Passion and Resurrection & other choral works

‘Ešenvalds responds to the purpose of the words he sets, occupying similar choral territory to the likes of Whitacre and Shchedrin, character rather than ego dominating… Ešenvalds favours the upper voices, giving them luminous, floating melodies against backgrounds that set them in shimmering relief or throw mysterious, penumbrous cloaks around them. Polyphony typically balances beauty of timbre with precise articulation and empathy with the texts’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Ēriks Ešenvalds is another in the ever-lengthening catalogue of highly skilled Latvian choral composers who are currently making an impact on the British choral scene. Born in 1977, he studied with a number of composers of very different styles, something that is reflected in the variability of his music. The most successful piece here, because the most consistent, is the impressive, dark and claustrophobic Legend of the Walled-in Woman (2005). It develops in sinister fashion from an Albanian folksong…’ (Ivan Moody)

‘Ešenvalds displays an impressive command and variety of musical language…’