PAWEL LUKASZEWSKI (b.1968): Beatus vir, Sanctus Paulus, Beatus vir, Sanctus Antonius, Beatus vir, Sanctus Martinus, 2 Lenten Motets, 7 O Antiphons, Psalmus 102, Nunc dimittis.

Description: These gorgeous and idiomatic sacred choral works are tonal, in a somewhat expanded, harmonically satisfying but more coloristic than functional sense. There is something of Pärt and Tavener to the deeply expressive spirituality of Lukaszewski's music, but his idiom is more sophisticated and varied than either. Particularly notable is the rhythmic flexibility of his part-writing, with constant, intricate changes of meter lending great vitality and energy even to slow meditative passages. This is not to imply that the music is all hushed and reverential; moments of high drama implied by the varied liturgical texts are underlined in tense, suspended dissonances rendered all the more effective in context, or in dramatically striking sudden whispers or gliding tones; and in places a quasi-minimalism-derived propulsion is provided by short, fast repeated phrases underpinning the principal texture. I n an age when aspects of the 'new spirituality' have rendered the whole idea open to question, Lukaszewski's sacred works project sincerity and impeccable craftsmanship, a refreshing combination. Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge; Stephen Layton.