Cantus chori
Sunday, 2010 December 12th, 7 PM
Riga Cathedral
The Night Prayer
Latvian Radio Choir
Schola cantorum Riga
Sigvards Kïava, conductor
Morton Feldman composed Rothko Chapel as a tribute to his friend, the American painter, Mark Rothko. In 1965, at the request of the Menil Foundation of Houston, Texas, Rothko created an environment in which his 14 monumental paintings played a central role. These paintings act as objects on which all visitors to the Chapel, religious or non-religious could use for meditation. The life and work of Morton Feldman was very similar to that of Mark Rothko. Both were of eastern European Jewish heritage; both were involved in creating a new form of abstract art; and both were motivated to discover the mystery of perception within art. Feldman’s Rothko Chapel (1971), although abstract in its general unfolding, presents the listener with particular problems in regard to semiotic understanding. These problems can only be comprehended in reference to Feldman’s very personal views on memory, compositional methods, cognition, and history. Upon being able to better comprehend Feldman’s contemplative world, it might be possible to speculate as to his methods of working with cognitive operations as a compositional tool. It could be then possible to better understand the mystery of hearing Feldman’s Rothko Chapel.
This is probably one of the finest choirs in the world today and I was able to experience at first hand the extraordinary beauty of its choral sound, the precision of its ensemble, the perfection of its intonation, the subtlety of its phrasing, as well as the striking individuality of its soloists.
Gavin Bryars on the Latvian Radio choir |
