Raminsh, Imant - Recordare (Treble)

Recordare was commissioned by the Banff Centre for the Arts for its Summer Festival, 2000, specifically to accompany, in its first performance, the Canadian premiere of Krzystof Penderecki's monumental Credo. While the intent was that the work be technically and logistically easier and more accessible to amteur performers that the Credo, the composer felt that the text chosen had to complement in a fundamental way with that of the larger work.





The seven stanzas of the Recordare are set for various groupings of soloist, children's choir, and adult choir voices, and the accompanying orchestral textures range from the intimacy of a string quartet to the brilliance of full symphonic sound. The rhythmically fluid legato theme which opens the work recurs periodically and is offset with vigorous rhythmic declamation and somber dirge-like chant, before building to a triumphant conclusion.