Album: Gideon Kremer,Kremerata Baltica, Hymns and Prayers (ECM)

Hymns and Prayers combines three works from disparate eras whose moods fit together in a pleasingly astringent manner.

Stevan Kovacs Tickmayer's "Eight Hymns In Memoriam Andrei Tarkovsky" is a series of quiet miniatures, spare piano forms haunted by high string and vibes tones, forming tranquil, contemplative sound-mobiles redolent of the late film-maker's unhurried grace; and Giya Kancheli's "Silent Prayer" has a similarly meditative cast. The modern pieces are separated by César Franck's "Piano Quintet in F-minor", the lachrymose tone of which works surprisingly well in the context.

DOWNLOAD THIS Eight Hymns In Memoriam Andrei Tarkovsky; Silent Prayer; Piano Quintet in F-minor