Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (b.1937) is an important contemporary voice in vocal music. In this new release, Silvestrov’s hauntingly beautiful vocal works are performed by the Latvian Radio Choir under their director Sigvards Klava.
During his artistic career, Silvestrov has explored a number of musical styles and techniques, such as avant-guard, post-modernism, neo-classicism, dodecaphony, aleatoric writing and pointillism. The fall of the Soviet Union, however, allowed Silvestrov to eventually compose spiritual works, inspired and influenced by his love of the Russian Orthodox Church music which Silvestrov imbues with his own unique sound and bursts of surprising harmonic moves.

Silvestrov’s compositions are invested with the composer’s own unique personality, musical sensibility and sense of beauty.
“one of the finest discs I've ever heard...The basses of Sigvards Klava's Latvian Radio Choir deserve particular praise - the notoriously sepulchral bottom B flat of Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil pales into insignificance next to some of Silvestrov's profundo lines, and the combined effect of this, lusciously rich harmonies and some subtle echo effects is electrifying.” Presto Classical