This week on Choral Concert we explore inner and outer space, the yin and yang of music. We are going to directly contrast music that is outgoing, bold, brash and big with music that is reflective, contemplative and inward.
On the big and bold side you will hear Glory, from Songs of the Forest by Dmitri Shostakovich. It’s a grand throwback to the Soviet era, where composers were required to create music to glorify the accomplishments of the empire. In this case, it was the huge reforestation program in Siberia in the late 1940s. You’ll hear a big, passionate performance with the Yurlov Russian Choir and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
On the inner and reflective side we are going to turn to David Mott, a Canadian mystic, a composer, a Zen meditator, a baritone sax virtuoso and a karate master.
Mott has written a piece for the Edmonton-based choir Pro Coro, which features the choir alone, with the occasional interjection from Mott on his baritone sax.
It’s a piece that plays a lot with inner space, and Mott calls it Heart Meditations. In it, Mott expresses a lifetime of disciplined practice, both in music and in meditation. The piece is an expression of a form of Buddhist meditation called the heart practice, a practice that focuses on the still, divine heart within.
So join us this Sunday for Choral Concert: Inner and Outer Worlds. April 15 from 9 to 11 a.m. (9:30 to 10:30 NT) on CBC Radio 2.