Search - Leos Janacek, Zoltan Kodaly, Stephen Cleobury :: Kodaly: Missa Brevis; Janacek: Mass in E flat; The Lord's Prayer (Otcenas)

Obvious coupling, with a gem

04/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kodály's missa brevis - written during WWII - is inspired and solid, but somewhat old-fashioned in style. Janácek's mass, composed several decades earlier, seems contemporary; it is briefer than brief (incomplete or amputated? - I lean toward the second option); it has little in common with his later "Glagolitic Mass" a true masterpiece of the 20th century. In all logic the two masses featured on this CD are meant to be coupled.But the best of the CD is its last number. "Otcenas" (Our Lord's Prayer) is a a work I treasure very much. Many first-time listeners are bothered by the strange connections - organ and harp - between the six (sung) parts in which the prayer is divided, but it is well-devised and, once you get accustomed, you wonder how it could be otherwise. The music is impressionistic: for example, the singers don't pray for daily bread, they insist on it! "Otcenas" was composed for - and is usually performed by - mixed choir; on this CD (if my ears and my knowledge of King's College Choir are not not deficient), the female parts are sung by boys; this really gives a different sound and meaning to a great work of a (still) underestimed composer."