L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S.

Perhaps best known for his distinctive vocal style, Australian polymath Nick Cave here steps into the spotlight as librettist ra ther than performer, for a second operatic project with Belgian composer Nicholas Lens. Having collaborated on Shell Shock in 2014, they joined forces again during the global lockdown to create a new work, L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S.. At Lens’s request, Cave penned 12 litanies ––“petitions to a divine maker” simple, moving texts which the composer then wove into what he calls a “modest chamber opera of sleeping dreams”. Riding his bike aro und an unusually empty Brussels, Lens had been reminded of the magical stillness of the Rinzai Zen temples he had seen in rural Japa n. Memories of these structures and of the inner peace he experienced while visiting them were the initial inspiration for the minimalistic, at times trance like music of L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S., which features Denzil Delaere , N.L. Noorenbergh , Claron McFadden and Lens’s artist daughter Clara Lane on vocals. Though the eleven instrumentalists recorded their parts individually in Lens’s home, to respect social distancing guidelines, th ere is a clear unity of purpose about the finished opera, a work of gentle beauty. ABOUT April 2020 I was in lockdown, my world tour had been cancelled and I was adrift in a kind of strange malaise, both apocalyptic and boring. Nicholas called and asked me if I would write 'twelve litanies'. I happily agreed. The first thing I did after I put down the ph one was search

Tracks

1~1~Litany Of Divine Absence
1~2~Litany Of The First Encounter
1~3~Litany Of Blooming
1~4~Litany Of The Sleeping Dream
1~5~Litany Of The Yearning
1~6~Litany Of Fragmentation
1~7~Litany Of The Forsaken
1~8~Litany Of Gathering Up
1~9~Litany Of Transformation
1~10~Litany Of Godly Love
1~11~Litany Of The Unnamed
1~12~Litany Of Divine Presence

Details

Format: CD
Artist: Nicholas Lens, Nick Cave
Release Date: 04 December 2020
Genre: Classical Music
Label: DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON (IMP)
Distributor: Universal Music