Bruckner Spectrum The Zurich Chamber Singers & Christian Erny

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594): Ave Maria à 5:
• 1Palestrina: Ave Maria à 504:05
• Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896): Virga Jesse floruit, WAB 52:
• 2Bruckner: Virga Jesse floruit, WAB 5203:36
• Tota pulchra es, WAB 46:
• 3Bruckner: Tota pulchra es, WAB 4604:48
• Burkhard Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke I:
• 4Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke I03:35
• Anton Bruckner: Ecce sacerdos, WAB 13:
• 5Bruckner: Ecce sacerdos, WAB 1306:15
• Christus factus est, WAB 11:
• 6Bruckner: Christus factus est, WAB 1104:43
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Jesu, rex admirabilis:
• 7Palestrina: Jesu, rex admirabilis01:34
• Anton Bruckner: Tantum ergo, WAB 32:
• 8Bruckner: Tantum ergo, WAB 3202:51
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: O bone Jesu:
• 9Palestrina: O bone Jesu02:40
• Burkhard Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke II:
• 10Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke II02:04
• Anton Bruckner: Os justi, WAB 30:
• 11Bruckner: Os justi, WAB 3004:36
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Exaudi, domine à 4:
• 12Palestrina: Exaudi, domine à 403:01
• Anton Bruckner: Locus iste, WAB 23:
• 13Bruckner: Locus iste, WAB 2302:55
• Burkhard Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke III:
• 14Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke III03:26
• Anton Bruckner: Salvum fac populum, WAB 40:
• 15Bruckner: Salvum fac populum, WAB 4003:08
• Libera me, WAB 21:
• 16Bruckner: Libera me, WAB 2102:45
• Ave Maria, WAB 6:
• 17Bruckner: Ave Maria, WAB 603:14
• Total Runtime59:16

Info for Bruckner Spectrum

Renaissance polyphony and contemporary sound clouds orbit around vocal late Romanticist like satellites. The Zurich Chamber Singers, conducted by Christian Erny, unearth a special narrative drama. Starting with Anton Bruckner, they turn their attention to Palestrina as a point of reference. At the same time, they cast a spotlight back on the work of the Austrian vocal innovator through three contemporary works. A comprehensive selection of Bruckner's Latin motets combined with chosen works by Palestrina and three world premiere recordings of the Stuttgart composer Burkhard Kinzler’s commissioned works.

Indeed, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina may have been one of Bruckner’s musical inspirations and historical references, as he, albeit some three hundred years Bruckner’s senior, was continuously received in music history for centuries after his death. Bruckner’s Catholic faith – supremely profound, and at times unhappy – is inherent to almost all of his compositions; truly, the composer is sometimes said not to have managed to write a single secular piece, including his symphonies.

In this album, the Zurich Chamber Singers focus on Bruckner’s Latin motets and choose to consider them something of a musical prayer book and personal diary of the composer. Bruckner, who suffered from severe self-doubts throughout his life, composed motets for almost his entire life. Although in varying intervals and with considerably less public attention than other of his works (most notably the symphonies, which he began to compose much later than the motets), Bruckner was dedicated to the composition of motets with admirable regularity. Therefore, these pieces allow a singular access to Bruckner’s musical development and personality, as well as his religious psyche.

In this programme Anton Bruckner’s motets are presented in a careful sequence combining them with works by Palestrina and Burkhard Kinzler. The latter feature as a commentary that both hearkens back ‘ad fontes’ and towards the twenty-first-century present. In the course of this sequence, various theological concepts central to Anton Bruckner’s faith are examined, allowing also insight into the composer’s musical mind.

The intelligent conceptualisation of the album in combination with the young, outstanding and transparent interpretation of the Zurich Chamber Singers under their director Christian Erny stand in direct succession to the previous release "O Nata Lux". The vocal ensemble, whose stylistic confidence is reflected on their second album for Berlin Classics, "Bruckner Spectrum", in their skilful interpretation of a cappella works from almost four centuries, is now one of the most innovative European choirs. Under the direction of conductor and pianist Christian Erny, the Swiss ensemble sings its way to the top of the European choral scene with discographically outstanding concepts and in a cappella and choral symphonic concerts both inside and outside Switzerland.

Zurich Chamber Singers
Christian Erny, musical direction

The Zurich Chamber Singers
With a combination of outstanding vocal work, innovative program concepts and a modern appearance, the vocal ensemble has been attracting increasing attention since its foundation in 2015. The cultural tip praises the "sound perfection" of the choir, the Aachener Zeitung simply judges with the title "magic. " As direct as here, the multifaceted affects only rarely seem", the magazine The New Listener enthusiastically states.

The Zurich Chamber Singers were founded in 2015 by Christian Erny and Emanuel Signer together with ten singers who were friends of theirs. In the meantime the ensemble has grown to a pool of more than thirty singers and has earned itself an excellent reputation as a sought-after and flexible ensemble. The ensemble devotes itself to choral works from the Renaissance to the modern age, whereby the lean instrumentation requires a great deal of individual initiative from each member. Soloists step directly out of the ensemble. Cultivating contemporary vocal music and promoting young composers are particularly important to the Zurich Chamber Singers. Up to now he has worked with composers such as Marcus Paus (NO), Rhiannon Randle (GB), Patrick Brennan (GB) and Kevin Hartnett (US).

The Zurich Chamber Singers have performed at various festivals and concert series and have worked with orchestras such as the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Orchestra of Europe and the Baroque Orchestra Cardinal Complex. The ensemble received great praise from the international trade press with the release of the debut CD Passio, which was released by Ars-Produktion in 2018.

This album contains no booklet.