DARKNESS

Henryk Gorecki (1933)

Kleines Requiem für eine Polka (1993)
for wind quintet, trumpet, trombone, string quintet, tubular bells and piano

André Laporte (1931)

Litanie con epitaffio
for flute, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, percussion and piano

Stéphane vande Ginste (1971)

Darkness
for wind quintet,, trumpet, trombone, string quintet, percussion, piano and two narrators

performers:
Ensemble Emanon olv Raf de Keninck
Greet Samyn en Koen Monserez, narrators

The recurring theme of this CD is the remembrance of the deceased in and through music.

For the ‘Kleines Requiem für eine Polka’ Henryk Górecki finds his inspiration in the polyphonic compositions of Palestrina, ceremonial organ music and in Beethoven’s music, even the authentic peasant music of his homeland Poland.

Polka refers not so much to the famous dance with Polish roots, but actually means Polish woman. Besides a melancholic and a sorrow atmosphere, the music contains an ebullient character with stirring rhythms with many repetitions of brief motifs. A marvellous composition!

In ‘Litanie con epitaffio’ André Laporte reflects upon the memory of four deceised composer friends : Karel Goeyvaerts, Raymond Baervoets, Louis de Meester and Norbert Rosseau. Litanie is clearly in the plural form, the singular in Italian is litania.

In his composition ‘Darkness’ Stéphane vande Ginste refers to the poem of Lord Byron. The other texts are written by Mary Shelley and Charles Chaplin, with his famous speech from his film ‘The Great Distator’: “The clouds are lifting – the sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world.”

(Radio Klara, maandag, 11 februari 2008 – Klara’s 10)

The booklet tells us that the theme of this CD is "remembering the dead in and through music". This is what André Laporte does in "Litanie con epitaffio", in which he remembers four friends who were also composers.
Stéphane Vande Ginste's "Darkness" refers to Lord Byron's poem with the same title. And, as his works so often do, Henryk Gorecki's "Kleines Requiem für eine Polka" draws on a number of very different styles:
Palestrina and liturgical music for organ can be heard, but also Beethoven and Polish folk songs. Conducted by Raf De Keninck, the remarkable Emanon Ensemble comes up with flawless, exciting and inspired performances. The atmospheric recording -- hardly self-evident, given the unusual forces of winds, strings, percussion and piano, as well as two narrators in Vande Ginste's composition -- ensures that this excellent Flemish production is just about perfect.

Monday, February 11^th, 2008)

(Klara – the Flemish radio for classical music)

Excellent performances in very fine recordings that do these rewarding works full justice. I hope that the Ensemble will be able to continue along the same lines. In short, a very welcome release that clearly deserves much more than the occasional hearing.
Hubert Culot , June 2nd, 2008

www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/June08/Darkness_phaedra92053.htm