A selection of Estonian and Latvian choral music, with the text drawn predominantly from traditional folk music (Kreek was a collector of folk melodies) or poetry, this album comes as a refreshing change from the standard fare. It is like a soundtrack for a fairy’s wedding, the sound is spiritual, meditative, and yet somehow fey in nature. It lacks the solemnity of more famous Eastern Europeans (such as Pärt), but in doing so makes itself much more accessible to the novice listener. Hauntingly beautiful and surprisingly atonal, it is impressively sung by the student choristers of Royal Holloway.
4 Stars
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