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For the first time on GB Records Gavin has also included composers other than himself. This came about because of his work with the choir, and from a particular incident. For the first concert in Riga the choir sang in two different formations - as it does here. One was a large ensemble of 50 voices for 'Three Poems of Cecco Angiolieri' and one a medium ensemble of 24 voices for 'And so ended Kant's travelling in this world'. Arriving early for the rehearsal he heard the choir sing a work he did not know but thought "the most beautiful music I had ever heard". He later learned that it was by Valentin Silvestrov (the Ukrainian composer championed by ECM) and was one of the very few pieces of choral music that he had written. Gavin Bryars resolved at that moment to include this music on the recording and enable it to be heard more widely.
Subsequently he decided to add another extraordinary work by Latvian Arturs Maskats. Getting to know Latvian and other Baltic composers has been one the pleasures and privileges of working with the choir and he now has a lively working relationship, and strong personal friendship, with its two great conductors Kaspars Putnins and Sigvards Klava.
Recorded 2005
Personnel: Latvian Radio Choir, conducted by Sigvards Klava and Kaspars Putnins, Edgars Saksons (percussion - 5), Janis Maleckis (piano), Gavin Bryars (harmonium - 7)