Under the Arching Heavens: A Requiem by Alex Freeman

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Despite music that is almost unvaryingly slow, Freeman draws the listener into his world through the urgent intensity of his vision. His harmonic language is largely though not exclusively tonal,... — Fanfare, September/October 2021 More…

Release Date: 29th Jan 2021
Catalogue No: BIS2592
Label: BIS
Length: 81 minutes

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Freeman: Under the Arching Heavens

Work length1:06:40

$13.05

$19.45

$28.00

Mirjam Solomon (soprano), Júlia Heéger (soprano), Emma Suszko (alto), Varvara Merras-Häyrynen (alto), Jukka Jokitalo (tenor), Martti Anttila (tenor), Juha-Pekka Mitjonen (bass)
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nils Schweckendiek

I. Sydämeni laulu

Track length7:41

$2.05

$2.60

$3.50

II. Requiem aeternam

Track length4:59

$1.50

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$1.75

IIIa. Sequence. Dies irae

Track length6:36

$1.00

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$1.75

IIIb. Sequence. Thrushes

Track length3:53

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$3.50

IIIc. Sequence. Sequence I

Track length3:51

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$1.75

IIId. Sequence. Fientliga stjärnor

Track length5:31

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IIIe. Sequence. Sequence II

Track length8:55

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IV. Sanctus

Track length5:22

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$1.75

V. Mikä lienee se lintu ollut?

Track length4:37

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VI. Agnus Dei

Track length4:20

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VII. O Years and Graves!

Track length10:55

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$5.25

Freeman: A Wilderness of Sea

Work length14:44

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$5.25

Mirjam Solomon (soprano), Sirkku Rintamäki (alto), David Hackston (tenor), Juha-Pekka Mitjonen (bass)
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nils Schweckendiek

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About

The Finnish-American composer Alex Freeman has been described as being ‘as comfortable in the realm of the pop ballad as in that of the concert hall’ and yet his songs ‘are imbued with the craftsmanship and care one would expect of a composer of his formidable academic training, just as his concert works carry the emotional immediacy of popular music.’ Himself a choral singer, Alex Freeman has written a number of works for choir: music that aims to be sonorous and melodic, but is carefully crafted to avoid the clichés that can burden conventional tonality. Freeman’s requiem Under the arching heavens was commissioned by Nils Schweckendiek and the Helsinki Chamber Choir to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Finnish civil war. Structured around the Latin liturgy of the mass for the dead, the work has a duration of more than an hour and also incorporates poems in Finnish, Swedish and English, reflecting both the specific reason for the commission and the universality of human suffering caused by war. In the non-liturgical texts chosen by Freeman, birds are a recurring image, as is that of a mother and child. The work ends with lines by Walt Whitman from a poem written in the aftermath of the American Civil War; lines described by the composer as ‘some of the most comforting poetry in the English language.’

Reviews

September/October 2021

Despite music that is almost unvaryingly slow, Freeman draws the listener into his world through the urgent intensity of his vision. His harmonic language is largely though not exclusively tonal, and he has a good sense of how to build tension and then provide release. Both performances are superb, and BIS’s usual warm, clear recorded sound is another asset.

April 2021

Clarity of thought, purpose and gesture allied with a broad-brushstroke directness are recurring features, which often reveal hidden depths.

Under the Arching Heavens

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