LEOS JANACEK - Choruses for Male Voices

Moravian Teachers Choir

IT'S not often this column brings you the vocal talents of the Moravian Teachers Choir, so make the most of it.

Seriously though, this wouldn't be the first thing you might reach for in a music shop, but it would certainly be one of the more interesting classical recordings on offer.

Not many people will have come across Leos Janacek, but really he is up there with other Eastern European composers of the likes of Dvorak, Bartok and Kodaly to name just three (I can remember).

For the uninitiated, the programme notes tell us that Janacek (incidently, most easily pronounced Yan-er-check) is now widely regarded as one of the most important and original composers of the early 20th Century.

He was a Czech-of-all trades really, being not only a composer of note but also a conductor, teacher, organist, and a significant authority on folk music.

Most of his composition was just in two genres: opera and the unaccompanied chorus. The latter is perfectly presented here by those teachers from Moravia, one of the top singing ensembles in the Czech Republic.

It may sound simple, but it is no easy thing to sing unaccompanied and certainly not works this complicated.

Some are based on folk music, such as the catchily-titled Ctyri lidove muzske sbory, which includes Janacek's first-ever work for male chorus.

The works range from the very listenable and harmonious, to the deeply chromatical and challenging to listen to, let alone perform.

Dvorak was apparently quite taken back by the "audacious modulations" in Janacek's Ctvero muzskych sboru which was dedicated to him.

But the Moravian teachers take it all in their stride.

Naxos

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