has successfully aroused our appetite for further discovery of many more intriguing Baltic voices. Scott Paulin

All Music Guide

The Grammy nomination bestowed upon the Baltic Voices 2 album in 2004 pointed to the continuing fascination the Eastern European brand of minimalism held for American audiences. It also showed that this predominantly sacred variety of minimalism did not depend solely on the unique biography and outlook of Arvo Pärt, for it is the music of Pärt's successors and of contemporaries he inspired that is heard on this release, not that of the Estonian pioneer himself. Conductor Paul Hillier and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir have, impressively, found general success with an album of almost completely unknown material. The Baltic region is generously defined here to extend as far west as Denmark (Per Nørgård's "Winter Hymn") and eastward to Russia (Alfred Schnittke's "Three Sacred Hymns," which make an ideal stopping-place for the disc). But most of the music is by younger Estonian composers who are clearly within the Pärt orbit, yet speak with notable clarity in their own voices. Anyone interested in so-called "holy minimalism" will find something to like here. The strongest piece may be by the Russian-Estonian composer Galina Grigorjeva, whose "On Leaving" (1999) fills out some of the connections between the Pärt style and Eastern Orthodox church music that have been lurking beneath the surface of this tradition for some years now. Urmas Sisask's "Five Songs from Gloria Patri" (1988) mounts an extreme stasis of which Pärt would have been proud: the section entitled "Oremus" (Let us pray) has a text consisting entirely of that single word, distributed through more than eight minutes of shifting textures. The expert treatment of this music by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is matched by Harmonia Mundi's limpid sound. One wouldn't have guessed 20 years ago that there would be a "Pärt school," yet on the evidence of this fine release that is just what seems to be developing. Baltic Voices 2 is available in both regular and SACD versions. James Manheim

Gramophone

Stretching his definition of "Baltic" to embrace the east and west extremes of Russia and Denmark, Paul Hillier offers another useful conspectus of mainly sacred music.... The Estonian singers again impress by their homogeneity and inner fervour, and the acoustic is atmospheric but not intrusive. David Fanning