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Requiem
Willem Jeths

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Netherlands Radio Choir / James Gaffigan / Willem Jeths

Requiem

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917287424
Catnr: CC 72874
Release date: 12 March 2021
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917287424
Catalogue number
CC 72874
Release date
12 March 2021

"Melody, atonality, opera-like drama and meditative stillness: it is all perfectly balanced. And choir, soloists and orchestra believe in this provocative hymn to the dying life, which evocatively tries to unlock the world after death.  "

De Gelderlander, 30-10-2021
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About the album

Death – as a source of reflection, blinding insight or terror – has become an idée fixe in the works of Willem Jeths (born in Amersfoort in 1959). Gradually, death as a topos took on the form of a philosophical question, which perhaps only found its proper place in the Requiem, with the First Symphony (CC 72693) acting as a staging post. There is a link here to a process of increasing awareness, for which Jeths sought the sounds in his second violin concerto. He said: “Death is not the final end but rather a transition to a different phase." This idea is elaborated in the Requiem in the form of a musical journey to the hereafter, taking comfort from beauty and solemn mourning.

Jeths concedes that he had no need for experiments in form, which in this case would have jarred with the intended servitude to his theme. There was no need for a full quartet of soloists; two were sufficient. The orchestral scoring, with double wind and brass, is relatively modest, although Jeths' predilection for exotic colours is evidenced by his use of soprano recorder, harp, organ and an extensive array of percussion instruments including glockenspiel, vibraphone and xylophone. This time, however, they serve a higher purpose, namely the melody. "This is my most melodious work" says the composer. The Requiem must come from the heart and the heart sings.
Kort na zijn tweede album Ritratto, brengt de gevierde Nederlandse componist Willem Jeths nu het album Requiem uit bij Challenge Classics. Requiem wordt uitgevoerd door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest en het Groot Omroepkoor onder leiding van James Gaffigan. Opnieuw een indrukwekkend album. Je kunt welhaast zeggen een optelsom van Jeths’ kunstenaarschap en zijn meest melodieuze werk tot nu toe.

Een Requiem moet uit het hart komen en het hart zingt. Jeths’ voorliefde voor exotische klankkleuren blijkt uit het gebruik van sopraanblokfluit, harp, orgel en een uitgebreid scala aan percussie-instrumenten, waaronder klokkenspel, vibrafoon en xylofoon. Ze dienen een hoger doel, namelijk de melodie. Het palet van Willem Jeths is in de loop der jaren steeds rijker en dramatischer geworden. Het spectrum loopt van aandacht voor klank en kleur naar een subtiel gebruik van harmonische spanningen. Zijn noten staan in dienst van de tekst en de schoonheid van de klank van de stem. Jehts werkt met verwijzingen naar bestaande muziek, die werken als herkenning voor de luisteraar.

Willem Jeths: “De dood is niet het definitieve einde, maar eerder een overgang naar een andere fase.” Dit uitgangspunt werkte hij uit in zijn Requiem in de vorm van een muzikale reis naar het hiernamaals, troost puttend uit schoonheid en plechtige rouw. De dood als bron van reflectie en als filosofisch begrip is een idée fixe geworden in het oeuvre van Willem Jeths. Niet zozeer een romantische fascinatie voor de duistere kant van de dood, maar het moment van overgaan naar iets anders, vormt een terugkerend thema in zijn werk. Deze transformatie, eerder al te horen in Jeths' Eerste symfonie (Challenge Classics) is een beschrijving van wat er gebeurt na het aardse leven, de wedergeboorte, of zelfs het aanzien met God.

Wie naar de muziek van Willem Jeths (1959) luistert, zal niet meteen op de gedachte komen dat het om een Nederlandse componist gaat. Zijn muziek wortelt in een traditie die van Mahler tot en met Wolfgang Rihm reikt. Zijn klankidioom isl laatromantisch/expressionistisch en tegelijkertijd onmiskenbaar eigentijds. Jeths was van 2014 tot 2016 de eerste Componist des Vaderlands. Hij won twee prijzen op de Internationale Compositiewedstrijd in Wenen in 1996, voor zijn vioolconcert Glenz en zijn Pianoconcert. Het vioolconcert Glenz (1993) betekende voor hem zijn grote doorbraak. Voor het Requiem zocht Jeths zijn klanken uit dit vioolconcert.
Der Tod - als Quelle der Reflexion, der blendenden Einsicht oder des Schreckens - ist zu einer idée fixe in den Werken Willem Jeths (1959 in Amersfoort geboren) geworden. Allmählich nahm der Tod als Topos die Form einer philosophischen Frage an, die vielleicht erst im Requiem ihren richtigen Platz fand, wobei die Erste Symphonie (CC 72693) als Zwischenstation diente. Hier gibt es eine Verbindung zu einem Prozess der Bewusstwerdung, für den Jeths in seinem zweiten Violinkonzert die Klänge suchte. Er sagte: "Der Tod ist nicht das endgültige Ende, sondern ein Übergang in eine andere Phase." Dieser Gedanke wird im Requiem in Form einer musikalischen Reise ins Jenseits ausgearbeitet, die Trost in Schönheit und feierlicher Trauer findet.
Jeths räumt ein, dass er kein Bedürfnis nach formalen Experimenten hatte, die in diesem Fall mit der beabsichtigten Hingabe an sein Thema in Konflikt geraten wären. Ein volles Solistenquartett war nicht nötig, zwei Solisten reichten aus. Die Orchesterbesetzung ist mit doppelten Bläsern und Blechbläsern relativ bescheiden, obwohl Jeths' Vorliebe für exotische Farben durch den Einsatz von Sopranblockflöte, Harfe, Orgel und einem umfangreichen Aufgebot an Schlaginstrumenten einschließlich Glockenspiel, Vibraphon und Xylophon deutlich wird. Dieses Mal dienen sie jedoch einem höheren Zweck, nämlich der Melodie. "Dies ist mein melodiösestes Werk", sagt der Komponist. Das Requiem muss aus dem Herzen kommen und das Herz singt.

Artist(s)

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system...
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The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system were transformed into two: the present Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. In 2006, these two orchestras, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Metropole Orchestra joined the Dutch public broadcasting organisation NPO.
The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been conducted by great names such as Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona and Edo de Waart. Jaap van Zweden was named its chief conductor in September 2005. The orchestra has also worked with numerous famed guest conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Antál Dorati, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur and Valery Gergiev. Soon after its founding, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic found itself foremost in Dutch musical life in the number of performances and the diversity of its repertoire, with a predilection for Dutch and contemporary works in its programming. It has honed another facet of its striking profile with a great many opera concertante performances. The orchestra has an extensive discography, ranging from legendary LPs recorded in the 1970s under such conductors as Leopold Stokowski and Antal Doráti to Jean Fournet’s much-lauded renderings of French repertoire. Under Edo de Waart, not only did it release its legendary Wagner interpretations, but also the complete orchestral works of Rachmaninov. CDs with work by contemporary composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Klas Torstensson, Jan van Vlijmen and Stravinsky have garnered prizes and much acclaim.

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Netherlands Radio Choir

The Netherlands Radio Choir is the largest professional choir in the Netherlands. Since its founding in 1946, the choir has performed a broad repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music and has been synonymous with top-level music performed with passion. It works in various sizes and formations, depending on the music concerned and the conductor. First official chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir was Kenneth Montgomery. After him came Robin Gritton, Martin Wright, Simon Halsey, Celso Antunes and Gijs Leenaars. As from the 2015-2016 season Klaas Stok is chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir. Michael Gläser has been its permanent guest conductor since September 2010. The Netherlands Radio Choir has worked with guest conductors such as Marcus Creed and Peter Dijkstra,...
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The Netherlands Radio Choir is the largest professional choir in the Netherlands. Since its founding in 1946, the choir has performed a broad repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music and has been synonymous with top-level music performed with passion. It works in various sizes and formations, depending on the music concerned and the conductor.
First official chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir was Kenneth Montgomery. After him came Robin Gritton, Martin Wright, Simon Halsey, Celso Antunes and Gijs Leenaars. As from the 2015-2016 season Klaas Stok is chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir. Michael Gläser has been its permanent guest conductor since September 2010.
The Netherlands Radio Choir has worked with guest conductors such as Marcus Creed and Peter Dijkstra, with early music specialists as Frans Brüggen, Philippe Herreweghe and Ton Koopman, and in the symphonic choral repertoire with Jaap van Zweden, James Gaffigan, Markus Stenz and Sir Simon Rattle, among others.
The choir often performs with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in public radio concert series, and it is regularly invited to perform with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since the early 1980s, the Netherlands Radio Choir has been a frequent guest in the Saturday Matinee series of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In these concerts the choir has regularly performed pre- mieres and works by contemporary composers such as Ligeti, Boulez, Birtwistle, Kagel, Reich, Wagemans, Adès, Adams and Vleggaar. Most concerts of the Netherlands Radio Choir are live broadcasted by Radio 4. On CD the Netherlands Radio Choir excels in a broad repertoire including music by Keuris, MacMillan, Mahler, Poulenc, Rossini and Wagner.

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James Gaffigan (conductor)

Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship, James Gaffigan continues to attract international attention and is one of the most outstanding American conductors working today. James Gaffigan is currently the Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also appointed the first Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne in September 2013, a position that was created for him. In addition to these titled positions, James Gaffigan is in high demand working with leading orchestras and opera houses throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. In recent seasons, James Gaffigan’s guest engagements have included the Munich, London, Dresden, Oslo, Czech and...
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Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship, James Gaffigan continues to attract international attention and is one of the most outstanding American conductors working today. James Gaffigan is currently the Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also appointed the first Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne in September 2013, a position that was created for him.
In addition to these titled positions, James Gaffigan is in high demand working with leading orchestras and opera houses throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. In recent seasons, James Gaffigan’s guest engagements have included the Munich, London, Dresden, Oslo, Czech and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Vienna Symphoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Konzerthaus Berlin, RSO Berlin, Orchestre de Paris, Zurich Tonhalle, London, BBC, Gothenburg, Bournemouth and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Leipzig and Stuttgart Radio Orchestras, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Sydney Symphony. In the States, he has worked with the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and National Symphony Orchestras and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra among others.
As an opera conductor, James Gaffigan made his Vienna State Opera debut in 2011/12 with La Bohéme and was immediately invited back to conduct Don Giovanniduring 12/13. Mr Gaffigan continues his relationship with both the Vienna State Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival – in 2012, he conducted a production of La Cenerentola at Glyndebourne and returned for performances of Falstaff during the summer of 2013. In 2014/15 season he conducted the Hamburg Opera with performances of Salome and the Norwegian Opera with a new production of La Traviata. He made his opera debut at the Zurich Opera in 2005 conducting La Bohéme.
Highlights of the 2015/16 season include debuts with the New York Philharmonic and Don Giovanni at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich. Mr. Gaffigan will also return to the Munich and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and the Vienna Staatsoper to conduct the Marriage of Figaro.
Born in New York City in 1979, Mr. Gaffigan has degrees from both the New England Conservatory of Music and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. He also studied at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, and was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.
In 2009, Mr. Gaffigan completed a three-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony in a position specially created for him. Prior to that appointment, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra where he worked under Music Director Franz Welser-Möst from 2003 through 2006. James was also named a first prize winner at the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. He lives in Lucerne with his wife Lee and their two children Sofia and Liam.

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Composer(s)

Willem Jeths

Willem Jeths' musical language has become gradually less atonal over the years. His most recent compositions even have a prominent ground tone. Densely orchestrated sound blocks rub along one another and overlap in an idiom that might remind one more of Ligeti or Rihm than a typical composer of the Dutch school. It is worth noting that Willem Jeths won two prices at the 1996 International Composition Competition in Vienna, for his violin concert Glenz and for his Piano Concerto. The jury included Wolfgang Rihm, Gerard Grisey, Franco Donatoni, Lothar Knessl and Friedrich Cerha - composers who, like Jeths, are intensely attuned to sound as an aspect of composition. Jeths also won the ''Amsterdamprijs voor de kunst'' for his ouvre...
more

Willem Jeths' musical language has become gradually less atonal over the years. His most recent compositions even have a prominent ground tone. Densely orchestrated sound blocks rub along one another and overlap in an idiom that might remind one more of Ligeti or Rihm than a typical composer of the Dutch school. It is worth noting that Willem Jeths won two prices at the 1996 International Composition Competition in Vienna, for his violin concert Glenz and for his Piano Concerto. The jury included Wolfgang Rihm, Gerard Grisey, Franco Donatoni, Lothar Knessl and Friedrich Cerha - composers who, like Jeths, are intensely attuned to sound as an aspect of composition. Jeths also won the ''Amsterdamprijs voor de kunst'' for his ouvre in 2014. Although a work by Willem Jeths might suggest the existence of a clear-cut plan, forms and structures fade to the background during the composition process. Jeths is driven by spirit and fancy, unfettered by predetermined routes or goals. Because he is so conscious of the basic material, the resulting form, individual and personal, appears to the listener as a taut, consistent concept that unifies the piece. This apparently contradiction, in which aesthetics and working method seem to collide, remains one of the most intriguing aspects, both musically and personally, of Willem Jeths.


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Press

Melody, atonality, opera-like drama and meditative stillness: it is all perfectly balanced. And choir, soloists and orchestra believe in this provocative hymn to the dying life, which evocatively tries to unlock the world after death.  
De Gelderlander, 30-10-2021

All in all, this is a powerful work well worth your time.
Fanfare, 28-9-2021

choir, soloists and orchestra believe in this provocative hymn to the dying life, which evocatively tries to unlock the world after death.
De Gelderlander, 30-10-2021

This performance recorded in concert at the Concertgebouw in 2017 was an exciting one with all of the elements coming together nicely under Maestro Gaffigan's baton. The performance, like the piece itself, is the real deal.
American Record Guide, 01-9-2021

... a musical event that is rarely experienced on CD. [...] This recording is a milestone in the history of sound carriers!
Musik & Theater, 01-7-2021

Willem Jeths has developed enormously in recent decades
Luister, 15-5-2021

Back to the silence in Jeths' Requiem
NRC, 07-4-2021

And so this Requiem by Willem Jeths, for me one of the greatest Requiem settings ever
Pizzicato, 22-3-2021

Play album Play album
01.
Praefatio
02:24
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
02.
Introitus
07:34
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
03.
Kyrie
02:28
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
04.
Dies Irae
03:26
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
05.
Tuba mirum
04:47
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
06.
Rex tremendae
02:01
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
07.
Recordare
01:25
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
08.
Lacrimosa
02:29
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
09.
Offertorium
02:30
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
10.
Sanctus
02:45
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
11.
Benedictus
03:31
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
12.
Agnus Dei
04:27
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
13.
Lux aeterna
08:08
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
14.
Libera me
02:00
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
15.
In paradisum
06:49
(Willem Jeths) Andreas Wolf, Kelly God, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Choir
show all tracks

Often bought together with..

Willem Jeths
The tell-tale heart
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra | Juliane Banse | Tasmin Little
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853)
Kuijken String Quartet
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo
Bob van der Ent
Various composers
Virtuoso Dances
Linus Roth & José Gallardo
Willem Jeths
Ritratto
Dutch National Opera / Amsterdam Sinfonietta / Geoffrey Paterson

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