Composer: Djuro Živković
Performer: Norrbotten NEO, Sara Hammarstrom, Robert Ek, Daniel Saur, Marten Landstrom, Cecilia Zilliacus, Marco Fusi, Nikolay Shugaev, Riikka Repo, Mats Olofsson
Conductor: Fredrik Burstedt
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BIS
Catalogue: BIS2685
Release: 2023
Size: 862 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Citadel of Love
01. Invocation. Fluid, with watchfulness
02. De profundis. With peace
03. Rejoice, o Michael! Toccatoso
04. Peace, Bring Unto All
05. I Shall Contemplate… II
Night Music
06. I. Poème languide
07. II. Danse languide
08. III. Nuances
09. IV. Feuillet d’album no 1
10. V. Feuillet d’album no 2
11. VI. Poème
Serbian-Swedish Djuro Živković has quickly established himself as one of Europe’s leading young composers. His musical style is strongly marked by Byzantine Orthodox music – spiritual, mystical and characterized by fantastic narration, virtuosic instrumentation and a stylistic, highly profiled sound. Živković’s music presents a profound and abstract space to reflect on the subject matter of mystery, ecstasy and transcendence. Citadel of Love is a highly personal ensemble work which manages to create a mystical aural experience. The narrative voice of the piano together with the other six instruments, subtly adding voices as well as percussion instruments, carries the listener from beginning to end through an inner drama of intensity and fullness of soundscapes. I Shall Contemplate… II is an intimate chamber piece for viola and small ensemble, stylistically similar to a sacred cantata, in which improvisatory techniques contribute to the free and unencumbered compositional process. Here, Živković’s use of ancient scales creates an archaic, echoing space. The text, spoken by the soloist, comes from old Byzantine mystical books. Finally, Night Music is a fascinating crossover work in which piano works by Alexander Scriabin are mixed with newly composed musical layers, thus adding to the Russian composer an absurd fantasy, estranged passion and exotic illusions.